For the last two years, the retail industry has been in flux. Supply chain issues, labor shortages, surging inflation, and the war in Ukraine continue to disrupt the marketplace. Yet, at the same time, consumers’ expectations are growing, and the path to purchase is expected to be as convenient and personal as possible. So, what is a retailer supposed to do?

Point of Sale systems (POS) can deliver as many savory options to the restaurant business as their menus do for hungry guests.

For the most part, people are patient, but some experiences create frustration for virtually everyone. A customer transaction company Omnico Group found that most people are willing to wait just up to eight minutes in a checkout line before abandoning their cart. Time standing in line leads to reconsidering the purchase. If you think about holiday shopping or even a Saturday morning grocery line, you can imagine how many lonely carts there are and how many dollars are lost from items not purchased. According to Parcel Pending, that number is $38 billion.

The retail environment has changed significantly in the last two decades – from the race to opening more brick-and-mortar stores to the rise of eCommerce. Consumers have changed too – from expecting to pay with their wearable devices to being able to have merchandise delivered to their doorstep. Retail is constantly evolving and merchants are always looking at innovative in-store technology to bring more shoppers into the store and enhance their shopping experience.

As an ISV, you know that the restaurant business is extremely competitive. It is one of the key reasons why adopting new technology in this space is very slow. Restaurants need to work hard and establish their popularity in the community in addition to sustaining business on a day-to-day basis. This means that consumer-facing technology including payments often takes a backseat for restaurants. However, the COVID-19 pandemic changed how restaurants approach this all together. At the peak of the health crisis, many restaurants scrambled to offer services such as online ordering, delivery via third-party apps and even accepting contactless payments to put their customers at ease. Since then, restaurants have adapted quickly and effectively to the new normal and are continuing to offer enhanced services to their customers.