Consumer grade devices such as iPads look fine and are extremely on-trend, but these are consumer-grade devices. They’re intended for consumer environments only. They aren’t designed to withstand the rigors of your surroundings, and will eventually fail you until you understand the return on investment (ROI) that you deserve.
Sources:
https://www.connectpos.com/shopify-pos
https://www.connectpos.com/woocommerce-pos
https://www.connectpos.com/magento-pos
https://www.connectpos.com/bigcommerce-pos
Here’s what make lasting tablets a much better option:
Dust and Splash Resistance
At a restaurant, you deal with messes by character. When food and beverages are being served in high ranking places, spills are unavoidable. Consumer-grade devices aren’t constructed to hold up to the dangers which are generally found in restaurants.
Durable tablets which were made for tough environments are far more capable of resisting these rigors. You can tell when a tablet is rugged enough for a restaurant by its Ingress Protection (IP). These evaluations define what the unit is shielded against. Pills with a rating of IP54 or higher offer decent protection from dust, soil, and water which may harm the equipment.
Drop Resistance
A tablet that’s sealed tightly enough to keep things from getting inside is important, but what is on the outside matters also. IPads are notoriously fragile, and the display can crack and shatter when dropped.
At a restaurant environment, servers, kitchen staff, and many others are managing tablets–using them at counters and tables and carrying them back and forth across rooms and around servers balancing heavy trays. There’s a not-insignificant possibility that at some point, your tablets will get lost. You want to be certain that your technology investment isn’t likely to break the first time it hits the floor or counter.
See also:
https://www.connectpos.com/click-and-collect-tips-for-pos-systems
https://www.connectpos.com/why-retailers-embrace-pwa
https://www.connectpos.com/how-saving-retrieving-cart-in-pos-system-boost-retailers
https://www.connectpos.com/pos-solution-for-restaurants-deal-with-challenges
https://www.connectpos.com/pos-review-connectpos-vs-clover-pos
https://www.connectpos.com/tips-for-user-friendly-omnichannel-shopping-journey
https://www.connectpos.com/conquer-cash-flow-on-christmas/
Invest in a durable, rugged tablet that can withstand drops to hard concrete floors and tumbles onto counters. Durable tablets are designed to withstand damage from drops and tumbles which are so typical in commercial environments.
RAM and Processing to Handle Business Applications
Your tablet functions as an extension of your POS system. It bridges the gap between your technology and your servers, and therefore, it ought to have the capability to handle the identical business operations your POS does.
Consumer tablets do not have enough RAM or processing power to handle the intricate tasks that must run your restaurant efficiently. They’re meant for the basic tasks that customers have, and therefore, there is less risk involved because any malfunction or lack of RAM is a private problem for this single consumer.
Commercial-grade, durable tablets come equipped internally with the energy and distance you want to process transactions, process orders, and take inventory quickly and efficiently. They’re more reliable, because companies require that reliability to some level which consumers may not.
Peripheral Support for Future-Proof Use
Consumer-grade devices are not traditionally outfitted to include or accommodate the many peripherals that are essential for additional functionality. Durable pills made for restaurants are flexible enough to scale with you, and can accommodate necessary peripherals for companies, such as:
- Barcode readers/scanners
- EMV and MSR card readers
- NFC capacities for contactless payments
- Biometric support
- 3G and 4G Network connectivity
- And much more
Final Thoughts
While some popular consumer device might initially seem tempting, and may initially appear to be a cost-effective solution, that is not always true, and they might not provide the ROI you’re looking for.
It is important that you take your technology investment seriously, and pick a system that has the power and durability to push you forward, not hold you back.
More sources:
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/offline-mode-in-pos-does-it-matter-to-your-business/
/5-pos-systems-support-offline-mode/
/pos-review-connectpos-magestore-pos/
/pos-review-connectpos-vs-toast-pos/
/why-retailers-follow-omnichannel-trends/
/pos-review-connectpos-vs-square-pos/
/11-tips-reduce-shopping-cart-abandonment/