Traditional point of sale (POS) systems are increasingly being phased out in favour of mobile systems as new research reveals Aussie retailers are losing a whopping $12.52b to long queues.

Increasingly, shoppers are ditching in-store shopping to avoid big queues, according to new research which has found that 51 per cent of Australians would shop at a specific location if it meant not waiting in a queue.

The research from Adyen also found that 30 per cent of Australians surveyed said they do not shop in physical retail stores to avoid waiting in large queues and that retailers are losing $12.53 billion due to customers leaving stores due to long lines.

The 451 Research Global Unified Commerce Forecast, commissioned by Adyen, also signalled the potential rise of mobile systems, with only 14 per cent of Aussie retailers offering the ability to check out from anywhere on the shop floor with mobile point of sale compared to 35 per cent in the US.

Michel van Aalten, Adyen Country Manager ANZ said that the research indicates that consumers are increasingly expecting more control and convenience, a demand that should prompt retailers to  re-evaluate their POS systems.

“In the fight to win market share, Australian retailers should look towards creating a convenient in-store experience that can provide multiple sales channels seamlessly,” he said.

“In the modern retail environment, the sales channel has taken a back seat in importance to the speed, ease, personalisation and timeliness you can provide”.

Chad Gates, managing director at Pronto Software, a business management software company who just launched Pronto Xi 750 and the Pronto POS App, a mobile POS system, says that increasingly consumers are expecting a versatile checkout experience.

“I think the days of having customers queued up at the counter are numbered,” he said. “POS is going to blend seamlessly into the everyday interactions that customers have, where the traditional buy something and take it up front to pay are disappearing.”

Mobile POS systems not only have the benefit of offering consumers a seamless checkout experience, but in enabling retail staff to enhance the on-floor shopping experience, Mr Gates says.

“To be able to compliment that experience when you go in-store and the technology validates and enhances the experience I think is really critical.”