Not your father’s POS system

Here is something to tickle your retail supply chain – we are under 50 days until Christmas. Avoiding the debate over the mass commercialization of the holidays, the reality is that consumers will, or already have, started their shopping engines. With so many retailers dependent on good holiday sales, for example Lego moves 50% of their sales between Thanksgiving and Christmas, the ability to properly capture orders is vital.

The POS (point of sale) systems, whether in brick and mortar or on line, are the vital touch point between the consumer and the commerce supply chain. Like with the majority of technologies, this has been impacted by the digital wave. POS systems are not longer limited to the larger systems synonymous with the corner store – remember the ones where numbers would pop up once the large typewriter like buttons were pressed. These systems have evolved into a new range of sleek mobile devices, and those large legacy systems are now smarter. POS systems are also getting into greater areas and increasing their reach – supply chains need to craft strategies about how to take advantage of the new data as well as the new places POS systems will pop up.

For example:

• The POS systems in the air. Those us that have been flying long enough remember the days when we were served a meal and drinks as part of our overall plane ticket. Today if you want a scotch on the rocks and a can of Pringles, you need to pay for these items. Airlines have put mobile POS devices in the hands of their staff to take your payment. Rather than just using these as order taking machines, airlines like Delta Airlines have made these mobile devices a much more valuable part of their supply chain. Beyond just taking payments, the mobile devices are enabled to communicate about customer and maintenance issues. So if the passenger in seat 7a voices a legitimate complaint, Delta employees can use the POS system to give that passenger 10,000 miles. If a seat is found to be broken or an overhead can’t open, the flight attendants can use the system to communicate the problem and location to the destination airport and schedule the appropriate maintenance.
• Infusing retail into other entertainment channels. We have all used to having to walk through the store when we leave a museum, zoo, aquarium or other attraction. But what about the movies? Get ready for your phone to become part of a POS system for the movie theater. I am not speaking of the POS when you are ordering your over-sized tub of popcorn, but post movie viewing. For example – you go see the Transformer movie, once the movie is over as you are leaving the theater there are QR codes on promotional posters at the exit and even pop up kiosks where you can scan your phone to find where to get the latest Transformer toy. There could potentially be a 3D printer right there allowing you to get your item made in place. If you scan the product at the movie theater you may be given a discount – incentive consumer to make transaction at that point. Your portable POS systems – aka your smart phone – will have an app that allows for this to happen and could also communicate with the closest Target, WalMart or other retail channel that carries the item. Or even tie back to Amazon and have the eCommerce giant dispatch your item immediately.

Of course there remains a continued evolution in mobile POS, companies like Square and Apple are allowing anyone with a tablet and connectivity to run mobile POS systems. Retailers can start looking at these mobile POS systems as great data sources – where do most of the transactions happen on the store floor? Are there still locations for impulse purchase displays? Can you tie these mobile terminals into the inventory systems? A prospective buyer is looking for a specific piece of cookware at William Sonoma. The item is there but the consumer wants it in sky blue. Using the mobile terminal the associate helping that consumer can instantly scan the inventory at different stores, identify where an item can be secured and ship directly to the store or to the consumer. The mobile device should also be able to pull up the consumer’s profile: are they a loyal shopper? If so the associate should have the ability to waive shipping costs or expedite the product.

Supply chains need to think of their POS systems as Point of Service, not sales. In a world of Matrix Commerce, these are the intersection points between the consumer and the commerce supply chain where the digital reality has great impact. How companies take advantage of this will determine who leads and who is a laggard.

 

The end of an era – Blackberry goes private

Okay okay, Blackberry will not disappear from the face of consumer electronics, but it is facing its Waterloo and being sent to Saint Helena (for you Napoleon history buffs). Blackberry has to hope that going private and being tucked away on a symbolic island away from prying eyes will allow the once mighty company to rediscover itself.

But can this move help the smart phone manufacturer? Blackberry’s story is well documented. The pioneer of mobile email, it got caught flat footed with the rise of the iPhone and then Android devices. As smart phones moves away from simple email into the world of apps, texting and web browsing, just having a secure email service was not longer the “killer app.” The iPhone and more importantly the App Store open up a world of mobile tools that was ignored by Blackberry. As a former Blackberry user I remember trying to download apps on my device and being frustrated by the lack of choice, the amount of memory it ate up on my phone and the overall lack of user friendliness. Meanwhile some of my colleagues were zipping around on their user friendly touch screen iPhones.

So now Blackberry should have the ability to make some difficult strategic decisions away from the pressures of the public market. What should they do? I still think what I published a few posts ago is the direction they should head in, click here. Being private should make this process smoother.

