Point of Sale Magazine

The Online Magazine for Point-of-Sale

ISSUE 1 | 2017

PoS

INSIDE this issue

www.PointofSale.com

2 | Welcome 3 | Waterproof receipt printers 4 ​​ | Case study - Tea and coffee house upgrades its POS system from legacy to cloud 6 | Retail Tech Trends & Beacon Technology 8 | NRF 2017 Recap 10 | Case study - What small retailers are doing about payment security - by George Rice HPE 12 | Securing your website - why going to httpS makes a difference - by Dean Coclin CA Security Council 14 | Growth of Multi-Channel & Omni Channel Payments 16 | The Barcode News 18 | POS Resources 20 | POS Jobs Board

HELLO

and thanks for visiting our digital magazine for the Point of Sale world.

POS is a $50 billion dollar industry globally - and much more if you think about the revenue stream from payment processing.

It’s an exciting and constantly evolving world. Much of the planet and most of its citizens have yet to come in contact with a POS system on a daily basis.

Pointofsale.com is now in its 8th year and trying to evolve and grow with the industry. We welcome your suggestions and feedback. And news tips as well.

There is a Contact link on the Footer menu of the website - feel free to reach out - I want to hear from you!

Thanks, Craig ​ Craig Aberle Publisher and POS fanatic

Owner Bio

Craig Aberle is the owner and publisher of PointofSale.com and Barcode. com. He was the founder and CEO of MicroBiz Corp (1985-2000), a three-time Inc. 500 winner and leading developer of POS software. He has a business degree from SUNY at Buffalo and an MBA from The Wharton School. He has served as a volunteer for SCORE mentoring small business owner, is an author of - “How To Computerize Your Small Business.” (Wiley and Sons NY), and has given over 100 seminars across the country on “The Benefits of Automating Your Business.” Aberle is an enthusiastic yogi, skier, triathlete, and parent.

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CASE STUDY: WATERPROOF RECEIPT PRINTERS MORE WIDELY DEPLOYED If electronic equipment can be waterproof, then shouldn’t it be? You can even buy a waterproof cell phone now (no more drying out your phone in a bed of rice hoping for the best). It makes you wonder why someone hasn’t invented a waterproof receipt printer yet, but the news is good: several companies have. Waterproof, or water “resistant” printers are now available from several name brand companies who have are leaders in manufacturing point of sale equipment.

Depending on the environment in which you conduct your business, investing in a waterproof printer might be a luxury; for others, it’s a downright necessity. The chance of coming into contact with water and other various liquids is largely unavoidable in certain businesses. While most of us think these are designed for the hospitality industry they are also well suited for: • pharmacies • outdoor retail • healthcare • athletics • professional landscaping • any high-humidity environment • warehouses or any dusty environment A simple spill will ruin most electronics, render a sale gone and completely shut down a point of sale until the equipment is fixed—and who knows how long that can take? That kind of delay results in an undesirable domino effect, creating longer customer wait times, slower sales, and possible loss of sales—if customers have to wait long enough, they may decide to shop where the wait isn’t as long and transactions are smooth.

So, how do they work? These new printers work to fight against water damage thanks to the placement of guards or certain technologies built into the machine. If you really want to see them in action, go to YouTube (links are below) and see the live demonstrations of how well the printers withstand water - it’s really impressive.

A few models to consider: A new addition to their Thermal Receipt Printer series, the Posiflex AURA PP9000 offers a water and dust-resistant printer. posiflex water resistant At about six inches and just over 2 ½ pounds, this model is ideal for non-mobile solutions (think desktop). Buyers also have the option to purchase the wall mount brackets. As the companion to its KS-6185 model, the AURA PP9000 prints up to 300 mm per second with partial or full auto-cut capability

and dual control for cash drawers. Other features include multi-interface capabilities, drop-in paper replacement, and auto-feed functionality. The PP9000 comes standard with an 80mm thermal sensitive paper roll; you can purchase additional accessories to meet your specific needs (e.g. a 58mm thermal sensitive paper roll adaptor). The AURA PP9000 comes with a 4-year warranty.

Another water resistant printing option comes from Cognitive. The company designed the 5-inch A798 printer to withstand nominal water damage; it includes a liquid dam and drainage features to help protect the printer from water damage. For even more protection, Cognitive offers a Spill Guard accessory for the printer. The A798 prints out a standard 6-inch receipt in 1 second, which cuts with a self-sharpening ceramic knife, and this knife is supposed to last for three million cuts before failure.

In addition to the standard color choices, businesses may elect to purchase a printer that matches their brand’s specific color. This lightweight model (just under six inches and 1 ½ pounds) comes with a wall mount bracket system.

This past spring, Bixolon introduced the SRP-F310II. Nicely sized, this water resistant and dustproof printer bixolon waterproof printertakes up very little counter space (although you still have the option of wall mounting if you prefer). In addition to saving space, the SRP-F31011 supports paper save modes and is Energy Star certified. The printer is 29% faster from the preceding model (SRP-F310). Made with a rugged design, Bixolon built the model with special waterproofing technology and a water-resistant top. Buyers have a choice to use either two or three-inch paper, and the three-inch front exit thermal printer comes with its own built-in power supply, saving even more space. Cutting speed is at 350mm/second. Compatible with all OS, the model also provides an auto cutter that’s supposed to last for up to 3 million cuts. Bixolon provides a four-year warranty.

