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npate083

5 Ways POS Is Changing (And Why It Matters) - 0 views

  • Businesses have moved from traditional cash registers and stationary credit card readers to iPads and even mobile- or cloud-based POS systems.
  • Breadcrumb, a restaurant cloud-based POS system
  • Square allows businesses to transform iPads and smartphones into a POS system
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  • One e-commerce solution is Shopify's POS system
  • the Shopify POS synchronizes and streamlines your financial and product information in a centralized dashboard.
    • npate083
       
      Shared commerce streamlines financial and product information in a centralized dashboard. It provides the user with real-time data and customer insight without having to run reports on multiple systems.
  • real-time data and customer insights
  • without the hassle of running reports on multiple systems.
  • Businesses should consider allowing mobile payments, as customers are shifting away from cash. 
  • businesses don't need any heavy equipment overhauls
  • Mobile credit card processing services (Square, PayPal Here, Flagship ROAMpay) simply require a credit card reader attached to a smartphone or tablet with the necessary mobile app, while mobile wallet providers (Google Wallet, Visa Checkout, Apple Pay) and loyalty mobile apps (Starbucks, Daily Deals) allow customers to pay directly from their smartphones or by using a POS scanner to read barcodes or QR codes on their screens.
    • npate083
       
      Mostly everyone is switching to mobile payment. It is much easier and convenient. As a business, it is vital to have mobile POS system so customers can pay directly from their phone.
  • New POS systems integrate real-time transactions with CRM solutions to help businesses increase sales and boost revenue
  • POS integration lets businesses create client records, CRM tasks and email marketing lists
  • enable businesses to collect all types of customer data from POS transactions,
  • to improve customer experience and acquisition
  • ability to extract valuable information from POS transactions to help business owners make smarter business decisions.
  • POS software tool
  • data-gathering and reporting features
  • Detailed reports include inventory and volume analysis, top-selling items, revenue and profit margin optimization, and staffing needs
  • Toast is a POS system
  • "restaurant operations by combining POS, front of house, back of house, and guest-facing technology on a single platform"
  • "monitor restaurant sales, labor costs, food costs, and more in real time, at home, and on the go with powerful reporting capabilities."
  • , POS systems need more security as the technology advances.
  • (IoT) – the interconnectivity and communication of devices, networks and physical objects over the internet
  • POS systems are more vulnerable than ever to hacks and data breaches
  • US-CERT recommends protecting POS systems by using strong passwords, ensuring you have the latest POS software updates, installing a firewall, using antivirus programs, restricting unauthorized internet access (such as for purposes other than POS transactions) and disabling remote access to POS systems.
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    This article sums up the ways in which POS is currently changing. These ways include by using shared commerce POS systems, mobile POS systems such as Square and PayPal, integrated real-time transactions with CRM solutions, and POS security. 
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    This article sums up the ways in which POS is currently changing. These ways include by using shared commerce POS systems, mobile POS systems such as Square and PayPal, integrated real-time transactions with CRM solutions, and POS security. 
bhern082

