Think about the last time you bought a coffee or completed the self-checkout process at a retail store: You might have used a tablet or phone. Cafes, restaurants, and retailers alike are all leveraging tablets and smartphones for POS (point of sales), kiosks, signage, proximity marketing, and more.
So, it shouldn’t come as a surprise to know the global mobile POS market size was valued at USD 36.07 billion in 2022. It’s no wonder 93% of retailers expect an increase in the use of mobile devices in stores by 2025 and 83% of retailers anticipate an increased amount of technology deployed in stores.
A major factor driving the mobile POS market is the increasing demand for businesses to improve the customer experience. Customers get to avoid long lines, view image-centric menus and catalogues, or quickly e-sign waivers in a matter of seconds. It’s empowering for customers to have more control over their retail experience. And this experience can be offered thanks to powerful mobile devices and software that work together. Samsung Galaxy devices and Knox Suite, a powerful devices management solution, can be used by IT admins to create a kiosk to allow customers to browse a product catalogue, search for the exact product they’re looking for, order what they need, and more.
However, customer usage is only half the story. According to the Global Shopper Study, 28% of retail employees claim that it’s difficult to obtain information quickly enough to help shoppers. The solution? Mobile-device-based stock management. Never again will a retail employee at a shoe store have to stare at walls of inventory, scouring the stacks of cardboard shoeboxes to maybe find the right colour and size requested by a customer. With a tablet in hand, the employee can quickly search and see what product is available in a matter of seconds. If there’s no stock at the current location, they can quickly order from another store or process an online order right then and there for the customer.
Needless to say, mobile devices will continue to transform the retail experience for employees. But, don’t just take our word for it, read about how Walmart uses Knox Suite for device and Wi-Fi network analytics, loss prevention, device customization, and more.
Read on to learn more about how your business can leverage tablets, smart phones, and powerful software solutions to drive more revenue and improve both the customer and employee experience.
Save even more time: hardware and software that work together
The options to enhance your retail business with tablets and smartphones are infinite. That is, if you have the right hardware and software.
Pairing smart devices with powerful software solutions is the secret to making transformative gains to productivity and revenue. By utilizing the all-in-one device management software, Knox Suite, retailers can improve productivity and save their employees valuable time that can be re-allocated into revenue-driving activities.
Three ways Knox Suite can enhance productivity in retail
1. Turning mobile devices into kiosks
IT admins can quickly turn Samsung Galaxy devices into a dedicated retail tool, using a Knox Manage Kiosk.
Knox Suite’s Kiosk Wizard feature allows IT admins to build, configure, and optimize Galaxy devices for specific business purposes. In this case; creating a kiosk to allow customers to browse a product catalogue or empower employees to access work apps such as an inventory management or POS system tool. Knox Kiosk mode allows IT admins to fully limit the applications that can be used. For example, customers and employees using the tablets won’t be able to use apps other than those set by the IT admin. They also won’t be able to change Bluetooth or Wi-Fi settings. This ensures the device is only used for its intended business purpose.
Ultimately, it’s quick and seamless to deploy a fully-customizable mobile kiosk to your employees.
Key Benefits:
- Drag and drop the apps you want
- All other apps won’t be allowed to run
- Select the settings you want employees to be able to toggle (language, Wi-Fi, sound, etc.).
And if any challenges arise, IT admins can use remote support to quickly resolve issues, without any action needed from the user. Learn more about Kiosk Mode by watching this video tutorial.
2. Re-mapping hardware keys
Another way Samsung Galaxy devices can be utilized in the retail environment to save employees’ time, is by utilizing device key remapping. Hardware keys on rugged Galaxy devices can be mapped to trigger specific app functions.
For example, one could press the side key on a non-rugged device to launch a push-to-talk (PTT) app, or press the top key on a rugged device to launch a camera or navigation app. In fact, IT admins can even leverage device key remapping to run a smart barcode scanning solution like Knox Capture. This would allow employees to quickly access smart scanning features in seconds.
Learn more about Knox Capture: An easy way to do single, selective, or all-at-once batch scanning for a wide range of barcode types.
3. Device reports
Knox Suite offers helpful device usage reports. These include charge event insight. This report shows IT admins the number of times devices connected to a battery charger during a selected reporting period. This information can help IT admins determine if users are charging their devices too often (which can result from excessive battery drain), or if users are not charging their devices regularly (which can lead to device down-time and loss of productivity). Read more about charge events.
To further enhance productivity, network latency response times allow IT admins to see which IP addresses or domains have the longest response time or don’t respond at all to device requests. This data can help you troubleshoot possible issues related to the application server, for various device groups across the organization. Read more about network latency insights.
4. Device power setting
Lastly, IT admins can configure Samsung Galaxy devices to power on/off automatically when they’re connected and disconnected from a power source. For example, let’s say your business runs a grocery retail store; when the store opens and turns on the power, all devices automatically turn on. As a result, the staff don’t have to manually switch on each device in the store. Another way to save resources comes at closing time: Turning off the store's main power will also turn off the devices’ power. This is a win for the organization, as it saves electricity while ticking another action item off the list for closing staff members: No manual work is required to shut off devices for the night. Read more about device power settings.
The future of retail is digital
The many advantages of utilizing software-based solutions and powerful Samsung Galaxy devices are clear. And now is the perfect time to try Knox Suite for yourself.
All you need is a Samsung device and you can try a 90-day free trial of the entire Knox Suite platform. Test out the Knox Manage Kiosk, re-map hardware keys, and view in-depth device insights reports at a glance. Try Knox Suite for 90 days.
