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The Importance of Unobtrusive Self-Service Hardware Customer using an Element PK156 wall-mounted self-service kiosk with touchscreen and contactless payment in a modern café. The Kiosk That Disappears What the right self-service hardware actually does - and why most people never notice. You have stood in front of one of these screens. You know the feeling when it goes wrong: the tap that doesn't register, the interface that loads half a beat too slow, the payment terminal that sits at the wrong angle so you have to crane your neck to read the prompts. You don’t call it a technology failure. You just call it annoying. You might not go back. You also know the feeling when it goes right. The screen is exactly where it should be. The touch responds the moment your finger lands. You scan, you pay, you leave. You didn’t think about the hardware once. That’s not an accident. That’s design. Self-service has a visibility problem. Not the kind that needs fixing - the kind worth protecting. How Effective Kiosks Enhance Customer and Staff Satisfaction When a kiosk works well, customers don’t talk about it. They talk about how quickly they got their food. They talk about how the queue moved. They describe the store as calm, well-run, efficient. The hardware has done something remarkable: it has taken itself out of the conversation entirely. It has become the counter, the till, the menu board - so familiar and so right that it vanishes into the environment it was built to serve. When a kiosk doesn’t work well, the opposite happens. The hardware becomes the entire experience. The customer isn’t ordering - they’re troubleshooting. And somewhere nearby, a staff member has been pulled away from something else to apologise for a screen that should never have needed an apology. Purpose-Built Models for Versatile Applications A Range Built Around That Standard Element Kiosk Catalogue Range | Self-Service Hardware Solutions The 2026 Element Kiosk Catalogue introduces the Nova range. It is a family of self-service kiosks for retail, QSR, hospitality, and healthcare. It is built for places where every interaction counts. What distinguishes the range isn’t any single specification. It’s what those specifications are in service of. Take the Nova 800: a 27-inch premium self-ordering kiosk built for high-traffic environments. The True-Flat PCAP touchscreen - 1920 × 1080 Full HD - isn’t large because large is impressive. It’s large because QSR customers at peak times need to read the menu, customise their order, and confirm payment. They should do this without leaning in or squinting. The display earns its size by making that moment feel effortless. Powered by Intel® Alder Lake-N or Meteor Lake Core Ultra processors, the Nova 800 handles ordering, payment, loyalty, and promotional content without hesitation - because hesitation, at that edge, is the thing that breaks trust. Element Nova 300 Self-service Kiosk The Nova 300 takes a different brief: a compact 19-inch self-checkout kiosk for modern retail, convenience, and hospitality. Where the 800 commands space, the 300 disappears into it. Its front-serviceable motherboard box is the kind of detail you only include if you’ve stood in a store at 6pm on a Friday, watching a queue build while someone tries to fix a machine from the back. Front access means faster service. Faster service means less doubt. Less doubt means customers come back. Element Nova 500 Self-service Kiosk The Nova 500 - a 21.5-inch panel PC with a slim 40mm profile - is built for the wall and the counter alike: retail, QSR, healthcare, wherever a kiosk needs to serve without dominating. The Nova 700 is the modular answer for retailers who need to configure differently across store formats - express SCO, full-service, hybrid attended. The Nova 900 is engineered for the full-service grocery checkout, supporting scanners, scales, and the full weight of a high-volume environment without flinching. Across the range, the pattern holds: Intel-powered performance designed for responsiveness under real-world load; PCAP multi-touch that registers on first contact; flexible mounting - floor, wall, countertop - because the right kiosk in the wrong position is still the wrong kiosk; and peripheral ecosystems - scanners, payment terminals, printers, cameras - that integrate rather than compromise. Operational Efficiency and Staff Usability The Staff Member at Hour Ten There is another person in this story, and the catalogue doesn’t let you forget them. Every Nova in the range is built with service access in mind. Front-accessible components. Modular architecture. Mounting options designed around real deployment constraints, not ideal ones. This is the language of hardware built for people who have to maintain it under pressure, in stores that do not stop trading so that a technician can work comfortably. If the staff experience is stressful, the customer feels it. If the staff experience is calm, the customer trusts it. A kiosk that goes down and stays down is not a hardware problem in isolation - it is a queue that builds, a staff member who is now troubleshooting instead of serving, a customer who notices that something has gone wrong even if they can’t say what. Reliability and serviceability are not maintenance specifications. They