11 new ways technology is transforming cruise ships - 6 views

  • from passport credentials to food preferences, and
  • you will be sent your wearable Ocean Medallion (the size of a coin, this can be worn as a bracelet or necklace) in advance.
  • . But some cruise lines have put millions into developing multi-faceted wearable technology that solves the problem entirely.
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  • Royal Caribbean’s WOWbands ($4.99/£3.70 or free depending on ship and class of travel) look like watch straps, but use radio frequency technology to open your cabin door. You can use Carnival Corporation’s wearable Ocean Medallion (free to all guests) with the Ocean Compass app to order food, drink and retail items on demand. It also unlocks your cabin door as you approach
  • Interactive maps are becoming far easier to use than expected thanks to the digital way-finder on the MSC for Me app. Just indicate where you want to go, and a map will demonstrate how to get there from your current location.
  • A rather futuristic option is available on some AIDA Cruises and Costa Cruises ships in the form of a robot called Pepper, which provides guests with information, including how to ge
  • t from A to B
  • on board.
  • MSC Meraviglia has 114 interactive screens that allow you to book dinner as well as other activities, such as the theatre or spa, with few clicks and a swipe of your wearable bracelet
  • Carnival is launching MedallionNet soon (prices currently unavailable), which it says will be the fastest internet connection at sea and will provide pervasive cabin coverage. 
  • With MSC Cruises’ wearable bracelet, however, you can monitor your children in real-time and know where they are at any moment. T
  • With MSC’s interactive bracelet (or the Cruise Card) you can pay for everything, from your shopping session at the 100-metre high street to your evening meals. The wearable technology means staff quickly know who you are and your first language, which adds a sparkle to the customer service.
  • Personalised recommendations (such as which bottle of wine to try) will be offered on MSC Meraviglia in the not-too-distant future as part of the digital concierge service.
  • A modern take on arts and crafts can be enjoyed with the HP Sprout, scanner and 3D printer. Here children (around 7-12 years old) can design their own creations in the computer and then print 3D versions to take home
  • The days of cruise passengers feeling disconnected from the rest of the world while at sea are gone, which is good news for first-timers who may not have got their sea legs yet. 
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    This article features 11 new tech features that cruise ships have implemented.Technology is transforming these floating hotels into smart cities. From remote check-in, wearable technology, to geo-locating your children aboard. These tech gadgets are helping cruisers enjoy their time aboard as stress free as possible. As stated by the author "Once on board, it didn't take too long to figure out how the MSC for Me app, public interactive screens, cabin TV and wearable bracelet, available for the first time on Meraviglia, all worked together to streamline and enhance life on board."
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    This is great technology and can most certainly be studied while in use to better assist guests in having that "stress free" vacation. The technology is personalized and almost seamless in using since they have made it into something of "jewelry" to help avoid it being an irritating app. I see this being developed in many more places other than just cruise ships and Disney. It is very convenient for the guests.
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    I agree that this technology is very useful for guests. Personally, it would make me feel less like I was in a floating hotel and more like a floating city. I would enjoy the possibility of finding a solution to a problem that I was having without having to wait in line at guest services, which would potentially save me time and give me the ability to return to whatever onboard activity I was engaged in.
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    I agree. I think this technology will be very beneficial for not just guests but also for the cruise lines. This helps collect data and help personalize the guest experience. This will have guests coming back time and time again. This also provides an incredible guest experience since they won't have to wait in long stressful lines. I think this technology is very beneficial for both the guests and employees.
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    Cruise ships have really stepped up their game when it comes to technology. I wrote a paper last semester about Princess Cruise Line's latest technology, the OceanMedallion. This little wearable device allows guests to unlock a whole new level of different features such as room key, tracking system, and a bunch of different amenities. It will be interesting to see what other cruise lines come up with to compete with this.
Angelica Saez

Best POS Systems of 2020 - Reviews & Pricing - 0 views

    • Angelica Saez
       
      I believe these type of POS systems can be great for any type of business because it can truly be a lot of help.
  • Independent retailers and restaurants
  • Restaurants and food service businesses of any size.
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  • Small to medium retail businesses that need mobile, flexible POS solutions.
  • A Point of Sale (POS) system is an integrated software and hardware solution for retailers to manage sales. POS systems take the place of conventional cash registers by handling transactions, plus POS systems can: Process all types of payments Track inventory Manage your accounting needs Calculate sales tax Track employee work hours, vacation time, and absences Handle payroll Manage loyalty programs Track sales history Calculate pricing and discounts
  • Mobile POS software
  • Tablet POS software
  • Terminal POS software This is a fixed POS soft
  • This is a fixed POS so
  • Self-service or unattended POS software
  • This is designed to be used in kiosks and outdoor units where it's not practical to post an employee. It is often integrated with another POS system nearby, like to provide an extra sales point in a busy grocery store. It can be cloud-based or on-premise since it's not used with a mobile system.
  • The costs of your POS software will vary depending on the type of software you choose. Mobile POS software such as a smartphone app can begin at $50 per month, while more complex software can reach several hundred dollars monthly.
  • Other factors that may affect the cost of your POS software include: How many features you add Any hardware included Number of integrations Your operating system
  • You’ll need to get the right hardware to match the actions and transactions you want to carry out using your POS system.
  • With the right POS system, you can also analyze sales history to discover seasonal buying trends and correlations, which can come in useful when you want to increase sales. You can also remove manual error by using barcode scanners and automatic synchronization, as well as combat absenteeism with a more reliable employee tracking system.
  • A cloud-based POS system stores data on remote servers and can be accessed online, whereas a traditional or on-premise POS system stores data on a local server and can be accessed through an internal network.
  • Cloud-Based POS Systems On-Premise POS Systems
hankunli