If your business environment includes liquids on a regular basis, consider implementing a printing solution that is water resistant. That old expression about an ounce of prevention also applies to an ounce of water! • Click to view more about waterproof printers>>

NEW POS SYSTEM

creates a stronger brew for coffee shop

Park City is known for its outstanding skiing and fabulous summers, but for the last six years something else has been brewing there - a tea and coffee company that offers healthy foods, juice bar, book shop and more. It’s also serves breakfast, lunch and provides free wifi.

The Atticus Teahouse, started in 2010 by Randy and Ericah Winzeler, is a charming, warm and genuinely welcoming venue that has flourished since then. In fact, the owners found they had outgrown their former point-of-sale system and needed to upgrade their technology. They had used a single station system for years, but that system would not allow remote access and had numerous other issues.

“Our old POS system was a closed, legacy type software product. It had a lot of limitations” said Randy. The couple spent a little over a month evaluating and testing new cloud-based software products. The search started online - looking at about ten different systems, but quickly narrowed to two - Square and ShopKeep.

During the evaluation process they had three online demonstrations with Square and four with ShopKeep.

Each demo ran about a half hour. In the end, the deciding factors between the two cloud POS products

included: 1. Not switching their credit card processing company. Square would have matched their rate, but they were happy with the payment processor they had - and there can be a lot of time, aggravation and unpleasant surprises associated with changing processors.

2.

Label printing - Square required exporting the data to a third party app and printing from that.

ShopKeep, on the other hand, has label printing integrated and right on the menu. Atticus prints a lot of labels for the merchandise it sells.

Currently, the business uses one POS station on the front counter to ring up sales of retail and food items.

It has a bar code reader, receipt printer, cash drawer, iPad and a kitchen printer. They have the capacity for multiple “back office” stations - a feature that is absolutely essential to the business. The kitchen printer is a new addition that came with the move to ShopKeep.

Equipment in action: ShopKeep POS software - First released in 2008, a powerful cloud-based POS system in a stylish wooden frame.

Barcode scanner - Socket Mobile - the nice colorful bar code reader shown in the picture is working well for

HOSPITALITY

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them. The item is on a retractable tether attached to the iPad stand.

Star Micronics printers - for both the point of sale as well as the kitchen printer.

Cash drawer - this piece of equipment remained the same and uses an ethernet connection to a router.

Barcode printing - this was formerly done with a Zebra bar code printer, but that was replaced by a $65 Dymo printer that Randy says works well.

An attractive wooden iPad stand that easily flips to face the customer.

Randy also likes the ability to use the ShopKeep app for real time sales data from his smartphone. shopkeep handheld About Atticus Randy & Ericah Winzeler’s passion for coffee & tea, healthy food, and an outdoor lifestyle have all been infused into the business. They wanted a place that would serve locals and tourists alike, that would be welcoming to stop in, sit down and enjoy a cup of coffee or swing by mid bike ride for a quick, healthy snack.

In 2010 they opened up Atticus and began the journey. Randy & Ericah work hard to provide quality, consistent drinks and food while still maintaining a fun & active lifestyle & work environment. When they aren’t slingin’ coffee & tea ... they you’ll find them up in the mountains on bikes or in skiing in the backcountry.

About ShopKeep Started in 2008, ShopKeep now serves over 23,000 customers in a variety of retail businesses. Built by and for small business owners, ShopKeep provides an intuitive, secure, iPad point-of-sale system with POS software that empowers merchants to run smarter businesses by optimizing staffing, regulating inventory and accessing sales reports and customer information on one seamless, cloud-based platform. ShopKeep was recently ranked number 116 on Deloitte’s 2016 Technology Fast 500TM. • Article by Craig Aberle

Missing features? - about the only feature the Atticus staff wanted but was unable to get initially, was having more than one SKU number for an item. There are items that have varying SKUs by flavor and tracking them to that level was not needed. Subsequent to the installation, ShopKeep has enhanced item level control and functionality.

What about the new POS system makes life easier?

“Before the new system we had to work later hours coming in to input inventory - we were unable to access our data from home. Now, we can input inventory from home or at the store on a laptop.” Randy sometimes has both a desktop and laptop running side by side as he manages the system.“ Another benefit is that instead of having to email daily sales data to their bookkeeper, the bookkeeper has her own access to login to the system - another small but helpful timesaver.

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TECH TRENDS

tems on iPads and mobile devices, customers can “skip the line”, improving the efficiency of the checkout process.

:

What we can expect to see in 2017

By Lightspeed Founder & CEO Dax Dasilva In the ever-changing technology landscape, both independent and big-box retailers face the challenge of keeping up with the latest retail tech trends. With competition going global, it’s more important than ever for businesses to stay ahead of the curve, creating innovative shopping environments (whether physical or digital), while streamlining shopping experiences to make transactions simple for consumers.

