Know How Exactly Reliance Plans to Digitize Kirana Stores

A report last week said that Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Retail plans to expand the current 15,000 digitised retail stores to over five million in India by 2023. Reliance is looking at installing its Jio MPoS (mobile point-of-sale) device at kirana stores at a one-time investment of Rs 3,000 to connect neighbourhood suppliers to its high-speed 4G network that can be used by customers to order supplies.

Jio MPoS doesn’t demand any merchant discount rate (MDR) and offers a loyalty programme, it said, adding its monetisation strategy includes merchandise delivery, advertising, and supply-side aggregation.

But what exactly is the MPoS technology and how does it work?

-- An MPoS (mobile point-of-sale) is a smartphone, tablet or dedicated wireless device that performs the functions of a cash register or electronic point-of-sale terminal (POS terminal) wirelessly.

-- To implement an MPoS, a business needs an internet connection, a credit and debit card reader, and an application downloaded to whatever device it wants to use for the transactions. An MPoS can also be paired with additional hardware like a barcode scanner and a cash drawer.

-- An MPoS is quite cost-effective for small businesses as it allows owners to conduct transactions without having to invest in an electronic register or pay to support the software.

-- After an MPoS is installed, businesses get the flexibility to accept payments on a sophisticated system from either the counter or around the store (mobile).

-- Most customers prefer to walk out of the store if the billing queue is too long. But by using MPoS, retailers can bring into place more points of transaction during peak hours of activity, bringing down sales losses and waiting time for customers.

-- Sales agents can bill the product anytime anywhere, even immediately right after the customer selects the product from the display area, instead of the shopper going to a cashier for settling payments.

-- The MPoS software also includes rich functionality that enables retailers and other business owners understand their sales performance and better handle critical operational tasks like inventory management.

-- Businesses can see an instant snapshot of sales and staff performance, while also tracking, maintaining and viewing inventory levels across multiple stores in realtime.

-- Also, MPoS solutions almost always includes a set of simple but powerful analytics tools that just about any business owner can utilize to spur retail success.