Use cases

PhonePOS - contactless payment acceptance via your smartphone

Because SoftPOS apps can be used on practically any NFC-enabled device to accept contactless card payments, new scenarios (use cases) in which SoftPOS appears are constantly emerging.

Among small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), miscellaneous food stores, restaurants, hairdressers, cab drivers and bars nowadays carry out a particularly large number of SoftPOS transactions, mostly on the business owner’s smartphone.

Enterprises have the following SoftPOS use cases:

Retail

For everyone

Queue busting: When long queues form at the central checkouts, additional store employees are assigned to scan goods with their handhelds and accept card payments.
Emergency cash register: Retailers in all sectors want to protect themselves against a failure of the central cash register, ideally by equipping all handhelds in circulation with a SoftPOS app and using them as payment terminals in an emergency.

For certain product ranges

Mobile checkout for advice-intensive purchases: A consumer who receives individual advice, for example when shopping for fashion items, jewelry, furniture or electronic goods, can pay the sales consultant directly without having to queue at a central checkout. This creates a personalized shopping experience and motivates the customer to visit the store again.
Mobile checkout for time-critical purchases: If a grocery shop sells flowers or sausage rolls, customers can pay for such goods, which are usually bought in a hurry, at a central checkout without having to wait, at the seller's handheld device.
Home delivery service: Retailers such as furniture stores that deliver goods to their customers' homes and, if necessary, also furnish them, can charge for this service on mobile devices such as smartphones or handhelds.

In self-service situations

In self-service situations: Self-scanning with payment at the mobile scanner Large grocery retailers want to give customers the opportunity to pay for their own scanned goods using the same mobile scanner, for example a Zebra PS30.
Self-checkout with payment on the touch screen: Self-checkout device manufacturers are increasingly installing an NFC antenna behind the screen in order to be equipped to accept contactless card payments via SoftPOS.

At the central cash desk

Logistics

Delivery services

Cash-on-delivery: In Eastern and Southern Europe, customers pay for their online purchases at the door much more often (30% of cases on average in Hungary and 7% in Spain) than in Germany (1.5% of cases)1 . Giving suitable change or carrying an extra payment terminal is extremely inconvenient for the courier, so they prefer to receive a contactless card payment via SoftPOS app on their parcel scanner. In Latin America, carrying cash is also a security risk, which is why some delivery services do not cover rural areas at all. SoftPOS brings additional added value here. References: Correos (Spanish Post with partner NTTData)
Customs duties: Customs duties, for example for goods imported from Asia, are often levied on delivery. If the amount cannot be paid in cash to the cent, the goods are taken to the nearest collection point. A corresponding additional expense for suppliers and customers can be avoided by paying by card at the supplier's scanner.

Gastronomy

Restaurant chains: Payment on the same mobile device on which the order is taken can be made possible by a SoftPOS app integrated into the checkout app. This saves the operator and the customer time by eliminating the need to bring a separate payment terminal to the table.
Event organizers: At music festivals, for example, a many consumers have to be served in mass operation. The SoftPOS solution, which can be easily distributed to existing mobile devices, is superior to extra payment terminals.
Arenas: In soccer arenas, so-called sprinters distribute beer in the stands. Payment is preferably accepted via a SoftPOS app.

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