The Technology That Can Make Events Possible in a Pandemic - 0 views

  • The future is surely small outside of virtual events. While smaller events have a more substantial chance of happening, how soon may depend on a number of technologies that will directly impact the event feasibility.
  • Devising the safety logistics for groups of 50 to 100 people should be the immediate goal.
  • Digital tracking has been demonstrated to be one of the most effective ways
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  • The one biotechnology we should all keep an eye on is the development of a vaccine.
  • everybody seems to be in agreement that a vaccine is the only definite way out of the crisis.
  • These purifiers, the press release reads, use a combination of technologies such as UVC lamps to deliver a virus free environment.
  • Technology that provides the ability to scan attendees upon entering the venue will become the norm at airports and event venues.
  • Event professionals will either need to select venues offering thermal scanning or bring their own provider on site. This could even become an opportunity for functional sponsorship as scanners become the norm going forward.
  • Technology offering digital signage is already present at venues and can be implemented via dedicated apps.
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    During a pandemic when access to on-site events are limited, this article on Skift offered possible solutions to larger gatherings and events. Technologies like tracking will be useful, as well as medical solutions. Using purifiers, doing thermal scanning and digital signage on-site are also possible ways for events. To avoid contact in an event, using apps is also a good solution to deliver the necessary information. Clever, informed, and creative event professionals will be able to leverage current technology to deal with the changes and make events happen.
davidclark33

Restaurant Technology in the Post-COVID-19 World | Hospitality Technology - 0 views

  • Those who believe that business will resume under the same rules and rituals from before COVID-19 are not reading the social and emotional cues that have taken place over the last few weeks.
  • Our conventional payment models of cash and plastic credit cards are a petri dish of germs and potentially contagious agents. According to factmonster.com, a $1 bill is in circulation for 18 months; $5 bill, two years; $10 bill, three years; $20 bill, four years; and $50 and $100 bills, nine years. The number of hands that this currency will go through during the life of the currency presents a clear concern in the minds of a new germ-conscious consumer who emerging from the COVID-19 crisis will be better informed and educated about contagion.
  • The new awareness and concern over contagion will be a major driver for existing technologies to be fully implemented; this includes EMV, contactless, tap and pay, and mobile wallets. In each of these cases, there is no person-to-person transfer and the chance of passing any germs is greatly mitigated. All of these technologies have existed in the restaurant industry for years, and for the most part have been slowly and often begrudgingly adopted. 
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  • It would be an interesting capability should timeclocks have the ability to take a temperature either through some biometric means as part of the clocking in process, with the ability to alert the manager should anyone clock in with a high temperature.
  • t has been clearly established that germs can exist on plastic surfaces for several days, and the newly educated customer base will be sensitive to the notion of being handed a menu that could easily be cycled a dozen or so times during this period. Restaurants should look to providing an option for a guest to pull up the menu on their own device as well as look to leverage digital menu board technology wherever possible. In some cases this may mean an alteration in the current serving model or perhaps new hardware to be developed that allows a server to bring a large digital menu to a table for ordering, but the intention is to avoid another concern that P-C19 customer will certainly have.
  • Organizations that do not embrace and promote a contactless payment environment will find themselves suddenly behind the operations-technology curve.
  • Employees interact on a regular basis with POS hardware and other types of technology during the normal course of their business day. Many of these surfaces are plastic and allow germs to survive on them for an extended period of time. Surfaces like a POS touchscreen, a KDS expeditor, or a biometric thumb scanner can be used by dozens of people on any given day. It will be important for employers to look at solutions, such as anti-microbial POS screens, as well as improved cleaning habits, in order to avoid passing germs as well as to set their employees at ease. This may also be the kick-in-the-pants that the technologists need to further refine and perfect the voice ordering capabilities in order to virtually eliminate the need to use a POS touchscreen altogether. We have long spoken about the promise and potential of this technology only to see it expand rapidly in our personal lives with Google and Amazon and yet be almost non-existent in our commercial operations. Now would be a good time to step up development and implementation of this technology.
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    This article is about Restaurant Technology and how it is changing due to Covid-19. It highlights technology that may be necessary for the customer as well as technology necessary for the employee.
alomariee98