are customer experience specifications. Matching Hardware Options to Specific Environments Not Every Kiosk Is Right for Every Environment The catalogue’s Kiosk Selection Matrix is one of the most honest things in it. Ten products across two pages. Screen sizes from 15 inches to 27. Android or Windows or Linux, depending on what the operation demands. External payment terminals or built-in NFC SoftPOS. Countertop, floor-standing, or wall-mounted. The range exists because different edges are different. A compact convenience store checkout and a flagship QSR ordering station are not the same problem. Forcing the same solution onto both of them is not efficiency - it’s compromise. The Nova 200, for example, is purpose-built for compact environments: a 15-inch true-flat PCAP display, integrated 1D/2D barcode scanner, front-access design, and support for Windows, Linux, or Android. It is not trying to be the Nova 800. It is trying to be exactly right for a tight counter, a convenience store, a small-format hybrid checkout - and in those environments, exactly right is worth considerably more than feature-rich. Final Impressions and Brand Loyalty The Transaction Is the Final Impression Customers don’t separate experience from the screen they interact with. Every tap, every moment of waiting, every payment prompt is a point of acceptance - not just of a card, but of a brand. If that screen feels intentional, the whole store feels intentional. If it doesn’t, the doubt spreads quietly backwards through everything the customer thought they liked about the place. Design helps customers move without thinking. Quality helps staff deliver without apologising. Purpose helps everything behave exactly as expected. The 2026 Element Kiosk Catalogue is built around that sequence - applied across every screen size, every mounting option, every environment that deserves hardware built to disappear. Contact Element POS in Australia or New Zealand today to learn more about the Nova kiosk range and find the right solution for your environment.

How Element POS is helping partners as hardware prices go through the roof Android POS solutions AI data centres are eating up global supply of key IT components What is Element doing to ensure continuity of supply? The advantages of Android-based POS solutions How AI Infrastructure Impacts Component Supply AI is taking the world by storm, but as we utilise this technological marvel in many aspects of our lives, AI data centres are churning through resources at a dramatic rate. The construction of new data centres, especially some of the giants located in the US, is draining the IT market of essential components. As AI infrastructure expands, demand for memory and other key components is outstripping supply. In response to AI-related requirements, manufacturers are migrating their focus away from the types of memory used in consumer electronics and POS systems. Instead, they are supplying more of the hardware used in AI accelerators. Rising Hardware Costs and Retail Predictions The shortage of RAM, SSDs and CPUs is driving price hikes throughout the industry. Experts such as IDC (International Data Corporation) predict PCs will increase dramatically in retail cost by the end of 2026. And some vendors of POS hardware are accepting orders with the caveat that prices may change by the time the order is ready to be delivered. What Element is doing about it Inevitably, Element is also affected by these issues. However, we are taking steps to ensure continuity of supply of core volatile components so that we can reduce the disruption for our partners caused by these massive global upheavals. Through strategic inventory planning, Element is forecasting the demand for key components, and buying up stock in advance where possible. We are taking into account the increasing lead times for semiconductors when allocating inventory so that we can continue to meet partner expectations. Element is diversifying its supply chain, sourcing components from a variety of suppliers instead of focusing on one main manufacturer, as we are committed to ensuring supply. Mitigating Supply Chain Risks through Android Expansion By expanding its Android portfolio, Element is reducing its reliance on Intel-based systems. A significant proportion of the shortage is affecting Intel chips, which are associated with Windows-based devices. As Intel-related supply chain becomes more constrained and prices increase due to demand, Element is accelerating its Android strategy. The rise of Android Android brings the capacity for innovation to the hardware ecosystem. Today, having Android as the operating system allows third-party developers to deliver device management software, databases and third-party apps, offering countless use cases for everything from POS systems to mobile devices. Additionally, Android CPUs are catching up with the processing requirements that were traditionally the domain of Windows-based devices -- .so we are now seeing Android hardware with the computing power needed to meet the requirements of our industry. Affordable Android Solutions for Retail and Hospitality Element will soon be rolling out a whole new range of Android hardware. As prices increase for new Windows-based systems, we can offer affordable options to alleviate some of the cost pressures without