From omnichannel to personalization, I break down the top four retail tech trends for the New Year.

Continued significance of “Omnichannel” 2016 was the year of the brick-and-click: seamlessly fusing eCommerce with a store’s physical presence, and empowering retailers to have touch points with customers at any time, from anywhere in the world. Lightspeed launched our Omnichannel product last year, and numerous retail customers adopted this technology because their modern shoppers crave 24/7 access to their favourite brands.

We will see omnichannel evolve in two major ways in 2017.

The first is that online-only retailers will continue to find success through opening stores. Amazon is a major leader here and is among great company with Warby Parker and SHOES.COM, leading the way for digital stores expanding to retail environments.

We will also see retailers evolve the use of mobile platforms, applications and payment systems to conduct business. The catch for retailers is that each of these platforms must be seamlessly integrated to create a uniform and consistent thread between each channel, for the experience to remain authentic and appealing to the shopper.

Growth in mobile tech: improving the experience for the modern shopper Mobile technology gives retailers the unique ability to be agile. With the growing capabilities of hosting POS sys-

Mobile tech creates just as much of a convenience for the retailer as the customer with cloud-based systems such as Lightspeed. A storeowner could be in a hotel across the world focusing his/her efforts on manufacturing, while also maintaining a perfect connection via a tablet to what’s going on with sales/inventory in-store. It’s important to retailers that they have the capability to focus on all the other moving parts of their business, while also having their upto-the-minute sales data travel with them.

Innovative in-store concepts & digital displays Shopping is no longer simply about the transaction; it’s about engagement, personality and experience. Stores will look to expand beyond traditional sales to offer experiential concepts and activations including: cafes, personal stylists and hands-on workshops that add value for customers and exemplify what the business does.

In-store digital activations give consumers the opportunity to interact with the brand in a 360° way, with these activations often providing “take-home” components where customers can interact with the brand from their smartphones.

Retailers are generating sensory and personalized experiences such as VR, to keep the modern consumer attentive and in store longer.

Customizing for the individual Personalization will continue to be another major trend of 2017. Retailers looking to increase loyalty with their consumers should appeal to them as individuals. Numerous digital platforms offer the ability to remember customer preferences and tailor browsing functions based on past searches. In brick & mortar stores, modern customers are gravitating toward the boutique look and feel, even if the store would actually be considered a large retailer by our standard.

The more personalized the shopping experience, the more connected a consumer will feel with the brand – whether the connection takes place in store or online.

Dax Dasilva is the founder and CEO of Lightspeed, headquartered in Montreal. Lightspeed is the world’s most powerful cloud-based POS system, igniting city streets globally with omnichannel solutions for independent businesses.

Lightspeed is about culture just as much as code. Creating an environment that allows people to deliver the best work of their lives and harnessing the energy of everyone’s creative ideas was vital to help grow the team to 550 employees worldwide, serving 40,000 independent businesses globally.

Dax founded the company in 2005.

Find Dax Dasilva on Twitter @daxdasilva @LightspeedHQ

HOW BEACON TECHNOLOGY CAN IMPROVE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE AT THE POINT OF SALE gy, but with the launch of Bluetooth® Smart it is no longer an issue. Stats vary significantly on the percentage of users with active Bluetooth connections but a recent study suggests that nearly 50 per cent of North American users leave Bluetooth turned on all the time.

Another major challenge is related to reigning in the temptation for retailers to bombard customers with location-specific ads. Keeping in mind the old adage ‘just because you can doesn’t mean you should’ is good advice to any retailer contemplating a massive ad push based on a customer’s proximity to a beacon.

By Guylain Roy-MacHabée, President and CEO of Rx Networks Inc. There has been a lot of news around beacons and how they will revolutionize the retail space. Visions of Minority Report style targeted advertising are both enticing and frightening to consider. As is so often the case, reality is far less exciting than fiction, yet I’m excited about the possibilities for creating more intelligent proximity networks.

If Bluetooth beacons are unfamiliar, don’t worry: they are a relatively new technology. Here’s a brief overview of how they work. BLE beacons (short for Bluetooth Low Energy), Bluetooth® Smart beacons or simply “beacons” are small electronic devices that periodically broadcast a radio signal using Bluetooth Low Energy. Smartphones are able to interact with a beacon using a retailer’s app or the phone’s notifications feature.

If you make handsfree calls in your car then you’re using Bluetooth. If you’re using an app to navigate indoors then you may also be using Bluetooth, with your phone using the beacons like ships use lighthouses.

Digital pioneers in the retail sector immediately saw the potential of beacons to add context to their mobile apps, providing customers with in-store navigation reference points and highly geo-targeted offers based on where the customer is at a given time. Inevitably there were some bumps along the way that caused frustration for both customer and retailer.

“Without a beacon network a mobile app is simply just a mobile website.”

The first challenge was getting customers comfortable with the idea that turning on Bluetooth on their mobile device wasn’t going to kill their phone’s battery. This was a problem with earlier generations of Bluetooth technolo-

If you think that beacons are a passing fad, think again.

