Software is transforming the point-of-sale market from physical reliance on hardware to an increasingly digital and contactless experience. SoftPOS is at the forefront of this evolution, allowing merchants to turn mobile phones into point-of-sale (POS) terminals using NFC.

TSG and Discover collaborated to take a deep dive into SoftPOS. This report contains information about how it works, the current market, and what the future holds. Read now →

What is SoftPOS?

The POS system has evolved greatly over the past decade. From traditional POS systems to mobile POS (mPOS), smartPOS, and now SoftPOS, software has been critical in transforming payment exchanges from a physical process relying on hardware (e.g., cash and plastic) to an increasingly digital and contactless experience.

The POS has grown from the location where a transaction originates to a full-blown business management system, allowing merchants direct insight into the operations and performance of their businesses.

SoftPOS can harness the features of evolving POS technology by:

• Relying on cloud solutions: Resulting in reduced cost, easy access, and continuously updated software and hardware
• Channeling business management: Resulting in increased insight into multiple aspects of an operation from employees and inventory to marketing and analytics
• Enabling omnichannel: Resulting in improved ability to manage complex inventory, fulfillment, and payments
• Leveraging big data: Resulting in higher accessibility to customer and product data

Moreso than its predecessors, SoftPOS allows merchants to easily add terminals to their checkout experience by enabling their mobile phone as a POS terminal using Near Field Communication (NFC) technology.

Learn more in TSG and Discover’s report, SoftPOS: Next Generation Point-of-Sale Solution.

Related: Discover® Tap on Mobile