having to make compromises. Our partners will still be able to receive a robust, reliable POS solution built on design, quality and purpose -- the difference is that the platform is Android. Element MP11NX All-In-One POS Tablet Several Android products are already available, including the PaySuite® FLEX-enabled Element MP11NX. This device can either be stand-mounted as a fixed POS or used as a mobile tablet. It can accept NFC payments on the go and supports a personalised customer experience as staff can use it for taking orders at the table, for example. A kiosk that means business Another recently released device is the Element PK156 self-service kiosk. As well as boasting a compact form factor and sleek, sophisticated aesthetics, it epitomises the advantages of an Android-based POS system. Built to Android GMS (Google Mobile Services) specifications, the PK156 allows partners to load bespoke apps relevant to their business. The Android OS also allows you to customise your GUI (graphic user interface) to ensure a consistent and immersive experience with your brand at every technology touchpoint. Empowering SMEs with Self-Service Technology Bringing a self-service kiosk to a smaller business such as a corner store or cafe ensures a smoother customer experience and staff journey. By giving customers the option of serving themselves, you can free up staff to interact with visitors more meaningfully than simply taking orders and serving a queue at a fixed POS. With integrated NFC payments, barcode scanning and receipt printing, the PK156 is an all-in-one solution at an affordable price point that makes big-business transacting power available to SMEs. Contact Element now to learn more about how you can dodge the eye-watering costs associated with the global semiconductor shortage. We can offer technology solutions at very affordable prices, tailored to your requirements and embodying our ethos of design, quality and purpose.

Explore the crucial factors underpinning every transaction Trust is built at the edge What do we mean when we talk about the edge? Unpacking the two most underrated features of the POS experience Element hardware is designed to effortlessly withstand the rigours of real life Sektor Hamilton Island 2026 Conference In early February this year, Element attended the Sektor Hamilton Island 2026 conference. It shared industry insights and global market trends. The messaging of the breakout session explored the link between successful technology solutions and customer trust in a brand.  It’s something we can all relate to: we go into a store, we select our items and try to make a purchase, but when we tap our card, it’s declined. Tap again, still no result. Our first thought might be to catastrophise about a worst-case scenario where we’ve been hacked, but the truth is that the problem lies in the technology we’re working with. And when we realise it’s the tech platform and not our account that is at fault, in that instant, our trust is broken.  At the point of sale, every interaction represents a moment of acceptance -- and it’s not just for the transaction or payment, but actually for the brand and the retailer. At those crucial moments of interaction, technology either feels intentional or it fails to deliver, and this has a direct effect on how customers view the brand. While the connection between technology solutions and brand perceptions can be easy to overlook, it’s actually a cornerstone of the customer journey. What defines the edge? The edge is at the counter, at the POS, at the kiosk: it is that make-or-break moment when technology is utilised to complete the sale. The edge is where the customer is either won over or alienated. And all customers intuitively know what a good experience at the edge should feel like.  This is where Element comes in, because we understand that lens and realise that the equipment we design and manufacture is there to enable a bridge between technology and a sense of trust. Before any of us were reading this blog, before we were partners or technologists, before we barracked for a particular sports team, there’s one thing that we can agree on: we were all customers first. That means each of us can astutely judge the situation at the edge: does it feel smooth, does it feel good, does it feel right? Customers don’t differentiate between POS, Payments and technology: at the moment of truth, they simply evaluate whether they feel trust in the system -- and by extension, trust in the brand. We’ve explored the idea of frictionless retail  in the past, and the conclusion we arrived at is that the right amount of friction at the right time is imperative. The strategic friction you create is an opportunity for your brand to make itself noticed, but if that doesn’t feel natural at the edge, then it affects everything you’re trying to achieve. It undermines your brand, it compromises the customer experience and flows on to every point of interaction where your brand should be most distinct.  Staying calm at the edge Technology solutions aren’t only there to impress the customer; they must be functional, reliable and easy to use for staff members. POS devices that cause stress, impede the staff journey, freeze or otherwise fail to behave as they are meant to become a danger zone for the brand, because the staff journey is inseparable from the customer experience.  