After the initial months of the pandemic, the demand for mobile point of sale (POS) began to grow. Mobile POS solutions that merchants used primarily for line busting or restaurant pay-at-the-table were suddenly the key to increasing the efficiency of new processes. Mobile POS became the go-to tool for curbside ordering and pickup, payment upon delivery, contactless payment to field services technicians, and food truck transactions.
Benefits of iOS and Android Mobile POS Apps
It’s a smart strategy to develop mobile POS applications that merchants can use with iOS or Android devices. These operating systems allow your users to choose from a wider range of devices, from commercial- and industrial-grade devices to consumer-grade. Although consumer devices aren’t as rugged as other options, they may be a good choice for some use cases, such as inside at the buy online, pickup in store (BOPIS) counter where employees carry them securely with a belt clip or wrist strap. Additionally, giving your users broader device choices can make a total mobile POS solution more affordable – and possibly help you close more sales.
Next, iOS and Android operating systems are familiar to most employees, making mobile POS applications developed for them easy to learn and use. This capability is particularly important during the current labor shortage when merchants, consumer service providers and field service companies are working to fill more positions and train those new employees. A mobile POS system that’s designed to make customer interactions, transactions, and payments simple and easy for even the latest hire to understand will have a value that your prospects immediately understand.
Furthermore, when you integrate your application with a full-featured payments platform, users can perform all transactions that traditionally took place behind a counter. Your mobile POS solution will enable staff to sell anywhere, increase efficiency, and provide service to more customers during a shift, possibly decreasing the number of staff your client has to schedule.
How to Add Payments to Your iOS or Android Mobile POS Application
Integrating payments with mobile operating systems has traditionally been a time-consuming process that required developers with iOS- or Android-specific expertise. However, forward-thinking companies have created easier ways for developers to add payments, for example:
- dsiEMVAndroid® and dsiEMViOS® Windows libraries offer you applications for processing EMV transactions in a client-server architecture
- App-based payments using payment company controls, providing the benefit of connecting EMV-card-present and e-commerce transactions with omnichannel tokens that can be used in-store or online
- APIs based on RESTful standards that enable easy integration to e-commerce, credit, debit and gift cards
You also have the option to forward transactions to a hosted solution via semi-integrated devices. For example, Datacap Systems’ NETePay Hosted is an easy way to provide users with access to all major North American payment processors.
Payments Are Central to Leading Mobile POS Systems
To provide optimal user and customer experiences with iOS and Android mobile POS applications for these use cases, ISVs need to consider how to factor all types of payments into each transaction seamlessly.
Are you planning to launch a new mobile POS app or optimize an existing app for new processes in retail, restaurant or field services? Visit Datacap’s Developer Portal to learn more about integrating our omnichannel payments platform with your solution.