Beacon technology is set to transform the customer experience at the point-of-sale as adoption rates are set to grow exponentially. ABI Research predicts that the BLE beacon market will double this year, and break 400 million shipments by 2021.

The billion-dollar question is why do beacons matter? They matter because beacons enable retailers to leverage contextual and proximity awareness, which in turn empowers a retailer to delight and surprise its customers by creating new ways to effectively engage with an increasingly distracted consumer.

The following scenarios are designed to help you imagine how you can better serve your customers using this relatively inexpensive technology.

A tailored experience Many retailers have developed apps for smartphones. However, awareness and adoption of these apps is on average quite poor. There are many reasons for this, but predominantly, a customer is only going to download an app if they believe it provides them with utility.

A report recently commissioned by Forrester showed 60 percent of people had two or fewer retail apps; and only three percent had more than ten retail apps. While 85 percent of time on smartphones is spent in apps, of that time, only five percent is spent in retail apps.

A strategically deployed beacon network working in concert with a well-designed mobile app can create a unique customer experience that is only available in the bricks and mortar environment. Savvy customers will soon figure out that a store that has invested in its app and in-store experience is a retailer that is focused on customer service.

Beacons can help customers find what they are looking for faster, find associates for one-on-one help and they can even streamline the checkout process. But without a beacon network a mobile app is simply just a mobile website.

Continue article on PointofSale.com >>

WHAT YOU MISSED at NRF 17

Ingenico’s iSMP4 The iSMP4 companion is an enterprise-class mPOS designed to handle the most demanding payment settings. The lightweight device provides the largest screen and battery capacity in its class, allowing merchants and customers to focus on the shopping and transaction experience, regardless of location.

Honeywell Unveils New Battery-Free Wireless Handheld Scanner At NRF 2017 Honeywell will unveil a new 2D area-imager scanner that incorporates the latest battery-free technology to reduce recharge times, improve safety and provide an ergonomic solution for retail associates. Ideal for POS, workstations and counters, Honeywell’s Xenon 1902g-bf scanner uses Bluetooth® low-energy wireless technology to minimize maintenance hassles or long recharge times associated with traditional batteries.

Bixolon Reveals New Cube Printer Model Retailers visiting BIXOLON at the NRF Show will get an exclusive look at BIXOLON’s latest mPOS solutions. BIXOLON’s first cube 3-inch thermal desktop printer, the SRP-Q300, is designed to free up counter space and support a range of accessories, transforming it into a complete mPOS solution.

Elo Elo, a global provider of touchscreen computing solutions, announced the availability of a new commercial-grade mPOS system, combining industry-leading peripherals from Star Micronics, Epson, Honeywell, Verifone and Ingenico. The mPOS platform flips between point of sale and self-order kiosk, and integrates best-in-class standard printer, EMV and scanner.

Posiflex The high performance Posiflex XT5317 POS terminal has a 17-inch projected capacitive touch screen with a collapsible folding base configurable for maximum viewing flexibility and reduced shipping costs. Projected capacitive touch offers 10-point multi-touch capability, a bezel-free 100% flat, scratch-resistant surface.

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Oracle Retail Oracle Retail Release 16 enables brands to maximize profit and productivity through new cloud services and mobile POS upgrades. Oracle Retail Release 16 accelerates critical decision making through a powerful interface for manager and analysts that is built upon machine learning and maximizes user productivity.

IBM In the “ubiquitous shopping era” –- shopping everywhere, by any means, all the time -–traditional retailers facing new and non-traditional competitors are in fiercely competitive battle for market share. Retailers must transform their businesses from emphasizing transactions to focusing on customer relationships that inspires brand loyalty as customers hop from store to web to mobile to social, and back again.

CHERRY CHERRY, the specialist for computer input devices, has unveiled the MX Board Silent at CES 2017. This new keyboard is based on the G80-3000, which has proven itself over the years to be precise as well as reliable. CHERRY combines this product with its new MX Silent switches to create a product that will keep keyboard noise in a hectic office space to an absolute minimum.

Infinite Peripherals The Linea Pro 7 is the first enterprise mobility device compatible with the Apple® iPhone 7. The powerful Linea Pro 7 scanning sled transforms iPhone devices into enterprise-grade barcode scanners and payment devices, making them perfect for warehouse logistics, inventory, ordering systems and retail solutions.

It offers a variety of options such as a 1D/2D barcode scanner and a magnetic card reader along with Bluetooth and RFID capability. It is also compatible with the Apple® iPhone 6 and the Apple® iPhone 6s. More than 100 iOS apps are compatible and a full SDK is available for the iOS platform. Booth 1563.