If the staff are under stress, the customers feel it. On the other hand, if the staff journey is a calm one, then it evokes trust from customers. This is why calm is the most underrated desirable of the retail experience at the POS: it gives customers a reason to trust in the brand, in the process, at the edge. Conversely, doubt is the antithesis of calm in this context, and it is the underestimated enemy at the edge. Doubt does not just come crashing in when a card is declined: it can begin when customers see that staff do not have full confidence in the POS equipment they are using.  From this angle, nothing is worse than when things are almost working, but not confidently. Customers are not just wondering why staff are having trouble processing their purchase, they are also speculating whether your brand is any good, and they are questioning whether they should be spending their hard-earned dollars at your retail store or hospitality venue. Awkward technology doesn’t just slow things down, it creates doubt. And that doubt is a cancer which ravages customer trust in your brand. Element hardware isn’t designed for demos, it’s designed for real-world environments and real pressure. Trust isn’t built when things are quiet, it’s built at peak times on a bad day with a line of customers waiting. Design helps customers move without thinking; quality helps staff deliver without apologising; purpose helps everything behave exactly as expected. Contact us  today to learn more about how we can support your business to ensure that you are building trust at the edge.

Harness the power of connection to thrive in a high-inflation, post-COVID reality Better United Today’s economic climate makes many pre-pandemic business practices obsolete While creating unprecedented opportunities, technology also brings unique challenges Element can cut through complexity to perfectly tailor POS solutions for your business As businesses pour momentum into 2023, we are facing a whole new set of challenges, many of which are centred around the RBA’s cash rate, soaring inflation and skyrocketing costs of living. Now more than ever, the revolution in online cooperation -- originally spawned by the necessity to survive the pandemic -- is equipping us with the tools we need to conquer the adversity of our harsh economic climate. Connected commerce is here to stay It’s worth reiterating a point we’ve made before: today’s market paradigms mean businesses that work together thrive in ways that make hostile competition a waste of resources. While this might have once seemed like an idealistic New Age dream, our technology has evolved so dramatically that we are blessed with new opportunities for collaboration that simply never existed before. These include pathways for sharing commercial wisdom and experience, and the creation of online communities that can pool their resources to benefit the industry as a whole. While we face new pressures today -- largely related to the cost of living -- we are also armed with the advantages that include working remotely and sharing ideas through virtual meetings. So even though the going is tough at the moment, we have the means to overcome the obstacles we face. Option paralysis: a very real first-world problem A key aspect of Element’s Better Together program is to support mutually beneficial connections among distribution partners and end users. Partly as a result of COVID, businesses now have a robust infrastructure that facilitates harmonious collaboration, and all parties can gain from this collaboration. But inevitably, the power of technology comes with its own unique challenges. While we might have a solid grasp of the platforms that support networking and online communication, deciding on the right point of sale management system is a complex process. There are so many variables involved that the best POS system for one business is not going to perform anywhere near as effectively in a different setting. As one very simple example, a front-of-house hospitality POS system for a staff journey experience will never deliver the customer-centric retail experience of a self service kiosk. In other situations, such as price considerations, comparing upfront capital outlay to the cost of a product’s full end-to-end life cycle can reveal a dramatic difference in financial investment between one solution and another. Navigating the digital landscape What would it mean for your business to have a trusted advisor who can cut through the marketing spiel and empower you to make informed decisions about your retail POS system? At Element, we carefully investigate the customer journeys and workflows specific to every partner we work with, regardless of whether the vertical involved is industrial, medical, retail or hospitality. Our core values of design, quality and purpose compel us to explore every factor relevant to the technology ecosystem best aligned with your requirements, notably including the right price point. In one situation, you might need to be running the latest POS software or enterprise management applications, so a state-of-the-art processor becomes an essential consideration. In a different use-case scenario, it might become evident that the practical requirements do not call for this level of processing power, but