Nobody likes self-checkout. Here's why it's everywhere - CNN - 0 views

    • alomariee98
       
      It is really good to know that customers are not the only ones that experience issues with self-check-outs at the stores. They are machines that need to be maintained every so often. I have had my own experience with self-checkout and can see both sides of the story. In my experience which just so happened to be yesterday I did self-checkout in 2 different places. In one of them a customer tried to get away with theft by hovering the scanner over the item and not really scanning anything. In the other instance I kept getting the error message that did not let me keep scanning until the system reverted back to the scanning page. I get how it can be frustrating but I also see that sometimes it is the quickest option. Now with the pandemic like it says on the article some people prefer the no contact option and rather do the things themselves. This disruptive innovation just shows if there are stores that do not have it, they may fall behind because it has already become normal whether you use it or not. It gives people the choice whether or not they want to use it. Bad thing is that it does show less employees working on the floor because of these machines depending on the store. Now its a competition everywhere to have self check-out. An example I know of is the Disney Stores at Disney Springs and inside the parks. If you have the My Disney Experience app you can do mobile check-out without having to make a line for the register. Less contact with an employee.
  • The machines are expensive to install, often break down and can lead to customers purchasing fewer items.
  • higher losses and more shoplifting
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  • 29% of transactions at food retailers were processed through self-checkout, up from 23% the year prior
  • work from paid employees to unpaid customers
  • was designed primarily to lower stores' labor expenses
  • Customers scanned their items and put them on a conveyor belt. An employee at the other end of the belt bagged the groceries. Customers then took them to a central cashier area to pay.
  • 52% of shoppers considered self checkout lanes to be "okay," while 16% said they were "frustrating." Thirty-two percent of shoppers called them "great."
  • required regular maintenance and supervision
  • self-checkout leads to more losses due to error or theft than traditional cashiers.
  • Other customers take advantage of the lax oversight at self checkout aisles and have developed techniques for stealing.
  • Stores have tried to limit losses by tightening self-checkout security features, such as adding weight sensors
  • It may simply be too late for stores to turn their back on self-checkout.
    • alomariee98
       
      It really is too late to turn their back on self-checkout. It is already part of the store and those who do not use it will get left behind. Sometimes self-checkout is faster but it can be a bit frustrating due to the error messages it may give you. After all, it is still a machine.
  • Store owners have also seen competitors installing self-checkout and determined they don't want to miss out
  • "It's an arms race. If everyone else is doing it, you look like an idiot if you don't have it,"
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    Disruptive Innovation: Self-checkout
kjeewan