SAVE the DATE #NRF18

January 14-16, 2018 | New York City

CASE STUDY: SMALL RETAILERS ARE GOING BIGGER WHEN IT COMES TO PAYMENTS SECURITY “When we took a close look at HPE SecureData Payments, we liked what we saw,” says Matt Mullen, vice president of strategy and product at Epicor. “It was already used by other top retailers in the space where we compete, and HPE SecureData Payments offers a deployment framework that allowed us to bring our data security solution to market in a very easy and affordable manner.”

by George Rice, Director of payments for HPE Security at Hewlett Packard Enterprise Data breaches are damaging for every company that suffers them, no matter the size. Unlike their larger peers, however, small businesses frequently aren’t given the chance to recover from the financial and reputational impact of a breach. According to a report from The New York Times, sixty percent of all online attacks in 2014 targeted small and mid-size businesses.1 That same year it was found that nearly three-quarters of companies that “suffer major data loss” shut down within 24 months.

Combating cyber criminals can be tough for businesses that lack the technical and budgetary resources of a large enterprise. Partners with the expertise and perspective to support the unique needs of small businesses can be few and far between. Epicor Software Corporation is one such partner. It was founded to serve just these types of businesses, and today the company supplies state-of-the-art enterprise resource planning (ERP) solutions to small and mid-sized retailers in North America.

This includes everything from payments and finance systems, to merchandise sourcing and inventory management, to business intelligence and cross-selling in-store, online, or on mobile apps. In 2015, enterprise-grade security from Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) joined the list of options available to the 5,000-plus Epicor retail customers.

Epicor considered a wide range of approaches to data security before settling on HPE SecureData Payments, including implementing alternate gateways or its own internal data encryption, as well as investigating commercial offerings from vendors such as TransArmor and Bluefin. HPE’s Secure Stateless Tokenization (SST) and Format-Preserving Encryption (FPE) proved to be the difference, providing Epicor and its retail clients’ full endto-end protection from the point of sale (POS) terminal all the way through the payments lifecycle.

The initial implementation was finished in just seven weeks and was seamlessly integrated into Epicor’s systems. Today, Epicor hosts the software in its cloud-based payments gateway, which, in turn, is hosted by Amazon Web Services (AWS) across six fully redundant AWS availability zones in three different regions. Security and resiliency is built in to the approach, ensuring exceptional protection from breaches and down-time.

This multi-tenant, multisite gateway handles the full roster of tenants identically, with all six availability zones providing instant backup for each other. That way, if one site goes down, the other five pick up the slack and continue processing payments. HPE SecureData Payments plugged into the environment without much customization, a key factor in Epicor’s choosing it as the go-to security mechanism for guarding sensitive transactions at the POS. “We also wanted to make data security as seamless as possible for our customers to adopt. HPE Format-Preserving Encryption was critical to meeting that objective,” says Bill Wilson, senior vice president of product development at Epicor. “It allowed us to introduce data secu-

“Unlike their larger peers, small businesses frequently aren’t given the chance to recover from the financial and reputational impact of a breach.” rity into our existing systems without any major software changes. For our customers, everything still works the same as it always did. Except now there’s a solution that’s designed to fully secure their data in transit from the POS through the backend servers.”

Mullen agrees, noting that HPE’s Format-Preserving Encryption -- which effectively guards data without changing the core file where sensitive information is stored --

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RETAIL CASE STUDY

ABOUT THE AUTHOR George Rice is director of payments for HPE Security at Hewlett Packard Enterprise.

He works with merchant acquirers and large retailers on data security, and leads HPE’s presence among organizations such as the PCI Council, EMVCO and the ETA.

required no reprogramming of the Epicor system.

“It allowed us to launch our new security offering well in advance of market expectations. That was extremely beneficial to Epicor and our customers. After all, the faster you put the lock on the door, the sooner you can protect your valuables,” Mullen says.

In this case, the “lock” was point-to-point data encryption. This ensures that credit card data is not exposed at any point in the life of an Epicor-processed transaction.

“By tokenizing card numbers immediately at the point of purchase, we’ve gone beyond PCI compliance to actually eliminating clear data from the transaction process,” Wilson says.

Mullen adds that “even if someone sneaks in to take data, there’s nothing useful to them.” Customers loved hearing that message, especially retailers whose reputation could be seriously affected by a data breach. Ace Hardware, a longtime customer, recommended that all its store owners add the HPE SecureData option to their Epicor environment.

“The sell-through for us was staggering,” says Mullen.

“Among our 5,000 retail customers, typical sell-through of a new product is 10 percent, or about 500 units, over 12 months. When we launched our secure payments solution, we sold 1,100 units in the first three months -- far beyond our expectations.”

Businesses of all sizes bought. From Ace superstores to family-owned neighborhood shops that had been around for multiple generations.

“Before, they felt pretty defenseless,” Wilson says. “But now they get both reduced risk of a data breach and the peace of mind that comes from knowing they have a robust solution to help protect their business.” •

FREE POS: NOT WITHOUT A COST ​By John Giles, CEO, Future POS​ M​y grandpa used to say, “free stuff is worth every penny you paid for it”. It was true back then, and it still holds true today.

In the last several years we’ve seen a proliferation of “Free POS” software companies that bury the cost of the POS system in payment processing rates and monthly fees. No matter where the costs appear, the business owner is going to pay for that equipment and technology somehow. Still, the uneducated consumer can get caught up in the low up front cost, assuming that all things are equal to the other POS systems they’ve looked at.