unit cost is a major priority for the business. In the second instance, we might explore the suitability of a unit such as the Element CA250W , which offers exceptional value for its price point. In a medical setting, ‘fit for purpose’ might mean peripherals that are fully washable , while an industrial environment might necessitate a panel PC that can withstand exposure to hazardous environments. Element CA850 Terminal Whether you’re evaluating the benefits of an Intel J6412 processor in the Element CA850 or looking to choose a handheld barcode scanner for the right scanning application, it is this level of conversation you can expect from our partner community. Even the idioms of ‘knowledge is power’ and ‘unity is strength’ are Better Together -- and this combined approach is how we can all cultivate a commercial environment in which everyone succeeds.

A first-rate supporting cast is essential to the central players’ performance The Power of working together Subtle design features make all the difference for efficient healthcare Effortless, user-friendly workflow can hinge on the right receipt printer or scanner Element can help you qualify what factors to consider for a seamless user experience Just as the stars of a film will inevitably draw our focus, it’s inevitable that the big-ticket technology items such as POS devices and Medical terminals will be the centre of our most immediate attention. But this should not be at the cost of forgetting the importance of peripherals -- they are crucial interaction points within your technology ecosystem. Healing arts get a modern makeover With a healthcare range that epitomises our ethos of design, quality and purpose, Element’s medical-grade keyboards are anti-microbial and fully washable. In addition to these ‘standard’ features, our ECT-105 keyboard offers three included connectivity options -- Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and corded -- allowing the one unit to cater for all preferences. Element ECT-105 Keyboard A keylock function also promotes swift regular cleaning: when the keyboard needs cleaning, a combination of keys can be held down to lock all the other keys and prevent unwanted keystrokes being entered. And to make these peripherals even more attractive, all our anti-microbial products have recently decreased in price. Green means ‘good’ For everything from emergency records to medication dispensing, a reliable scanner is a vital tool for healthcare professionals. Element’s P100Am and P50BT medical-grade scanners both offer haptic feedback, providing silent positive confirmation of a successful scan while ensuring no disruption to patients during night-time use. In a hospital environment, blood red is obviously not the ideal colour that patients want to see, so these scanners utilise green illumination -- a colour more associated with positives (getting the ‘green light’, natural foliage, healing and so on). From a workflow point of view, the P50BT is compact and light enough to hang from a lanyard, making it convenient for staff to always keep it on hand. Its Bluetooth connectivity allows it to be taken from one workstation to the next and pair it immediately with any terminal, again saving precious seconds. Hardcopy doesn’t have to be a hard slog In retail and hospitality, the humble receipt printer can prove to be an unsung hero. For a heavy throughput of customers, as in a grocery store or hospitality venue, the printer’s duty cycle is central to the return you’ll get on your investment. A workhorse printer such as the RW873 , RW973 or RW60 offers the benefit of maximum kilometres of paper per print head and a very high number of cuts out of the paper cutter. Where unit cost is an important consideration and receipt printing is less frequent, a unit such as the RW80L represents a lower upfront investment and offers paper-saving mode. As with all our receipt printers, it features a triple interface of USB, serial and ethernet connection. Two heads are better than one When it comes to scanning, 1D bar codes are hurtling towards a dinosaur-like fate, so all Element scanners support 2D encoding, with diverse solutions for a range of scanning requirements. The P303BT , for example, is mounted in an adjustable presentation stand that can be tilted to suit a variety of ergonomic requirements, while the P220 can be used as a hands-free or desktop scanner. The star attraction of our scanner stable is the new P880DS , with a double-duty Element P880DS Scanner design that is the first of its kind in the world. It can rest on a work surface or easily fit into your hand, and features a uniquely aggressive scan engine to pick up the smallest of barcodes, such as the tiny stickers on jewellery. But on its rear side is a second barcode scanner -- allowing product scanning on one side, and scanning a loyalty card or ID on the other. Saving time as well as money, this is a valuable way that we can help our partners with a highly cost-effective solution that does not carry an associated compromise in quality. It’s all about making the hardware disappear The aim of putting all this attention into workflow and efficiency is to provide an unimpeded, seamless experience for customers and staff alike. In applications such as grocery store self-scanning, the user is the customer, so it is not acceptable to risk a frustrating, unreliable or inefficient process. But with so many options available and so many factors to consider -- even something as simple as how to orientate a receipt printer to ensure easy reloading -- it can be difficult to qualify the most efficient way to integrate your ecosystem of peripherals. As always, that’s where Element can help -- our commitment to design, quality and purpose is your assurance that you can depend on our unbiased, objective and meaningful support for your business.

