The following post is a guest blog by our partner company, Cayan, which provides payment solutions for businesses in any industry. Point of Rental Software integrates with Cayan to give our customers a variety of payment processing options.

Pay anywhere—the ability to move beyond a countertop and use payment acceptance solutions like in-aisle checkout, self-checkout, pay-at-the-table, and more—is a concept that industry analysts have long said is the future of payments. Yet it still hasn’t achieved widespread use here in America.

Now, with the recent arrival of better pay anywhere solutions, many think that the tipping point is close. So what’s all the hype about this important technology?

The major benefits
Pay anywhere lets businesses give their customers the attention required to make more sales and improve the customer experience.

Today’s consumers are researching competitors’ prices as they walk around the store with smartphones in hand. They’re looking for the perfect item, and they’re looking in multiple stores and websites—if no one helps them find the right option where they are, they’ll seek out another store.

But a personalized experience makes all the difference—43% of shoppers who interact with a store associate are more likely to make a purchase. That’s because no one knows a store’s inventory better than its associates, and that’s what’s so powerful about pay anywhere. By eliminating the countertop, former cashiers can now walk the aisles, showing customers their choices, making personalized recommendations, and closing the sales right there.

Whether a retailer is moving cashiers into the aisle with mobile acceptance solutions, or simply eliminating cashiers with self-checkout options, pay anywhere allows businesses to engage consumers more closely. Customers will leave more satisfied, and tickets will be bigger.

And it’s not only about moving into the aisle, it’s about moving beyond the brick and mortar store, too. These days, as cities are thriving and supporting local commerce, there are out-of-the-box opportunities constantly. For retailers, pay anywhere opens a huge amount of new opportunities. Want to have a sidewalk sale to entice pedestrians who never noticed you before? Pay anywhere makes it easier than ever. Is there a small local festival with a pop up shop opportunity on the other side of town? Now you can easily go there, without any extensive payment arrangements. You’ll be able to track your sales and take payments just as easily as you always do.

So why is it just arriving now?
If the idea of pay anywhere is as great as it sounds, why isn’t it more prevalent in the U.S.? For one, the solutions required to enable pay anywhere have been expensive until recently. Renters and retailers that are already devoted to their current POS system have hesitated to make the jump, especially since they anticipated long periods of training and education.

But modern solutions are not only more affordable, they’re simple, too. Even in industries with high turnover like retail, these new solutions make it easy to re-train long-time employees as well as get new employees up and running fast. Modern payment systems have improved usability, and in general are more intuitive than ever.

Pay anywhere isn’t everywhere yet—but it’s here, and it’s growing fast. Mobile POS usage has increased to 29% this year, compared to 20% last year. Renters and retailers need to commit and make the switch before they’re left behind. Customers are becoming more and more accustomed to technology, and it won’t be long until they simply expect it as table stakes. Mobile POS is here to stay, and it’s time restaurants and retailers get on board.