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Linga is a B2B software company that introduced a new product called LingaROS which is a restaurant or retail operating system. This system includes premium features that integrate the hotels property management system (OPERA) with the restaurants and retail stores within the property. This software aims at improving the guest experience and increase efficiency in operations.

A global distribution system, or GDS, helps hotels sell rooms to travelers. A global distribution system helps smaller hotels connect to several different travel agencies. GDS allows travel agents to sell rooms to customers. There are three models: the retail model, the merchant model, and the opaque model. The retail model is the most traditional model. The travel agent would get a commission from the sell. The guest would pay the hotel and then the hotel would pay the agent.

This article discusses the controversial self-checkout model in major chain stores such as Target and Walmart and the cause and effect of labor issues and how other scenarios appear to be encouraging a time when this model replaces human checkout entirely. It was reported that Walmart loses 3 billion every year to customer and employee theft. For the most part, retailers have been thinking about self-checkout through a financial-savings and customer-experience perspective. But inherently, that means there's going to be less eyes on a transaction, less human interaction and more opportunity for shrink.

Point of sales systems have been increasing popular in all retail and service industries. POS systems help companies integrate their accounting systems, track inventory, cut operating costs and more, while keeping all their company information in one place. Having a dated system in place could potentially cause frustration with the stores customers. Having an older system or cash register in place could cause long lines and inaccurate register transactions like it did for Golden Spoon Frozen Yogurt. Before using a POS system it would take even the most experienced worker 2 minutes or more to process a credit card, now it take 20 seconds. This keeps the lines shorter and the customers happy. There are issues that still arise from POS systems, for example security. One retail store based out of New York City had issues with people hacking into their DSL routers and accessing 3 months of credit card information. This company didn't seem to have any real security in place as far as accessing the system, as all employees used the same password to log in. The company used password policies and tougher procedures with credit cards to beef up security. Another company, also based out of NYC, has seen a faster and easier way to control inventory through the use to POS systems. This system can tell the managers what needs to be repurchased if an item is popular, or what's still sitting on the shelves and not being sold. This helps controls losses at the end of the season with less merchandise needed to be sold at discounted prices. Whether it's a hotel, retail store, or restaurant, POS systems help organize a company's most important and valuable information.

Subsidizing a product to get a long-term use commitment from a consumer base is nothing new; it existed before high tech hardware was made affordable by software or service agreements. Think about the razors you buy, assuming of course that you're not a fully bearded male. The initial cost of the razor isn't all that expensive, but replacing the razors for a month costs upwards of twice the razor itself. And if you've shopped for a printer lately, you know the same strategy applies here. The printer itself isn't the greatest expense over the life of the asset; the ink, which is required and usually specific to the device itself, is where you will spend the most money. The most well known form of subsidization, or at least most glaring, comes from the coupling of cell phones and cell service providers. An iPhone, for example, costs a lot more than most people actually pay for it. The new iPhone 5, the basic version with 16GB will run you $649. Not to mention the cost of new adapters, chargers, cases, etc. However, if you commit to (or renew) a two-year service contract with AT&T, Verizon, or Sprint, the phone itself costs $199. How does this work? The same way the printers and printer ink work. The service providers (i.e. AT&T) subsidize the majority of the cost of the phone in order to lock customers into a contract that ends up costing much more in usage and data charges over the life of the contract. The idea is to make the cost of entry relatively cheap. Then, the cost the company loses at the initial purchase is recouped through purchases, or service charges, over the long term. Unscrupulous? Not really, although some would say so after receiving their phone bill. But that has more to do with not being aware of the stipulations of the contract you sign to get the cheaper phone at the outset. Although I personally find it annoying, I try to look at as something akin to amortizing the asset, and remember that, at least for me, a monthly fee

Bluetooth proximity marketing was the new and upcoming marketing technique back in 2014. As learned this week in class this kind of marketing is used to connect with potential and existing consumers. There are four different types of proximity marketing that should be considered:  Internet enabled device (cell phone, tablet, etc) with GPS.  WiFi device (cell phone, tablet, etc) within range of a transmitter  Bluetooth device (cell phone, tablet, etc) being within range of a transmitter  NFC enabled phone that can read a RFID chip on a product or media. The main one described in this article is Bluetooth. An example of Bluetooth proximity marketing would be a retailer adds a transmitter to a specific promotional spot, and the person with a Bluetooth enabled phone may receive a coupon for the products found at that promotional spot or a complimentary product. The target is to directly market the consumer, you can send coupons, engage the costumer, send relevant information, etc.

