Contactless Point of Sale: Benefits, Features, and Top Providers

Is your store keeping up with the times — and customer expectations — or is it falling behind? If you’re not exploring contactless point of sale (POS) options, you might not like the answer. 

Picture your checkout counters flowing through swift and secure transactions with no physical contact. Customers breeze through your lines in a hygienic and speedy manner, purchasing their weekly groceries and going on their way efficiently. 

That's the power of contactless payments. The benefits are countless, from minimizing queue times to providing a safer shopping environment. As businesses adapt to changing demands, contactless payments have become increasingly common. So, how can you offer this benefit in your store?

This post walks through the basics of contactless payments. Then, we’ll cover our top three solutions for contactless point of sale systems you can consider for your store. 

What Is a Contactless Point of Sale Solution? 

Before we explore our list of the benefits, features, and top providers for contactless point of sale systems, let’s look at the trend of contactless payments. 

Contactless payments have become increasingly popular in recent years, especially as consumers look for safer, more convenient ways to pay. A contactless point of sale solution enables customers to check out without physically inserting or swiping a card.

A contactless POS uses one of two technologies to process payments. Near-field communication (NFC) or radio frequency identification (RFID) technologies allow customers to tap or wave compatible credit cards, smart devices, or wristbands over a terminal to make their payment. 

Related Read: The Importance of Mobile Pay and Contactless Payments

The first major contactless cards and readers emerged around 2007. Adoption started slow, but the technology has rapidly advanced and become mainstream in the last five years. In the modern market, flexible, low-touch payments have become essential for stores focused on speed, convenience, and safety. Contactless POS solutions deliver on all fronts.

Armed with this information, let’s further explore the features and benefits of contactless point of sale systems. 

Key Features of Contactless Point of Sale 

Contactless Payment Acceptance

The first critical feature of a contactless point of sale is, of course, the ability to accept contactless payments. A contactless POS system lets customers tap their card or device to complete transactions. You’ll want to find a solution that accepts payments from:

• Major card brands like Visa, Mastercard, and American Express
• Popular digital wallets like Apple Pay and Google Pay

Related Read: 4 Top Retail POS Systems for Small Markets

Security Measures

Another critical feature you need in your contactless point of sale system is robust security. Contactless payments are more secure than standard credit card transactions as long as your solution has the proper encryption and tokenization methods to safeguard your customers’ payment card data. 

When you use a contactless POS solution with the right security methods, actual credit card numbers are never exposed or transmitted. Instead, a unique identification token is generated for each transaction. This measure protects against fraud and ensures your store complies with PCI regulations for electronic transactions. 

Integration With Loyalty Programs

Customer loyalty programs can help you boost your sales and win return business. However, if your loyalty program doesn’t integrate with your payment system, it can be a headache to manage. As a result, another key feature of a strong contactless point of sale system is integration with your customer loyalty programs. 

When your systems are integrated, customers can still earn loyalty points, redeem rewards, and receive tailored offers when paying with mobile wallets or contactless cards. No disruption to their benefits occurs simply because they paid tap-to-go.

Ease of Integration and Future-Ready Technology

Finally, you need to select a contactless point of sale system that allows you to enjoy the benefits of offering contactless payments without tearing your hair out. How can you achieve this? Selecting a provider that offers easy integration! 

Find a solution that allows you to add contactless readers and payment gateways without immediately replacing current POS software and hardware. This approach provides flexibility for a phased rollout. Plus, the systems leverage industry standards like EMV and NFC that establish long-term interoperability and support new payment methods as they arise. In this way, you can future-proof your store against the next payment technology before it hits the mainstream in the retail market. 

Benefits of Contactless Point of Sale 

Quick Checkout Experience

One of the key advantages of contactless point of sale solutions is your ability to speed up transaction times. Customers can pay with a simple tap instead of inserting their card and waiting for chip approval. This change enables fast grocery store checkout experiences customers appreciate. 

Implement a point of sale system with the power to support these faster transactions to fully leverage these benefits and eliminate long wait times during rush periods. 

Enhanced Customer Experience

One of the most significant benefits of offering contactless payments in your store is the smoother, speedier checkout experience it offers customers. Tapping a card or device takes only seconds, reducing wait times during busy shopping periods. 

The ability to pay and go without hassle keeps customers happy, while complying with PCI guidelines and providing secure transactions. An easy, uncomplicated payment process also enhances accessibility for your less tech-savvy customers. Contactless POS caters to modern expectations by providing a quick, seamless checkout that improves customer satisfaction. 

