Skip to main content

How the Global Pandemic Impacted Retail Transactions

The way shoppers pay for products has evolved due to the rise of eCommerce during the pandemic. Online retail transactions have grown rapidly, and in many parts of the world, in-person cash transactions are now a smaller percentage of retail payments.

These changes have a significant implication for retail point-of-sale (POS) terminal vendors, as consumers choose to shop less at local in-store retailers and more online, or the vendor may lack the functional capabilities to process contactless payments.

The evolution of payment interactions has driven an in-store retailer transformation. With COVID-19 pandemic-related government control measures and the ongoing public wariness in many nations, non-contact forms of payment are becoming even more popular.

POS Terminal Market Development

According to the latest worldwide market study by Juniper Research, the total value of transactions processed by POS terminals will exceed $17.3 trillion in 2026 -- that's up from $14.8 trillion in 2021; growing at 28 percent CAGR.

The growth is driven by a continually evolving payment processing landscape in which cash plays a reduced role. The study found that POS vendors must ensure they support omnichannel retail business models and are prepared to compete with alternative payment methods, such as QR code payments.

The global pandemic and increased 'cashless' currencies create many challenges that traditional POS vendors need to manage, with retail moving online and enabling 'contactless' payment processing.


Juniper analysts recommend that POS vendors must integrate smart capabilities, including stock management and data analytics on their terminals, to maximize the value of their platforms to end-users.

The new research study has ranked leading POS terminal providers in the Juniper Research Leaderboard -- scoring vendors on their service innovation, market investment, and reach of services.

The following vendors were ranked as the market leaders: ​Fiserv, ​PAX Technology, ​PayPal, ​Square, ​Worldline, and Verifone. According to the Juniper assessment, these vendors have achieved significant worldwide penetration and comprehensive breadth and depth of solutions in the POS market.

Outlook for Mobile POS Applications Growth 

Juniper now predicts that shipments of mobile point of sale (mPOS) terminals will grow from 20 million units in 2021 to 32 million units by 2026. This represents a growth of 56 percent over the next 5 years.

Juniper analysts found that this growth will be fuelled by the accelerated transition from cash, with previously cash-only vendors adopting mPOS solutions rapidly. Juniper believes that emerging markets will offer the greatest opportunities for mPOS vendors, as demand for digital payments grows within these regions.

The research findings also indicate that more terminal vendors should build a strong mPOS offering -- backed up by free access to business insights, in order to capitalize on this emerging growth potential.

That said, I believe that ongoing disruptions within the global retail sector throughout the remainder of 2021 may motivate more legacy retailers to reconsider their core business model, and lead to further changes. Therefore, I anticipate a significant increase in new digital transformation projects for traditional merchants to reimagine their future.

Popular posts from this blog

Industrial Cloud Computing Apps Gain Momentum

In the manufacturing industry, cloud computing can help leaders improve their production efficiency by providing them with real-time data about their operations. This has gained the attention of the C-suite. Total forecast Industrial Cloud platform revenue in manufacturing will surpass $300 billion by 2033 with a CAGR of 22.57 percent, driven by solution providers enhancing platform interoperability while expanding partner ecosystems for application development. ABI Research found the cloud computing manufacturing market will grow over the next decade due to the adoption of new architectural frameworks that enhance data extraction and interoperability for manufacturers looking to maximize utility from their data. Industrial Cloud Computing Market Development "Historically, manufacturers have built out their infrastructure to include expensive data housing in the form of on-premises servers. The large initial upfront cost of purchasing, setting up, and maintaining these servers is

Demand for Quantum Computing as a Service

The enterprise demand for quantum computing is still in its early stages, growing slowly. As the technology becomes more usable, we may see demand evolve beyond scientific applications. The global quantum computing market is forecast to grow from $1.1 billion in 2022 to $7.6 billion in 2027, according to the latest worldwide market study by International Data Corporation (IDC). That's a five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 48.1 percent. The forecast includes base Quantum Computing as a Service, as well as enabling and adjacent Quantum Computing as a Service. However, this updated forecast is considerably lower than IDC's previous quantum computing forecast, which was published in 2021, due to lower demand globally. Quantum Computing Market Development In the interim, customer spend for quantum computing has been negatively impacted by several factors, including: slower than expected advances in quantum hardware development, which have delayed potential return on inve

Contact Center as a Service Gains AI Benefits

Enterprise leaders with large customer care organizations are exploring Artificial Intelligence (AI) applications to improve their online customer experience, increase operational efficiency, and reduce costs to improve profitability. Trained AI can be used to automate tasks, such as answering routine questions, freeing up contact center agents to focus on more complex inquiries. AI can also be applied to personalize the customer experience by recommending new offerings. Additionally, AI can be deployed to analyze vast amounts of existing customer data to identify support trends and patterns, which can be used to improve the overall customer experience. Customer Care AI Market Development Worldwide Contact Center (CC) and Conversational AI, including virtual assistant end-user spending is projected to total $18.6 billion in 2023 -- that's an increase of 16.2 percent from 2022, according to the latest market study by Gartner. "Near-term investment growth rates for CC and CC Con