Retailers worldwide manifest a strong interest in deploying mPOS solutions over the next couple of years to provide shoppers with more personalized service and payment convenience while gaining countless opportunities to close the sale, a recent report has revealed.

According to a survey issued by US-based communication services provider Motorola Solutions, retailers are embracing mPOS pilots and trials to eliminate the high cost of traditional cash registers and accept customer payments including magnetic stripe and chip and PIN-based credit, debit, gift and loyalty cards, as well as near field communications (NFC) payments via mobile phones. Additionally, 55 percent of polled retailers plan to incorporate the ability to take cash as part of their mPOS operations.

Moreover, the report has shown that 66 percent of retail respondents are interested in mPOS, while 42 percent of retail respondents are currently piloting or starting trials within the next 36 months and the majority is focused on using mPOS for sales associates on the store floor or line-busting.

The survey has also found that more than seven in 10 (71 percent) retailers that indicated interest in mPOS are using or planning to use it to improve customer service and also intend to provide access to inventory management (51 percent), pricing (48 percent) and merchandise returns (42 percent) applications.

Finally, the survey has revealed that 16 percent of polled retailers currently have an mPOS solution deployed, while less than 9 percent have completely mobile or portable checkout systems. On average, retail respondents anticipated replacing more than 36 percent of their fixed POS as a result of migrating to an mPOS.