Article

Check out the two new 'Windows' now open for mobile POS

A new partnership between Microsoft and PayPal opens the door for PayPal Here to run on any device running Windows 8.1, and Panasonic is releasing a new Toughpad, which also runs on Windows 8.1.

February 2, 2015 by Will Hernandez — Editor, NetWorld Media Group

Thinking about moving to a mobile POS system? You've got more options on the table.

A new partnership between Microsoft and PayPal opens the door for PayPal Here to run on any device running Windows 8.1. The move puts Microsoft in a good position to pitch its Surface as an all-in-one solution for restaurants. 

Another Windows 8.1 powered device is also jockeying for a place in restaurant operator's hearts: Panasonic's Toughpad FZ-R1. The pitch for this device is it's rugged enough to endure tough use in a restaurant environment and will last longer than consumer table models.

Some details about the Microsoft/PayPal deal, and Panasonic's Toughpad:

Windows 8.1 and PayPal

The new partnership between Microsoft and PayPal now makes it possible for merchants to accept card payments with PayPal Here on any device that runs the Windows 8.1 operating system. PayPal also released an SDK to enable software developers to create ancillary services such as inventory management and customer engagement programs such as loyalty that can be paired with PayPal Here on Windows.

Up until recently, PayPal Here was compatible only with iOS and Android devices. PayPal's partnership with Microsoft gives it yet another conduit into the physical world and a leg up on similar providers such as Amazon Local Register, Intuit GoPayment or Square, whose dongles are not compatible with Windows devices.

"To me, the most important piece [of the mobile point-of-sale market] is to provide solutions that are flexible enough to meet the needs of all types of merchants, and that's why this partnership with Microsoft is so important for us," Brad Brodigan, PayPal's vice president of retail at PayPal, told Mobile Payments Today. "Not only are we providing the PayPal application on the Windows network, but we're also providing the PayPal Here SDK to the developer network to create customized services."

Enhancing customer engagement

Brodigan expects most of the services developers create for Windows will focus on customer engagement, which was a much-discussed topic at the recent NRF Big Show. Retailers want to solidify a link between the mobile and in-store experiences, but often fail to find the most beneficial way to do so because, as one panelist at NRF put it, merchants are not technology companies. That's where something like SDKs come into play to enable third-party developers to create new experiences for retailers, especially small and medium-sized businesses.

In PayPal's case, the combination of its consumer-facing app that has a photo check-in feature with Here can create different engagement opportunities for merchants.

"The most important piece [of mobile payments] is loyalty," Brogan said. "If you implement that type of loyalty in smart interaction environment, it's incredibly powerful.

"It's all about differentiating the experience, knowing who your customer is and getting to know them in a better way, and then acquiring and retaining customers better than your competition. That's the promise of mobile payments."

An all-in-one solution

As for Microsoft, the PayPal partnership fulfills a vision the company had for its newest Surface when it was released last year.

"One of the things we bet on was this exact scenario," Panos Panay, the corporate vice president for Surface, said during the luncheon about the tablet's ability to act as an mPOS device.

Microsoft's pitch for the new Surface is simple: It's a tablet intended to replace your laptop. The idea for the Surface is that a store associate can let it sit in a docking station and then pick it up at a moment's notice to roam the store with a customer and accept payment, view inventory selection and initiate other types of engagement the merchant wants to implement. And at the end of the day, a business owner can take the Surface home and manage their operations remotely.

"We're trying to push the Surface's flexibility as a computer and tablet," Panay said. "You have to step back and believe you have two devices in one."

PayPal also recently announced that it will release an EMV contactless-enabled reader in the U.S. later this year. The reader is already available in Australia and the U.K.

A POS that can take a beating

Panasonic is previewing its Toughpad FZ-R1, which will roll out later this year, before the EMV merchant liability switch in October.

Panasonic touts the device as the first of its kind: a seven-inch, all-in-one mobile POS tablet running Windows 8.1 for retail environments. The tablet features an integrated EMV reader (no separate dongle needed) with a PIN pad, a mag stripe reader and the ability to accept NFC-enabled mobile payments thanks to an antenna that runs around the device.

The Toughpad FZ-R1 is designed to take a beating in environments – like restaurants -- that might not be suited for a consumer tablet.

"A lot of retailers are experimenting with peripheral devices and what they're telling us is that they're not standing up to those [in-store] conditions," Dan Diliberti, senior product development manager for tablet and payment systems at Panasonic North America, told Mobile Payments Today. "A lot of them say they don't mind paying $200 for a consumer tablet because they'll just buy another one when it breaks."

Diliberti said the Toughpad FZ-R1 is meant to last three to five years.

Windows 8.1

Retailers can load their own applications to the device since it runs on the Windows 8.1 operating system.

"Retailers might not all adopt EMV by 2015, but they want something that is future proof," Diliberti said. "They want to know the tech they buy today will be usable in the next five years."

For the moment, Panasonic will market the Toughpad FZ-R1 to larger operations, Diliberti said. The ideal environment for the tablet is one where the device can blend in with the merchant's image. Panasonic eventually will make the tablet available to small and medium-size retailers, he said.

Image courtesy of Wikipedia.

About Will Hernandez

---

Will Hernandez has 14 years of experience ranging from newspapers to wire services and trade publications. Before becoming Editor of MobilePaymentsToday.com, he spent two years as the content manager for PaymentsJournal.com, a leading payments industry news aggregator and information hub published by Mercator Advisory Group. Will spent four years covering the payments industry as an associate editor for multiple publications in SourceMedia's Payments Group based in Chicago.

Connect with Will: