2017 Outlook: Eight POS Trends To Watch

By Stephen Bergeron, V.P. of Global Marketing, APG Cash Drawer, LLC

Each new year brings changes, reaffirmation of trends and patterns, and new developments. In the retail and hospitality space, expect to see in 2017 a continuation of the trend toward mobility, cloud-based solutions and the emergence of Unified Commerce strategies. Some belt-tightening is also likely as these industries wade through economic and political uncertainties, particularly in Europe.

Here’s a forward look at the coming year:

1. Tablet POS Continues to Grow

We are seeing more and more customers, in the U.S. and globally requesting product designed for tablets and mobile POS. There is a difference: Although both solutions are typically cloud-based and thin client-based, one is stationary and the other is well, mobile. This aligns with a trend in hospitality, convenience, retail and service stations to use tablets for checkout and data access. With mPOS gaining traction, especially in the SMB space, heavy-duty peripherals are giving way to more cost-effective hardware. Rather than spending thousands of dollars on POS components, companies now are spending hundreds.