Choosing the right iPad POS stand for your stores

iPad POS stands are a great alternative to bulky, antiquated point of sale systems. With more versatility in terms of apps and integrations, as well as compatibility with leading printers and payment terminals, iPad POS stands can help modernize in-store experiences for enterprise retailers, C-stores, restaurants, and grocers. 

Choosing the right iPad POS stands for your stores depends on a few different factors. 

Self-checkout or traditional iPad POS stands?

First, you’ll want to consider whether to deploy self-checkout, traditional employee-assisted checkout, or a combination of both. In today’s world, with shoppers who are often in a hurry and prefer to do things themselves, self-checkout has become a necessity for most enterprises. It can help offset long lines during busy hours and free up your employees to help customers with other tasks.

iPad-based self-checkout kiosks come with a range of iPad POS stands and mounts. The most common types are table or countertop mounts, floor stands, and wall-mounted kiosks. Between these three options, you’re likely to be able to find an option that fits any of your brick and mortar environments. 

Traditional, employee-aided iPad POS stands usually sit upon the checkout counter or cash drawer and are paired with a handheld scanner. 

Choosing the right scanning technology

Scanning your products with a barcode scanner is still the simplest, most common way to check out items at a retail or grocery store. Traditional 2D scanners rely on lasers to accurately capture barcodes. Today’s image-based scanners (like the camera in an iPad) can capture traditional barcodes (like UPC and EAN commonly used in retail), but also are able to read 2D codes like QR codes. QR and other 2D codes are increasingly common as more customers are using technologies like scan to pay, where they pay with a QR code on their phone screen by scanning their phone at the self-checkout kiosk. 

An iPad POS stand like Aila’s Interactive Kiosk leverage the iPad’s camera to create a fast and intuitive scanning experience right on the kiosk. The image-based technology on the Interactive Kiosk means it can also scan IDs, driver’s licenses, smartphones, and more. 

Another type of scanner you should consider for your iPad POS stand is a handheld scanner. Handheld scanners are ideal for situations where your shoppers or employees have to scan something that’s too large to fit on the checkout counter. 

iPad POS stand security

While iPad POS stands and iPads themselves can be significantly less expensive than traditional POS systems, it’s still important to safeguard your in-store technology. 

Choosing an iPad POS stand that locks and unlocks with a key that only your employees have access to is a good first line of defense in protecting your devices. 

Aila’s Interactive Kiosk has a barrel lock and a steel faceplate to protect the iPad and cables from theft.  

Additional capabilities

With technology and customer expectations constantly changing, it’s important that your iPad POS stand can do the same. Compatibility with the latest payment attachments—such as those provided by Ingenico and Verifone, as well as receipt printers from Epson, Brother and Star Micronics—is a good way to ensure your iPad POS stand doesn’t become obsolete with the next generation of payment methods.

Deploy an iPad POS stand that can scale seamlessly across thousands of locations

The Interactive Kiosk from Aila is a robust solution for point of sale that integrates with leading payment providers and printers, as well as any POS software for iOS. With intuitive scanning and unmatched enterprise durability, the Interactive Kiosk is ideal for enterprises with hundreds or thousands of locations.