Take an omnimorphic look into the future of retail through the lens of the latest tech Think of interaction points as stepping stones on the ultimate customer journey Adaptive technology is essential for supporting an omnichannel shopping experience Element can provide tech solutions to make the most of every opportunity Some say opportunities are taken, not handed out. But in today’s market reality, where retailers need to be more adaptive than ever before, every interaction point with technology represents an opportunity to win the customer’s favour. This potential abundance of opportunities poses a weighty question: does your business have the technology it takes to deliver the ultimate customer experience? Omnichannel retail is a well-established strategy that involves ensuring a “consistent, coordinated, and cohesive experience” across all physical and digital touchpoints, ranging from social media to online to instore. Think about the points of interaction a customer has in a retail environment: they include the POS, a self-service kiosk, digital signage. In some settings, adaptive devices such as a tablet can be used for clienteling, giving sales staff greater freedom to apply their skills. At each of these points, a retailer can give the visitor worthy reasons to not just transact, but also return for another rich and personalised customer journey. In a world where consumers expect a seamless omnichannel experience, retailers must be more focused than ever before on delivering such an experience. But working smarter does not have to mean working harder. A customer-centred approach In our previous post , we explored the concept of frictionless retail, asking a confronting question about the concept, right from the outset. Around the same time, Amazon announced that it would be removing Just Walk Out  frictionless technology from its larger Fresh grocery stores. In a LinkedIn article  on the subject, retail analyst Neil Saunders commented that the model was “a solution in search of a customer problem” rather than being an example of “consumer-centric technology”. We’ve argued that adaptive retail is a more ‘consumer-centric’ pathway, and the omnichannel experience is an essential aspect of this ethos. So if this is the new status quo, what do we mean by ‘omnimorphic’? Ultimately we are talking about adaptive technology designed to support a personalised customer journey at every point of interaction. Taking an omnimorphic approach is all about being nimble, it’s about recognising that you are the expert when it comes to your business. It also means harnessing that expertise and channelling it into enhancing your brand via every available platform, utilising technology touchpoints to remind the customer that you care about them. It’s a complete wraparound, invisible yet always tangible, that ensures a response to every desire and every enquiry is within the customer’s reach at all times. To complement and support the positive outcomes of such a strategy, it’s imperative to work with a technology provider who understands the realities of the retail industry. An outcome-focused tech provider can offer services that are thoughtfully designed, high in quality, and impeccably purposeful. Such services allow a glimpse into the future while also meeting the here-and-now necessity for a retailer to be ‘everything, everywhere, all at once’. Technology at the pointy end Let’s take a closer look at the technology that supports an omnimorphic experience at various interaction points. For starters, a self-service kiosk such as the Element SSK-P4  can be the customer’s first or only point of interaction. There are plenty of situations where customers may prefer not to interact with staff, so they must have access to technology that makes them feel equally valued. With a responsive, reliable touchscreen and option of either a built-in payment terminal or a multi-grip plate to hold a third-party payment device, this kiosk’s feature-packed interface makes it a pleasure for customers to interact with. Whether it is deployed as a self-checkout or as an ordering terminal in a QSR (quick-service restaurant), its optional 2D scanner supports scanning loyalty membership cards, further adding to its omnimorphic quality. K22W Panel PC - Kitchen Video System In other hospitality scenarios, the customer experience hinges on staff utilising robust and purpose-driven interaction points, connecting seamlessly with various operational needs. The Element K22W  is a panel PC designed for use as a KVS (kitchen video system), although it is equally suitable for tasks ranging from digital signage to self-ordering. In a busy commercial kitchen, this type of touchscreen unit makes managing meal orders simple and efficient, allowing staff to focus on delivering a sumptuous dining experience.