Related Read: Grocery Checkout: The Definitive Guide To Optimize Your Checkout Experience

Hygienic Transactions

Recently, many customers and retailers have become more aware of health safety concerns. Another benefit of contactless point of sale solutions is that contactless payments offer more hygienic transactions. 

Customers can complete purchases without touching terminals or sharing pens and keypads. This technology minimizes contact with high-touch surfaces in public spaces. Touch-free payment methods provide a safer retail environment during health events when sanitization and social spacing are crucial. In other words, contactless POS systems support the “new normal” of more mindful interactions.

Improved Operational Efficiency

Contactless payments are faster and more efficient for customers — and your store. With these solutions, your cashiers can serve more customers in less time. Long wait times and lines are minimized, even during peak hours and weekend rushes. 

This optimization of front-end operations is invaluable for high-traffic retailers like grocery stores. With notoriously low profit margins, grocery stores thrive on high sales volumes. With contactless payments, you can serve more customers without adding more registers or cashiers. The collective time savings from contactless purchases allow your store to reallocate resources to other priorities.

Adaptability to Modern Preferences

Do you want your customers to see your store as a modern, convenient place to shop… or a tired old store that is behind the times? Most store owners would prefer the former. Offering contactless payments gives your customers the flexibility, convenience, and simplicity they expect from their shopping experiences. 

This modern appeal is especially important if your store wants to cater to younger demographics like Millennials and Gen Z customers. Younger customers expect stores to offer payment options and services that fit their on-the-go lifestyle. Allowing quick tap-and-go payment via mobile devices aligns with these expectations. Adapting to this shift helps attract and retain customers across demographics.

Data Analytics and Informed Decision-Making

Finally, your contactless point of sale system can offer your store valuable data and customer insights you can use to make better decisions for your store. 

Transaction data reveals changing purchasing patterns across payment types, store locations, and demographics. You can use this data to identify peak visiting hours to optimize staffing. Basket size metrics can also help you tailor promotions and inventory. Over time, data analysis enables a better understanding of your shoppers. If you decide to expand, you can use this understanding to inform pricing, layouts, and new locations. A strong contactless point of sale provider will offer reports and analytics that allow you to tap into this data and grow your store. 

Top Contactless Point of Sale Providers 

Markt POS

Markt POS offers a cloud-based point of sale for markets and grocery stores. The system includes POS hardware, software, and built-in reporting tools tailored to grocery operations.

Features:

• Integrated e-commerce platform
• Customer loyalty programs
• Robust reporting and analytics
• Custom pricing, promotions, and discounts

Markt POS offers pricing on their website by custom quote.

POS Nation

POS Nation provides a robust grocery POS system with cloud-based access. The software seamlessly integrates with POS hardware like scales, scanners, and label printers.

Features:

• Detailed sales analytics and reporting
• Order management and supplier integrations
• Automated promotions and customer engagement
• Mobile back office management
• Custom loyalty programs

POS Nation offers customized pricing on their website based on your hardware and software needs.

IT Retail

IT Retail delivers an all-in-one point of sale solution for independent grocers, specialty markets, and butchers. Our system streamlines operations, offering enterprise-level functionality with small-business customer support and customization — giving you all the features you need to run your grocery store. 

Features:

• Centralized pricing and promotion management
• E-commerce integration
• Real-time inventory management
• Real-time reporting on sales data
• Supply chain integration
• Self-checkout integration
• Security and compliance tools

Our pricing is available on our website using our transparent build and price tool. You can create the perfect point of sale system for your store and see the price you can expect to pay — before you book a call.

Maximize the Effectiveness of Your Contactless Point of Sale 

Adopting contactless point of sale technology is no longer optional in the modern market. Today, it’s essential for any retailer looking to meet customer expectations. Shoppers expect tap-to-pay options wherever they shop — and if your store doesn’t offer these options, you risk falling behind and losing repeat business.

But offering contactless payments is only one piece of the puzzle regarding running a profitable grocery store or market. If you want to easily manage your store and maximize profit margins, you need robust inventory management, customer loyalty programs, and data analytics. 

IT Retail offers all these features and more. Our solution is designed for grocery stores and markets, combining contactless transactions with grocery-specific features like deli scale compatibility, customizable hotkeys, and unlimited SKUs. Most importantly, our system provides data-driven insights to guide smarter merchandising, purchasing, and customer engagement.

Schedule a demo of IT Retail today to see how a point of sale solution created with grocers in mind can help you run your store more smoothly and efficiently.