This weeks roundup has a few interesting point of sale announcements. Xsilva, the company that offers LightSpeed Point of Sale software for Mac user has released a new promising version. We then feature a website that has an incredible demonstration of using an iPhone with a new Mobile POS application called GBmobile. If you have ever had any doubts about investing in a mobile point of sale solution, watch this video and think again as you run to purchase an iPod. The third POS headline we focus on this week is a reminder for small retailers that are running a point of sale software that’s based on the Windows Operating System. Microsoft is ending security support for it’s long time stable Windows XP and retailers need to know the consequences of not upgrading their core OS software.
Our retail news of the week was slim, which we assume is good considering the majority of news takes on a bad tone. The fourth article we feature this week is more of a fun read but it could actually help some small businesses owners connect with their customers, it’s an article listing the top ten people in America who influence shoppers. You should stick around for this one because you might sell a product that would relate to one of these ten people to a potential customer. The last article we focus on is sort of a different subject relating to small retailers and social media. It’s a short tip on informing and teaching your employees about your business relationship with the various social media outlets.
1. Xsilva Systems releases LightSpeed 3.1 – This Mac POS software has been reviewed on our site and is one of the premiere point of sale software suites for the Apple Macintosh also known as the “Mac”. The LightSpeed POS popularity is largely due to the ease of use, simplicity and functionality of the versatile software. The company has enhanced the PCI security compliance, many setup fe
atures, customer merging features, matrix improvements and even the implementation of emailing customer receipts which is becoming a more frequent request with the use of the iPhone as a POS terminal. Visit the Lightspeed 3.1 full features page to see the amazing functionality of this point of sale software.
2. GBmobile Mobile Point of Sale: iPod Touch – I’m a sucker for a video demonstrating new technology that is functional and easy to use. That’s what happened when I happened upon this video looking through the weekly small retail news. The video showcases the use of an app called GBmobile on an iPhone with an adapter that reads credit cards. Watch as the person easily scans a barcode (also allows for manual price entry), swipes the credit card, processes the transaction and prints a POS receipt via a wireless printer…you’ll be amazed and it might even get the wheels turning for you to start looking into a mobile point of sale system for your small retail business.
3. Sluggish corporate ill-prepared for death of Win XP SP2 support – This announcement is a heads up to all small retailers that have point of sale terminals running Windows XP SP2. In today’s sluggish economy there
may be many small businesses that can’t afford to upgrade the core software of their POS. Microsoft will discontinue support for the Security Upgrades that are required for this software by the end of the year. Read more about how this will affect your business if you’re running Windows XP.
4. Top ten people who influence American shoppers – The Retail Customer Experience is an excellent place to find the latest retail industry news and this week is no exception. This article lists the top ten people in the public eye including politics, entertainment and business, that influence what shoppers purchase in the United States.
“For the last two decades, Americans believed bigger was better—from the size of our houses to our cars to the amount of food on our dinner plates. But the economic recession, coupled with other factors like the green movement, is fundamentally changing American attitudes,” said Benett.
5. Share the Social Media Knowledge – We are not going to spoil this short but informative article by giving you a brief summary instead I will post one quote form the article that I know will get your attention:
“Its frustrating when you try to use a promotion from Twitter and the store associate asks, “what’s Twitter?””