Reposted from LinkedIn: Recently, some business systems providers have been aggressively targeting their own customers to consolidate the market. Their customers are being forced to use only their products and services, such as payments and order-ahead platforms, to get a larger slice of your hard-earned profits.
Their claim is that these consolidated systems are ‘easier’ and more ‘comprehensive’ because they all come from one place, but the opposite is usually true. If you consider a list of pro’s and con’s of all-in-one business systems, it becomes apparent that the con’s far outweigh the pro’s and you're paying more for far less.
What is a one-stop-systems-shop?
A one-stop systems shop, or in this case, a one-stop POS shop, is a company that offers an extensive array of integrated products and services related to business systems. Although this article mainly concentrates on hospitality business systems, the same concept applies to numerous industries.
Recently, many hospitality businesses and groups are moving away from one-stop-shop systems due to the inherent issues associated with them. Here I run through a few things to consider when looking at POS systems.
1. All-in-one systems are super sticky
All-in-one systems get deeply engrained in your business. While this can be excellent for the all-in-one systems provider, it rarely is for their customers because it limits choice, and you get stuck with whatever issues the products or company have.
Effectively, if one (or more) components do not work well for you, and you want to change it, you can’t, meaning you must change everything to change one thing, which can be very costly. Currently, many hospitality groups around Australia desperately want to leave the all-in-one provider(s) they’re with but can’t due to the massive costs and deeply engrained systems.
2. Jack of all trades & a master of none
Versatile systems often struggle with the 'jack of all trades, master of none’ syndrome, where their capabilities are limited in each aspect due to the increased complexity and risk of the business model. It is challenging for a company focusing on many products and services concurrently, to be appropriately skilled in them. Their head office will tend to focus on sales and subscribers over customer satisfaction, so they’ll generally have a higher sales-to-tech staff ratio. They can also face higher running costs leading to point 6 below.
QR code ordering is an excellent example of this. Certain one-stop POS shops offer a QR code ordering system that may seem like a standard industry product, but upon closer examination, it falls short. This subpar system can decrease customer use, and increase frustration, and financial losses. Going with a company specialising in QR code ordering is the only way to go here. Remember, if the system replaces face-to-face interactions, it must be great. You wouldn’t employ customer-facing staff that frustrate your customers, right?
3. One-stop-shops have less flexibility
One-stop-systems shops need more flexibility and agility because they commit their capital to specific processes and products. The flow-on from this is that you get fewer choices, changes take longer, and you’re generally stuck with a system that you must change your operations to use rather than flexible strategies that assist and enhance your vision. Can you afford for your tech company not to be flexible and agile?
4. All support comes from one place
Although this can be advantageous, lacking adequate support, online-only availability, or after-hours assistance from overseas could deprive you of timely help when needed. The largest business system companies in the world may offer sub-par support.
5. You don’t get to pick the best systems
There are limited options when you choose an all-in-one system because you can only choose from their product list, forsaking all others. If they have sub-par systems compared to others in the market, you may be unable to change to a better system, or their integrations with the superior systems may be limited.
6. Cost cutters & price gougers
Efficiency is crucial for companies, but a one-stop-shop approach often sacrifices service quality to save money. Investigating the consolidation of Australian POS companies reveals a surprisingly long list. Unfortunately, the cost-cutting measures adopted by these once-great companies have led to dissatisfied customers leaving in large numbers. Additional challenges include supporting multiple products with limited staff, needing more hospitality expertise, and prioritising large customers/markets in product development.
Another side is that a company deeply engrained in your business can easily price gouge. Unlike companies you can switch from if dissatisfied, a one-stop shop can exploit the stickiness of products with limited recourse.
7. It's difficult or impossible to tailor configuration & development
Dealing with a larger company makes bespoke configuration & development easier if you have a big budget or influence. If you want something unconventional, you usually won't engage with decision-makers who can't be influenced without a substantial financial investment.
One-stop-shops can significantly impact your business or organisation. However, the perceived convenience of dealing with a single company does not outweigh the increased risk and heavy reliance on one provider for all your business systems. A narrower product range allows companies to specialise and continually improve their offerings and integrations. They must rely on something other than customer inertia for loyalty.
Always remember, the more interconnected systems you have from one provider, the more difficult and costly it is to change, and in effect, the more you are at their mercy.
The alternative to a one-stop-shop
Triniteq takes a very different approach to providing business systems. We provide the best POS in the world – because that’s our expertise, along with some optional peripheral modules. We connect with the best platforms worldwide, allowing you to mix and match your ideal tech stack. As our products are less sticky, we must always lead from the front, working harder than one-stop-systems-shops for you.
Get the best of both worlds
Triniteq will help you to get the best of both worlds. We will act as your business systems project managers and can coordinate the entire roll-out of all systems end-to-end (at no additional cost). Triniteq also provides frontline, in-person support so we’re always here when you need us.
As your business systems project manager, Triniteq empowers you to choose the optimal platforms for your organisation's success, effectively addressing the above challenges.
Here’s an easy exercise, calculate how much your entire business systems are costing you over 1, 5 and 10 years. Now reflect on whether these systems create or destroy value. Reflect on whether there are better systems in the market that can make you more money. Now think about what you could have spent this lost money on. Remember, you might be needlessly paying a chunk of your hard-earned profits for the misconception of ease...................food for thought.
The products provided by a one-stop-POS-shop might include:
- Point of sale software
- Payments & EFTPOS systems
- QR code ordering
- Online ordering
- Logistics systems
- A range of apps and plug-ins
- Kiosks
- Mobile Apps
- Loyalty systems
- Inventory Management
- Delivery systems
- CRM & Marketing
- Reservations
- Rostering software
- Reporting software
- Profit Software
- Gift cards
- KDS/KVD
- Digital menu boards
- ERP
- And the list goes on and on.
If you're seeking a high-quality, Australian-made and supported Point of Sale solution for your hospitality or retail business, look no further than Triniteq. Our innovative technologies are designed to simplify your operations, enhance your customer experience, and make you more money. Discover our range of products and services today.
If you're new to PowerEPOS, our new cloud-hybrid POS system, watch our Demo video, or Book a demo for more info.