It is always a little sad to see a once mighty company wither away, much like watching other tech giants like Digital, Wang, Compaq fall away. However it is a good lesson for the likes of Google, Apple, Facebook to realize that the top of the mountain is not a right but something that was earned and has to be constantly worked on to maintain (Apple probably knows this better than the others).

Good luck Blackberry…it was a great ride.

iPhone 6 – a “cheaper” version of the iPhone? Is that really wise?

True to form Apple will release the iPhone 5s later this year, probably scoop up some of those iPhone 4 users who have not yet upgraded. Maybe Apple does not want to lose them to Android…nah no one would make that switch!! Anyways. What is interesting is the rumors that Apple plans to follow that release up with an iPhone 6…but it will not be a generation leap for the phone but more of an inexpensive model to go after emerging markets aka China and India. Wise move or sign that the Jobless company is still struggling to find their innovative fast ball? Going after the likes of China and India makes perfect sense – that is where much of the growth is happening.

Apple needs to get a product into those markets that can compete with the less expensive Android versions as well as the likes of Nokia. Makes good business sense. However, this feels like a shift for our friends at Apple. Couple this with the iPad mini, which from a business stand point made sense – go after the tablet market that was being dominated by the Kindle. The iPad mini coupled with the iPhone 6 and it feels as if Apple is not longer looking to lead with innovation but instead focus on diversifying their existing product portfolio to compete in markets they otherwise ignored. Has the Apple innovation engine run out of steam? Maybe. Or is Apple looking to solidify some of its business, focus on some aspects that could be seen as weak spots in their business. Let us imagine the following:

• Apple leverages the iPad mini to go directly after Amazon with their Kindle. One might argue that introducing the mini has already knocked out one competitor, albeit a weak one, the Nook from Barnes and Noble. While I do not think it will take out the Kindle, it is clearly offering a viable substitute product for those looking for a 7 inch tablet. Apple now has a product that can compete at all levels of the tablet market. Check.
• The new iPhone 6, if it is what the rumors claim, gives Apple a device that can go head to head with the less expensive smart phones. This will give Apple a device that can compete with Nokia, who still has a large ownership of the emerging market. Really this is a play to try and fight off Microsoft and their OS that has, no surprise, been adopted by Nokia! Of course it will also allow for Apple to expand its portfolio to compete with Android.

With Apple putting together some offerings that can get them into a more diverse market, they will then be able to refocus on bring us the “next” innovative device. The iWatch? Refocus on the Television? Enhance the iTunes experience?

Let us see what the next few months hold for Apple. For now I think that what we are seeing a business being run like a more “traditional’ business. It is too much to ask for any company to innovate at the pace they did at the end of the Steve Jobs era. Does this mean that Apple is done innovating? Let us hope not. But making sure your business is taken care of first will allow for Apple to one day be able to get back to giving us innovated consumer devices.

Mobile payments – sh*t about to get real

The mobile wallet is not something new. Companies like PayPal allowing for payment via your mobile app, or square wallet who uses NFC technology and the likes of Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts with apps that allow you to pay directly from your smart phone. Our smart phone is quickly replacing our wallet as the most important personal accoutrement we have. Add to this apps such as Lemon Wallet or Passbook and there are very few things that our wallet can “own” outright compared to our phones. Now comes a new way of paying that moves us out of being tethered to our smartphones and truly embracing any and all mobile devices – the ability to pay via Twitter.

Amex and Twitter have partnered to offer some limited pay via twitter capabilities. Yikes. This opens a whole new world of mobile payments. No longer are you dependent on your device, just need access to Twitter. You could pay through a web enabled watch…like the rumored Apple watch! Or your tablet, your television or gasp…laptop!! It will be interesting to see if this takes off with Twitter. Amex is clearly at the forefront with pushing the envelope, they also try to tie in their gift cards to Foursquare and vendor check ins.

Our world is a changing…

Blackberry…yes they are still around…with their new phone

So the new Blackberry 10 will soon jump into the smart phone battle ground. And it … surprisingly …. shockingly …. looks like an iPhone!!!

I have been on RIM’s case for a while now and this only reinforces my questioning of what is the future for the once mighty smart phone player. RIM needed to do something different, go in a radically different direction. Look at what Samsung is doing – they have a phone that is the size of a Kindle! But it is different. As well as having other phones that are bigger than an iPhone.  Even Microsoft has a phone that has very different look to it because of Windows.

This new Blackberry…looks like a wanna be iPhone. Now the operating system might new and “better”…but does that really matter? I say no. If you cannot get app developers to create apps for your phone than what does the OS matter? RIM needed to do something very different to try and change the trajectory they are on, unfortunately it appears that his new device will only ensure they stay on the course they have been on for a while now – the road to nowhere.