Biometric Identification in Hotels and Casinos - 0 views

  • Biometric applications are particularly useful at the places where a lot of customers, members or visitors enters or exits a facility, or require identification or verification.
  • A hotel guard may not force guests to prove their identity, but what when there is a no guard and just a fingerprint scanner, where you need to put your finger to open the door?
  • Since hospitality employees are not expected to be too rigid, this part can be shouldered on biometric technology. Customer issues at hospitality outfits may sometimes be ego-driven, but showing ego to a machine is of no use and customers understand that.
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  • A biometric powered check-in can give guest the experience they want and deserve. Registering their biometrics (for example, fingerprints) and enabling access to the room in the hotel management software will give them frictionless access to their room and concentrate on the next thing they want to do.
  • They can also be provided with access to assigned hotel facility in the package like pool or casino, which are also secured with a biometric access method like fingerprint recognition. The underlying system also keeps record of guest’s whereabouts and generate reports when needs, e.g. at the time of billing, checkout or audit.
  • Managing preferences of returning guests beforehand give them an idyllic experience and more business to the hotel in long run. This can be efficiently achieved with a hotel management system equipped with biometric ability. Preferences of a guest can be associated with their biometric identifiers, which are instantly fetched when they scan their biometrics in future check-ins and hotel staff can surprise them every time they visit.
  • On the other hand, hotel room access based on guest biometrics provides an integrated solution that is connected with the hotel management systems. Since there is no need to card, keys or any other form of possession, there is no fear of losing them or getting them stolen. Biometrically logged entry exit presents strong proof that only guest entered the room and no one else.
  • Biometrically secured entry / exit to a service / facility area will require guests or members to scan their fingerprint or face to enter the facility and will log the time spent in the facility area.
  • It also prevents any outsiders from using hotel facilities such as pool or casino that are reserved only for guests.
  • At the time of billing, a guest may insist on not availing a service that has actually been availed and forgotten. Biometric based entry and exit records present authentic proof of services availed.
  • biometrics is not just about customer convenience or security, it can be deployed for in-house applications like employee attendance, time tracking and to improve payroll efficiency. Keeping track of employee in and out timings brings in payroll transparency and managers can make sure that employees are being paid for the hours worked and not for breaks. It also curbs time theft and timesheet manipulation within an organization. Time theft and timesheet manipulation is a disastrous activity, in which an employee misinterprets amount of time she has put to complete an assignment or a project. When done on purpose, the time is spent in personal or other activities unrelated to the work and logged in payroll system, putting burden on company funds. A biometric based clock-in and out system can eliminate the possibility of timesheet fraud as employees have to be present to clock in or out time, they ask someone else to do it for them.
  • The biometric guest ID and preference tracking system facilitates keyless entry for guest rooms, eliminating the need for cards or keys. It facilitates automated check in fingerprints kiosks, whereby guests can check in with a simple touch of their finger. Billing becomes dramatically easy and reliable and customers can be reliably charged with biometrically authenticated logs of their entry and exit to facility area.
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    I decided to do further research on Biometrics software in hospitality because we use it at the Four Seasons where I work in the Residences department. Biometrics is a technology that scans your fingerprint and grants you access to areas designated by management. This is useful in residences and hotels because as an owner or guests, only you will have access to your apartment or room. The article mentioned how as technology evolves, there is a debate as to whether guests will want to give their fingerprint. Too much security could be seen as a nuisance but too little security puts guests at risk. Having a Biometrics system in place at a hotel ensures that only hotel guests are patrolling the property or floors with rooms. Another interesting aspect is using Biometrics to remember returning guest preferences such as floor height, food choices, allergies, etc. This system could be put into place at check-in so that right away the front desk knows the guest is returning and can be made aware of their past preferences. Benefits of Biometrics mentioned in the article is not having to deal with room key cards, added security on property, seamless check-ins as well as even paying for items on property. A guest might not even need to take their credit card around because they can just use their fingerprint to pay at the pool, gift shop, etc. Behind the scenes, Biometrics is important as well. A hotel can use Biometrics to track employee attendance, clocking out for meals and to ensure only employees are accessing closed off areas of the property.
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    Biometrics can be used by companies for employees to clock in and clock out to ensure timesheet accuracy. It can be used by companies as a security measure so that guests are where they are permitted to be. It can be used for easy check in and billing and payment verification if there are issues. Biometrics can also be used as a way to collect guest information for example their preferences.
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