How much Digitization is good for your Business

This is the era of digitization and everything is happening on the go, in the palm of our hands. The same is the case for sales and POS. There is hardly a business that is not focusing on digitization to expand their market and target global clientele. However, there is a serious hitch in digitization related to POS. You have to make sales to a human who loves to have a “feel or reality” while making a purchase. Unfortunately, higher digitization means everything happening in the virtual world (except the final delivery of the physical product). This robs the buyer from the feeling of buying a “real product” from a “real store” after having a “feeling and touch” of the product. So, the question is; how much digitization should go into your POS system without making it “too un-human”.

The catch point and the catchphrase in the POS industry today; “digitization doesn’t have to be fully digital”. This is a recent realization in the industry that is focused around providing a more “human experience” to the buyer in the race to digitization. It is owing to the fact that over 66% of people love to go to physical stores for shopping.

A final balance needs to be struck in visual communications and physical feel of the product. So how are the smartest players in the POS industry achieving this feat?

Here are a couple of examples from savvy POS to POP (point of purchase):

• Hema Supermarket Chain, China: The Chinese supermarket giant sells fresh products online. However, they offer “onsite” fresh meals prepared physically by a cook. The focus is on merging the online shopping experience with an offline physical experience. The combined effect has a more positive and customer friendly POS experience.
• Etam, a quality lingerie manufacturer offers the customers to make online orders and deliver the merchandise at the client’s home. The client needs to pay only after trying the item and feeling happy with it. This is another example of merging the online shopping experience with the physical feel of the product before making a payment. A smart merger of POS and POP.

These examples of smart mergers are clearly indicative of the importance of keeping the physical feeling of buying in touch with your POS digitization. Be smart and review your POS concept for how you can deploy this concept in your business model.