Point of sale systems are revolutionizing the retail and hospitality industry. They have gained much attention and are now much more common then the older cash register terminal systems that once used to be at every retail store in Australia. The reason for their increasing popularity in retail stores, hotels, and restaurants is that they are more efficient and make processing and tracking orders easier. In the hospitality industry a POS system is much better because of the different needs, requests, and reservations of customers. Data must also be stored, and processed by the staff of the hotel to ensure smooth operation of the hotel. Because POS systems can record date such as payroll. labor, volume of good sold etc, they are more feasible then a cash register system. POS systems are now found in high volume restaurants. Restaurants that bustling with clients have installed this new software to be able to track and complete orders in real time, similar to a rail or airport flight schedule. Customers appreciate when their food is delivered on time, and when their orders are not mixed up. For high volume or busy restaurants the POS system offers incredible advantages and the possibility of increasing profits.

The fashion merchandise retailer store, Nordstrom, has joined the venture of equipping employees with mobile POS devices in order to increase customer satisfaction, in a focus toward convenient efficient checkout. The fundamental incentive is to minimize the customer's inclination to over analyze their potential purchase by waiting in the line for a lengthy period, thus, maintaining the impose of the customers to purchase the item. The mobile POS devices are equipped with a scanner and credit card slider in order to complete the transaction for the customer, the same type of technology is visible in Apple and Home Depot stores. According to the company's sale report, a visible increase in sales has occurred for the Nordstrom Company, an estimated 15.3 percent from $1.5 Billion to $1.73 Billion in the same fiscal year of 2011. As well, the creation of a Nordstrom app allows salespersons to check inventory and availability, in a further aim to increase customer satisfaction and their business. Without a doubt POS system are branching into different spectrum of business in order to increase efficiency and customer satisfaction.

I have a key chain full of membership cards, tiny ones. I have Wallgreen Balance rewards card, Salon Centric professional store card, PetSmart PetPerks card, Winn Dixie Grocery store card, my vehical elite member card, and my gym membership card to name a few. I think those business (retails) got me. I can't resist their benefits even though I know they try to get my money. It's nice to get a discount here and there, and it really makes shopping fun and keeps me coming back for more with coupons and stuff. I think having a customer loyalty program within POS systems is a great idea especially when enabled via mobile devices.

Beginning in 2018 the financial accounting standards for hotel business are changing. One of the changes is the way OTAs charge for the rooms. Typically the OTAs operate under two methods the retail model and merchant model. The retail model uses the OTA to reserve the room but the final payment is made to the hotel. The hotel then gives a commission back to the OTA. Under The merchant model the payment is made to the OTA. Then the OTA takes the commission off and sends the remaining payment to the hotel for the price of the room. This comes out as a net transaction. The new standard is saying that the company that controls the transaction for the room has to mark the transaction or sale as a gross transaction. The new model forces the hotels to record the transaction on a gross basis. This can be a big difference for hotels because now they will have to increase the amount of costs and reduce the hotels bottom line.

This article describes India's more stringent regulations in regards to E-commerce. These new regulations specifically target industry giants like Amazon and Flipkart. The new regulations do not allow companies to sell any products that they have an equity interest in. This is intended to protect small local retail shops in India.

This article is talking about having POS with solid state drives. They do not have moving parts so they are not as delicate as the HHD hardware. Retailers not only want to be efficient in how they run their business by having a reliable POS system but they also want to boost customer service by having a system that works faster. As technology moves at a faster pace, customers are also looking for quicker service. The SSD hardware is self-encrypting, protecting customer data, it boots up faster, energy efficient using less power from the POS and are now widely accessible.

This is a great article that looks at the positives of the SSD hardware. I think that the main positives to our industry would be, as you noted, the encryption of consumer data, and the speed of the transactions. Customers are very aware that their information can be hacked if the POS doesn't provide an extra layer of protection and this hardware looks to give customers a sense of security. As for speed of the transaction, the data is absolutely accurate regarding whether a person will wait for something to process, or move on to another option. One example is the unattended POS system we spoke of earlier speeding up transactions at restaurants and hotels, whereas having this option in your POS wil just increase efficiency and speed. Thanks for the article!