A recent development has come to light that exemplifies one problem of a free POS system. A major provider announced that they have to upgrade thousands of POS systems because their technology is vulnerable to a credit card breach. They had been relying on a technology called SSL (Secure Sockets Layer), which came out around 1993. At Future POS, developing mission critical software is what we do. In fact, it’s all we do, so we’ve known the pitfalls of SSL for many years. The right way to secure data is to immediately encrypt it using 3DES (Triple DES) or AES encryption. These are military grade encryption algorithms that, when used with rolling encryption keys, are extremely difficult to crack, and because the key is different every time it’s kind of pointless to even try to crack the encryption, as you’d have to start over for every piece of data you want to compromise. Long story short, we’ve known for many years that SSL is vulnerable to “man in the middle” attacks, and for that reason we deemed it unacceptable.

So what’s the key takeaway here? If you have an electrical problem in your house, you don’t call a plumber. If you need a heart transplant, you don’t seek out the cheapest doctor you can find. And if you need a point of sales system to run your business then don’t go with the seemingly cheapest solution.

A credit card breach will cost a business owner well into the six figures. Free POS isn’t free. •

IN 2017 YOUR BUSINESS WEBSITE SHOULD WEAR AN “S”

By Dean Coclin The number of cyber-attacks organizations come under every day is staggering - and growing every year. Attackers are always evolving and becoming more sophisticated. Yet they still rely on many of the same tactics they’ve been using for years to trick people into visiting fake web sites, or slip past companies’ security systems.

The Certificate Authority Security Council (CASC), an advocacy group committed to the advancement of web security, is leading the effort to protect both your customers and your brand reputation by requiring visitors to your web site to add an “s” to the “http” in their browsers’ address bars. Sounds simple, but behind that letter “s” are advanced security technologies and best practices that ensure your customers’ interactions with you are secure.

The Threat Landscape As we head into the busy holiday shopping and travel season, protecting your customers’ information has never been more challenging in the face of the sheer number of attacks on organizations of all sizes and across all industries.

Successful attacks against large multinational enterprises and government agencies make news headlines. But small businesses are prime targets too.

71 percent of cyber-attacks are aimed at businesses with fewer than 100 employees, according to a report by the U.S. House Select Committee for Small Businesses. That’s why the Committee recently advanced the Improving Small Business Cyber Security Act of 2016, which now awaits the Senate’s consideration. The bill amends the Small Business Act to authorize the Small Business Administration (SBA) to make grants to small business development centers (SBDCs) to help businesses harden their security postures.

The SBA’s Top 10 Cybersecurity Tips for small businesses includes recommending that businesses protect all pages on their public-facing websites, not just the checkout and sign-up pages. It’s great advice for any size organization, and it’s why CASC advocates for the adoption of digital certificate best practices and the proper issuance and use of digital certificates by Certificate Authorities (CAs), browsers (i.e., Firefox, Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge), and other interested parties.

Add the “S” The four letters, “http”, are known to technical and non-technical users alike as the beginning of any web address. That’s about to change, and soon you won’t be able to go to many popular web sites without using “https”.

This indicates that a web page uses the security protocol

known as TLS (formerly known as SSL) to indicate that encryption is in place between the server and the user’s browser.

The adoption effort is well underway. Some of the biggest names on the Internet have already adopted HTTPS, including Facebook, Twitter and Netflix. Google announced more than a year ago that its adoption of what it calls “HTTPS Everywhere” will have a positive impact on search rankings. There are other business benefits.

Google encourages site owners and their website managers to adopt https to gain a competitive advantage in search engine rankings.

As a small business owner, you and your website manager – whether that person is on-staff or you partner with a third party - should be aware of the six key ways this will affect your customers’ experiences and interactions with your site: 1. Clear, visible warnings: Web browsers will use visual cues to alert users of non-https connections. For example, Google Chrome will highlight insecure pages with red X in the address bar. They will also warn if an insecure page asks for a password or credit card by showing the words “Not Secure”. Firefox plans a similar warning for sites requesting passwords. In the future, both will transition from an information warning to a red triangle which is more noticeable.

2. Access to powerful features: Chrome will only be available over https. Services like Geolocation, Device Motion/ Orientation, Full screen mode, DRM and more are strictly limited to https connections. Websites that need these features will have to implement SSL/TLS to utilize them.

3. Better, stronger, faster: http2 will replace the long-time standard http. It’s much faster, which enables a more enjoyable and efficient user experience, while also strengthening the user’s and company’s security postures. This is supported by Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer, Safari and Opera, and http2 will require https. So as websites migrate to the speedier http2, they must use SSL/TLS. 4. Leveraging referrer data: Website managers strive to draw visitors from other sites via referrals. Moving for-

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CYBER SECURITY

ward, seeking referrer data from other sites will require the use of https. Without https, the destination sites won’t know who is coming to their site.

5. New-look Gmail: Users of Google’s popular email client will immediately know if a new message is secure or not. If the intermediary email servers do not all use SSL/ TLS encryption, that message will include the image of an open padlock. Alternately, a message that does use SSL/TLS will include the details of the types of encryption that all of servers it originated from and passed through use.

