HP debuts mobile point-of-sale tablet for retailers

Palo Alto, Calif. -- HP on Thursday announced the company’s first mobile point-of-sale solution for retailers, intended to help them to deliver a more personalized shopping experience to their customers. The HP Retail Mobile Point-of-Sale Case attaches to the newly announced HP Slate 2 Tablet PC adding an integrated magnetic stripe reader (MSR) and a barcode scanner.



With the new HP solution, salespeople can complete customer transactions anywhere in the store, reducing long lines at fixed checkouts and boosting sales and productivity. Retailers also can use the HP Slate 2’s integrated Wi-Fi or Bluetooth wireless technology to check product availability, find alternate colors and styles, track orders and email customer receipts. The 8.9-inch screen is ideal for employees wanting to share videos or inventory selections with their customers, HP added.



“Providing customers with memorable, differentiated shopping experiences is a key to building loyalty and driving repeat purchases,” said Ray Carlin, general manager and VP, Retail Solutions, HP. “The HP Slate mobile POS solution achieves these goals by increasing the efficiency of the checkout process, engaging customers and offering better, more personalized services.”



According to Greg Buzek, president, IHL Group, a leading research firm for the retail industry, the purchase of tablets for store employees is the biggest trend in retail since stores added Internet as retailers look for new ways to help associates engage customers at a deeper level in the store.



“An advantage of a Windows-based tablet, such as the HP Slate 2, is that it could provide a smoother integration with retailers’ existing software infrastructure and applications, thus lowering their cost of adoption,” Buzek said.



The HP Retail Mobile Point-of-Sale Case will be available in early December in the United States and Canada.