Restrict BYOD for POS

You know POS means “Point of Sale.” An article in this month’s National Retail Federation “Stores” wants you to know BYOD means “Bring Your Own Device,” which refers in the realm of retailing to employees bringing their personal mobile devices for use when working in the store.
     Mobile devices help you and your staff keep up with the consumers. If shoppers know you’re out-of-stock before your sales staff do, the shoppers might think the staff are dumb bunnies. So it was of concern that in a survey of 545 retail store associates conducted by Research Now a while back, about 55% said that mobile devices and online shopping tools are allowing customers to be better informed than the sales staff are about a store’s inventory levels. You’ll want to provide your staff with up-to-date inventory information to buttress their reputations.
     The mobile devices can be useful in other ways, too:

• During brief breaks from serving shoppers and restocking merchandise, staff can send email messages to good customers, tempting them to come on in again 
• Staff can complete online training modules or access human resources information while remaining on the sales floor ready to greet all incoming business. 

     Risks lurk in employees using their own mobile devices for certain POS functions. And even when the store issues mobile devices to employees, there’s a clear trend for the employees to still bring in their own. The “Stores” article reports that of staff saying they use a smartphone at work, 67% have chosen the device, while only 15% are using a smartphone issued by the employer. Your staff are likely to be more comfortable interfacing with their familiar mobile devices, and using their devices on-the-job allows the employees to also attend to personal matters, like emailing friends, undetected.
     Think through the implications and set clear expectations. If a salesperson can use their own device to scan an item to speed the checkout process, it’s good, but if the salesperson then asks to enter the customer’s credit card information on the salesperson’s device, it’s bad. With the high turnover rates in retailing, compared to other business sectors, you’ll also want to consider that security policies which fit those other sectors might not be adequate for you.
     The BYOD Rubicon has been crossed. There’s no turning back. Formulate and promulgate the specifications your employees and shoppers will need in order to make BYOD profitable.

Click below for more: 
Impress Customers with Your Staff’s Expertise 
Handle Employee Dishonesty Consistently 
Fight Employee Theft With Expectations