It seems that stores have just begun to jump on the self-checkout process. However, the self-checkouts are old news, the technology that is coming out now, known as "Grab and Go" is creating an even more automated process. This technology can allow you to take an item off the shelf (update inventory immediately) and simply walk out of the store, without ever having to take out your wallet. Spending money is becoming easier and easier, allowing consumers to consume more than ever. Some pros of this technology include, customer loyalty (personalizing the customers experience), lower overhead (saving money on labor costs and extending hours), and reduces shrinkage (real-time inventory tracking). Technology is improving so quickly that it is hard for companies to keep up and stay up-to-date. For example, the self-checkouts have just become a norm; how long until they are fully replaced by "Grab and Go?"

This short article talks about some of the ways technology can improve a retail business, but I think it may apply for larger businesses. ways of reducing inventory cost, improve customer satisfaction, keep track of the companies margins (sales margin) and also improving your knowledge of forecasting for the business.

This article demonstrates the significance of technology in today's business world. It encourages entrepreneurs to invest to invest in technologies that enhance the efficiency of business operations. Such include the point of sale (POS) systems, electronic inventory control system, and a central data base among others. This is because they come with various benefits including reducing inventory costs, improving customer satisfaction, facilitating inventory control, among others.

This article is well worth the read. It informs us as to why our credit cards keep getting hacked although our favorite retail stores seems to have secure POS systems. There is actually lots of time and money that needs to be invested in order to have a secure POS. Many of these hacks keep happening because companies wait until it's too late to upgrade to chip reader POS or a higher performance security

The topic mainly implies on how well POS system integrate and how useful it is in the industry from small to large business entities. The market growth definitely rely in the point of Sale system as they adopt the flow and the advancements which is mainly beneficial to hospitality industry. As it has been pointed out on the demand for enhancement applicable to the industry's tech savvy customers. It features it's functionality, convenience, as well as the use of different type of devices. It also entails a well detailed information with all the product types, components, application and geography. Although the research gives us a standard basis on its uses and functions but it gives ideas that the system is a demand as technology evolves quickly in business. POS function so well that it helps boost the market, and the hospitality's revenue. It also focuses not only for the easy use, but also assist associates when it comes to accuracy and efficiency to improve customer service. It is also good to know that implementation of the compliance requirements to ensure safety and security will not be disregarded as they enhance further.

A look at what we can expect as social media begins to play a big factor in the growing future of e-commerce. By leveraging social media tools and focusing on a people-first commerce approach.

Facebook marketplace, instagram links, pinterest links, poshmark, etc..

This article is about the concept of proximity marketing that supports sales and marketing development in business operations. First, the idea of this marketing strategy is to reach out to the right consumers based on mobile techs and GPS techs. Second, the four types of proximity marketing are by components, application, geography, and key players in general. Third, the benefits of proximity marketing are enhanced experiences for the guests. Applicational utilization. Cost-effectiveness on the mobile marketing, then the guest relationship improvement will be one of them to benefiting the company's business growth.

In these days of technology advancement, proximity marketing is one of the best ways for marketing. The only disadvantage is potentially using someone's information without permission. As long as permission is granted, it would be fine.

Proximity marketing is a mode of location based marketing that uses the customers location to their advantage when distributing advertisements for their business. There are several different types of proximity marketing solutions that can and are currently being used by the most popular brands right now. There is wifi proximity marketing, radio frequency identification proximity marketing (RFID), near field communication proximity marketing (NFC), GPS based, beacon based, and QR codes. Using these methods of marketing hold benefits including enhanced customer experience, app utilization, cost effectiveness, and customer relation boost. There is an option for everyone in terms of cost and many industries are using them more and more, inclusive of the hospitality/tourism industry. In my opinion, the previous ways of advertising are becoming obsolete and the market for competition is growing and growing and growing. We all have likely encountered one or more forms of this type of marketing, and we likely will continue to in the future.

POS system help stores advance service quality, which plays an great important role in building customers' loyalty. This article takes retails as example, analysising how POS system can help it make the business more smooth by the certain aspects: ensures accuracy prices of production, tracks and helps to locate customer's favorites, and supports many payment options.