6. Everywhere you look: Many sites have already made the transition to https, including Google’s BlogSpot and Analytics, Reddit, Flickr, Wikimedia, WordPress, Bitly and Shopify. The U.S. Government requires all sites under the .gov domain must be https by the end of this year.

HTTPS is one of many recent advances in both the strength and adoption of SSL/TLS certificates. The major browsers are also changing their security indicators―the colors and symbols used in the address bar to indicate to visitors how safe a site is―to make it clear when an SSL/TLS-secured web page includes unsecured content that is vulnerable to man-in-the-middle tampering. In other words, this will make it clearer when a site fails to achieve always-on encryption and the danger this poses.

This is just one example of the drive to offer added reassurance to websites visitors and online shoppers.

What Can You Do? You also play a critical role in thwarting cyber-attacks and protecting your customers’ sensitive information. Symantec reports that cybercriminals continue to take advantage of vulnerabilities in legitimate websites to infect users, because website administrators fail to secure their websites. More than 75 percent of all legitimate websites have unpatched vulnerabilities. Fifteen percent of legitimate websites have vulnerabilities deemed “critical,” which means it takes trivial effort for cybercriminals to gain access and manipulate these sites for their own purposes.

You can also work to advance the education on effective website security to all parties involved –software vendors, web server administrators, even your customers. They can all contribute by getting developing an understanding of the threats and how to thwart them, and work together to place a high priority on security. That’s why the CASC works actively with browsers, relying parties and other stakeholders to enhance internet security through practical, thoughtful measures and collaborative research.

About the Author Dean Coclin is Senior Director, Business Development, at Symantec and a member of the CA Security Council.

February 7-9, 2017 Future Stores Miami

Future Stores Miami brings together retail executives to discuss in-store experience design, innovation and technology with the idea that reimagining physical stores is the key to growth and continued success in today’s competitive, omni-channel environment.

February 14-16, 2017 Merchant Payments Ecosystem

MPE is the leading European event on merchant payments. One big expo with 3 parallel conferences!

February 27 - March 2, 2017 eTail West

Born in 1999, eTail is where the top minds at America’s most successful retailers meet and learn. eTail is a global series with major events serving the United States, Europe and Asia throughout the year.

March 19-22, 2017 Shoptalk

Shoptalk is the new blockbuster retail and ecommerce event with 5,000+ attendees, 250+ speakers and 500+ CEOs expected at its 2017 event. An unprecedented gathering of individuals and companies reshaping how consumers discover, shop and buy.

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GROWTH OF MULTI-CHANNEL & OMNI CHANNEL PAYMENTS

Photo by flickr.com/photos/dahlstroms/

By Scott Blum, vice president, Total Merchant Services A shift in shopping is occurring, and small business retailers need to adopt a strategy to keep up with the shift. The shift is being driven by the rise of the smartphones, like the iPhone, the speed of telephone networks, the growth of online shopping, and growth of new payment types like Apple Pay and EMV. A few figures demonstrate the growth of these areas: eMarketer estimates that there will be 190.5 million US smartphone users of all ages this year, representing 73.4 percent of internet users and 59.3 percent of the population. By 2019, the smartphone audience will reach 236.8 million.

The number of consumers browsing and buying online will hit 270 million by 2020, driven largely by activity on mobile devices.

More than 100 million people will make an NFC mobile payment in 2016. Growth in payments are the following: The growth of smart phones, online purchases, NFC payments, and other trends is driving changes in consumer shopping behavior. A recent survey by WSJ/comScore indicated the following regarding shopping behaviors: Share of purchases made online: • 2014: 46% • 2015: 48% • 2016: 51% How purchases are made: • Research online and in store, buy in store: 22% • Search and buy online: 42% • Search and buy in store: 20% • Research online and in store, buy online: 16% Purchasing on a smartphone by generation:

• Millennials: 63% • Gen Xers: 41% • Baby Boomers: 19% • Seniors: 8% Source: WSJ/comScore online survey conducted between January 30 and February 9, 2016 with 5,330 respondents.

These facts also support the growth of these areas. In order to respond to the changes in consumer shopping behavior, retailers are changing the way they do business and are embracing an omni-channel approach. They are utilizing new strategies, such as driving engagement with the customer via loyalty programs, enabling the customer to make purchases whenever and wherever they want, and servicing the customer with new shopping experiences. This model of engagement, enabling, and servicing customers can be broken down as follows.

Engage the Customer: These are strategies merchants are enacting to drive customers into their store or online, including loyalty programs, contextually relevant offers, and leveraging data to make relevant product recommendations. Examples of engagement include Subway locations that created a location-based loyalty program offering a 6-inch sandwich the first time customers register and connect to free instore WIFI, retailers promoting products on Instagram, and CVS working with Google to pilot the new beacon program called “Nearby,” which sends out push alerts to Android device users through a pre-installed Google Play app.

