Charting mPOS’ Explosive Growth: 2012, 2013 And Beyond

To commemorate the one-year anniversary of our MPOS Tracker, a monthly report designed to organize the mPOS ecosystem and sponsored by ROAM, we’ve released a new infographic that illustrates how the mPOS sector has exploded from its inception in 2012 to today.

In just over one year, the number of providers serving the mobile point-of-sale (mPOS) market space has surged to more than 80, up from just 17 in 2012. Further, consumer adoption has evolved as well. Our chart showcases how mPOS has evolved from a service primarily for micro-merchants to a solution 28 percent of North American retailers say they will adopt by the year’s end.

“Eighty-five percent of larger retailers suggest that in three years, mPOS will serve as additional transaction points in their stores, rather than as replacements for traditional fixed POS stations,” the infographic states.

Our infographic makes the case that the sector has the opportunity for continued expansion into 2016, and discusses developments that may spur this activity.

Entering The Market: mPOS In Early 2012

The infographic begins in 2012, the year the biggest names in mPOS – Square, ROAM, ShopKeep – gained traction with early adopters such as micro-merchants and mobile salespeople, and investors discovered mPOS could enable new ways of payment acceptance while addressing merchant security concerns.

Our complete infographic provides details about the size of funding rounds and processing totals raised by mPOS providers during this time.

A Market In Motion: mPOS In Late 2012, Early 2013

Spurred by new solutions for invoicing, line busting and inventory management, mPOS began expanding abroad, catching hold in South Africa with the Launch of Nedbank and in Mexico with the debut of iZettle. Our chart also shows how SMBs drove this expansion through statistics.

Our full report examines this development in greater detail, charting mPOS’ expansion through specific markets.

The Future Of mPOS: 2013 And Beyond

Even in spite of this growth, the infographic suggests mPOS has a clear growth path forward, provided it can maintain its momentum. Which major merchants could ignite the next phase of mPOS acceptance and how could this change affect the physical POS?

For an easy-to-read overview of how the mPOS system has grown and where it’s headed, read the full infographic here.