Multi-Unit Franchisee Magazine Issue IV, 2015 | Page 69
Technology BY TOM EPSTEIN
EMV, POS, and the Cloud
Get more features for less cost
S
o, you just found out your POS
system needs a software and
hardware upgrade to support
EMV (“smart chip”) technology and you missed the October 1st
implementation date. For months,
your POS vendor has been telling you
it was coming, but they continued to
push you off with vague information as
to when they would be ready for you
and your franchise locations. Now they
say they’re ready, you need to upgrade
right away, and it’s going to cost a few
thousand dollars per location.
Sound familiar? By now you know
you surely should have done the upgrades by October 1st. But if you didn’t,
just as with Y2K, the sky did not fall
and the Earth did not stop turning.
While you may be happy that you
haven’t had to spend any money (yet)
to upgrade, you’re getting more and
more worried about being behind in
getting the EMV readers.
As if POS and EMV weren’t enough,
you also have other technology issues and likely a small IT department.
Wouldn’t it be nice if you could connect your mobile app, loyalty program,
enterprise reporting/central data hub,
payroll/timekeeping, inventory management system, menus, implement
pay-at-the-table (for food brands),
and have a mobile payments app (like
Starbucks), etc.?
But you’re stuck because your current POS system cost many thousands
of dollars to install at each of your locations, and your POS vendor has no real
interest in doing all of these integrations. After all, don’t they have some
of those things already built into their
out-of-date software that does some of
what you want, but not nearly to the
level you need? I’m fairly sure they’ve
quoted you a pretty steep number for
for doing the upgrades you need, and
a pretty long delivery date.
Future-proofing
Still with me, or have you already headed
to the bar for a stiff drink? Before mak-
The traditional
expensive box
your locations are
likely using today
is a thing of the
past. You could
very likely upgrade
your locations to a
cloud-based POS
system that runs
on a tablet.
In its annual survey, “POS
Software Trend Report 2015,”
Hospitality Technology asked
merchants to rank the top
functions they’re looking for
with their next POS upgrade.
Here’s how they responded.
59% Integration into mobile
technology, payments
via customer’s mobile
devices
57% More robust loyalty
tools
57% Tablet-based POS
47% Integration into other
systems (reporting,
payroll, accounting)
39% Online POS
37% Enterprise-wide/
centralized POS
35% Inventory management
33% Social media
integration
ing a decision on EMV readers, now
is the time to re-examine your overall
technology landscape with your POS
as the hub. The traditional expensive
box your locations are likely using
today is a thing of the past. You could
very likely upgrade your locations to a
cloud-based POS system that runs on
a tablet with a Bluetooth-connected
cash drawer and receipt printer—all for
less than you would spend just getting
your current POS upgraded for EMV.
There are hundreds of tablet POS
systems hitting the market and gaining
share over the traditional POS systems
by leaps and bounds. This is a new business model where you will be paying
a monthly service fee for access to the
POS in the cloud. With that comes all
of the flexibility to pull enterprise-level
reporting from your franchisees, push
menu items and pricing down to them,
and pull in data that marries the transactions that happen at the POS with
your loyalty and marketing programs.
Want to add pay-at-the-table? Instead
of buying the mobile unit your current
POS provider wants to sell you for up
to $1,000 per unit, you can instead use
much less expensive Apple or Android
devices. Want to take Apple Pay and
Android Pay for NFC transactions?
The tablets can do that as well. Want
to scan a coupon code presented by
a customer on their phone? Yep, the
tablets can do that too.
Seriously, what are you waiting for?
If you are going to have to spend money
on upgrades anyway this year, why not
spend a little less and get everything
you need? Bring your franchise locations into compliance with EMV and
be able to achieve many of your other
technology goals at the same time—
with less disruption to your life and
your bottom line.
Tom Epstein is CEO
and founder of Franchise
Payments Network, an electronic payments processing
company dedicated to helping franchisors and their
franchisees improve system
performance, increase revenue, and reduce
expenses. Contact him at tomepstein@
franchisepayments.net or 866-420-4613
x1103.
MULTI-UNIT FRANCHISEE IS S U E IV, 2015
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