Enable the Customer: These are tools merchants are deploying to arm the customer with the ability to shop and buy whenever and wherever they want, including apps, enabling various payment types, location-based services, and the ability to shop and buy regardless of channel. Features of this in-

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PAYMENTS

clude receiving online purchases or buying online, and then picking up the product at a store. An example is a new Sam’s Club mobile application that allows shoppers to scan UPC codes on items they want to purchase as they load them into a cart and enables them to pay directly on their phone from anywhere in the store and skip the check-out line.

Serve the Customer: These are new ways merchants are stepping out from behind the counter to deliver new shopping experiences, such as mobile point-of-sale.

Although there is a strong reason for merchants to adopt an omni-channel strategy, many have not done so. According to a recent survey from ACI Worldwide, • Only 21 percent of merchants have completed an omni-channel payments platform, • 46 percent of retailers have no plans for omni-channel payment in the next 12 months, and • 29 percent do not have current plans to start an omni-channel payments strategy.

• The key challenges cited by retailers are incompatible systems, challenges with data integration, inventory management, fraud prevention, payment security and PCI compliance, EMV, and the ability to support multiple payment types.

Groovv was launched as a new product that enables small merchants to adopt many of the aspects of an omni-commerce platform. The recently launched product comes in two flavors (All In One and Flex). The solution enables omni-commerce capabilities right out of the box for small merchants, including the following features that enable a small business to overcome several obstacles related to omni commerce.

• Easy Inventory Management: Items can be organized for sale with customer categories and modifiers, and sales can be tracked when items run low.

• EMV/NFC Enabled: Accept all payment types, including chip cards, magstripe cards, and NFC payments like Samsung and Apple Pay. • Marketing: Integrated marketing built into the software, including a rewards and loyalty program, store locator, and geo-fenced beacon technology to push offers to nearby customers.

• PCI Payment Compliance: Full PCI compliance with an end-to-end payment solution.

--About the Author Scott Blum leads Marketing, Business Development, and Integrated Payments for Total Merchant Services. Scott has served in a variety of executive leadership roles for financial technology companies, including Chief Marketing Officer for CAN Capital and Director of Marketing and Global Payments for Intuit. Scott was also a management consultant for Deloitte Consulting. Scott has an undergraduate degree from UCLA and an MBA from the Wharton School.

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POS SOFTWARE CATEGORIES

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North Country Business Products North Country Business Products has a full line of POS Supplies; specializing in providing customers with premium point-of-sale supplies, including; Thermal Paper Rolls, 1-Ply, 2-Ply Carbonless, 3-Ply Paper Rolls, ATM Rolls and a full line of Printer Ribbons, Credit Card Supplies, Signs, Labels and Hospitality Furniture.

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POS

WHY DO YOU NEED A VAR? So, you’ve decided to make point of sale technology an integral part of your business—what do you do now? ​ e recommend that you talk to at least three local W specialists in Point of sale. These specialists are also known as VARs, or Value-Added-Resellers.

VARs often provide services including equipment installation and setup, software and menu configuration, connecting your POS system to a payment processor, and transferring data from your old system to the new one. Then they can train your staff so that the pain associated with switching to a new system is minimized.

Why use a VAR? Because your staff is already working at 100% of capacity. Setting up a new system takes dozens of hours for a single store, and much more than that for a multi-store operation. A VAR w ​ ill also often provide o ​ ngoing​maintenance and technical support.​ ​ ​Consulting an expert in POS technology can save you time and money!

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POS JOBS BOARD

OPENINGS IN SALES, TECH SUPPORT, PROGRAMMING, MANAGEMENT & MORE This page lists POS job openings that were either submitted to us, or that we have come across, and are subject to change without notice. We make no representation as to actual availability or consistency with the title and accept no liability whatsoever. Job seekers must conduct their own due diligence.

• Vend - Toronto, Auckland, Melbourne, London - Sales, Marketing, Tech, Management and more • Pinnacle Hospitalty Systems - Pensacola FL - Technology Sales Consultant • Hospitality Technology Systems - Outside sales rep, San Diego CA • TouchBistro - Toronto and New York - Sales, Support, Development • North Country Business Products - MN, ND, IA - Software field engineer, Tech Support Analyst, Field Service Technician, Systems Integration Engineer, Technology Solutions Consultant, etc.

• BTM Global - Minneapolis MN - Project Manager, Sr Project Manager, Retail Solutions Architect, Java Technical Lead. BTM Global specializes in Oracle Retail - http://careers.btmglobal.com/ • WeAreCopperstate - Arizona Restaurant POS Technologies - http://wearecopperstate.com/join-our-team/ • Future POS - Butler, PA - has openings for Technical Support Specialists, Technical Writers and Software Developers. Visit their page at - http://web.futurepos.com/about-future-pos/employment-opportunities/ • Bepoz.com – South Carolina - Now hiring a Technical Implementation Specialist, and Level 2 Support Technicians. Information at http://bepoz.com/careers/ • Papa Johns - Director, International Restaurant Systems, Senior Technical Manager Point of Sale Systems, Kentucky.

• DCRS Solutions - St Louis, MO - Support Technician - http://www.dcrs.com/employment/ Click here to see ALL job board postings >>

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