How to use Mobile POS to Encourage Upselling and Cross Selling

How are salespeople using mobile point of sale (mPOS) tablets in their retail store or hospitality premises? The answer is ‘very differently sector by sector’, but they all have the common goal of leveraging the technology to complete a sale that otherwise might not occur while generating compelling customer experiences.

Organisations from Apple to Argos and Zara to Z Gallerie include mPOS as part of their respective in-store armouries when it comes to battling for sales conversions and ramping up revenues.

Upsell and Cross-Sell With mPOS

Depending on the functionality of the software, mPOS enables brands to take orders and complete sales on the shop or restaurant floor, but it can also optimise the commercial opportunity for what in all likelihood is an already-engaged customer.

For a fashion brand, for example, the use of mPOS gives their salespeople a prime opportunity to recommend accessories or complimentary outfits and drive up that average order value (AOV). Using the tablet device, associates can simply display what items a product that is already in a consumer’s basket.

Expert users of mPOS technology in the consumer electronics sector, meanwhile, have in their hand a quick route to displaying an array of alternative models in their brand’s inventory, which might convince a customer to upgrade their order to a higher value item. By showcasing videos and other digital technology on the tablet device, for example, the sales staff have persuasive upselling tools at the tips of their fingers.

It’s amazing how much power the shiny screen can have on consumers, and a friendly shop assistant guiding people through a sale using a tablet device can feel like a personalised, special service.

Multiple Meanings of mPOS

Be it VR, AR, VARs, KPIs, or SLAs, the retail technology landscape is overflowing with acronyms. And that’s just a fraction of those we come across each day.

The mPOS acronym is definitely one that holds resonance, though, because it ticks so many of the boxes modern retail and hospitality organisations are aiming for as they look to create experiential spaces that attract customers time and time again.

For one, the very presence of a mPOS terminal in a store changes the customer service dynamic from static sales desk-based communication to proactive shopper engagement, which can only be beneficial to sales and a customer’s emotional connection with a brand and its people. With the relevant software often installed on top-of-the-range Apple or Samsung devices, the tablets themselves can help a retail or hospitality company convey an image of modernity, too.

The customer relationship management link-up that so many forward-thinking brands have established on their mPOS system also allows for much more personalised interactions because it can help the member of staff understand previous sales history and favoured items.

However, the true strength of mPOS lies in the software’s capacity to be linked to wider stock inventory, giving the salesperson using it all the tools they need to locate relevant or alternative stock in their business and complete a sale even if the required item is not in the store they reside in.

There’s an argument that mPOS in modern retail could stand for “mobile point of service” because it is a technology platform that is really enhancing organisations capacity to deliver more than just sales. Used in the right way, it is a tool to base the modern store around – with salespeople able to access store, customer, fulfilment and product information at the press of a button or swipe of a screen.

It’s a pivotal solution that sits at the intersection of physical and digital retailing, allowing organisations to keep in-store consumers happy and ensure they never lose a sale – and, in many cases, it is proven to drive up a higher AOV, which is something all customer-facing brands are keen to achieve.

iVend Retail is an expert in mPOS solutions – read our Mobile POS Buyer’s Guide for more advice on how to get the best of this technology