Eliminate bottlenecks and enhance your brand identity with payment-enabled POS Element 455W Touch Screen POS Monitor Quality POS systems are particularly essential for SMEs Choose technology that serves people, not the other way around Create brand consistency with a unit such as the Element PK156 It’s an inevitable fact that SMEs (small-medium enterprises) need to economise wherever possible. Cutting corners with technology can be a tempting way to save on overheads, and in some instances, a business might be able to get away with it. However, when it comes to retail and hospitality, a good POS system is one thing that a small business should never skimp on, as transactions are the cornerstone of income. As an example, consider a retail business that matches a cash drawer with a dodgy computer and tries to make this work. Customers might be queuing in line for service. Meanwhile, sales staff are struggling to make a cheap system work and process simple transactions. If you are not using a special POS system, you risk crashes and drop-outs. Staff may have to apologise to customers for slow computer performance. This can lead to a worst-case scenario. The transaction is the final impression of your store. Customers will remember your business by their checkout experience. If that experience is poor, it undermines all the hard work done by your staff in securing the sale, as the customer will be left with a proverbial bad taste, which will make them less likely to return. A quality POS ensures a reliable customer experience Element PK156 Android Self-Service Kiosk What if a business had instead chosen a sleek, purpose-designed POS system, such as the Element 455W , or perhaps a self-service kiosk like the Element PK156 ? When selecting one of these devices, you have the assurance that their reliability rests on Element’s pillars of design, quality and purpose.  Transactions flow smoothly and effortlessly, customers do not have to wait, and the additional value of the device’s aesthetics make it a visual feature of the business space. When the POS device in question is a self-service kiosk, your customers are directly interacting with your technology -- and that is something you can’t afford to get wrong. How do you design for humans? Person-centric technology redefines how people engage with touchpoints within your retail or hospitality environment. When it comes to SMEs, their largest cost is usually labour -- so it is vital for a business to equip itself with technology that serves people, instead of the other way around. Self-service kiosks such as the Element PK156 epitomise this kind of technology. Too often, kiosks have been associated with larger enterprises such as major supermarkets and fast food chains. Today, you have the option of investing in a kiosk designed for the small-to-medium scale while still maintaining large-enterprise capabilities. The Element PK156 allows you to take advantage of cutting-edge technology that helps drive self-service engagement with your brand, even if you are operating an SME. A kiosk that works with your business Self-service kiosks have always been seen as a way of reducing the labour force, but in the past, the GUI (graphic user interface) was a bit impersonal. That has changed in today’s kiosks, which offer a full range of personalisation features, including the ability to make choices like craft custom burgers in QSRs (quick-service restaurants). This is all a way of creating a more personal experience and strengthening the connection between the customer and the brand.  A kiosk such as the Element PK156 is a cost-effective way for SMEs to serve more customers with fewer bottlenecks, while also enhancing engagement with your brand. It’s an excellent way to streamline operations and increase throughput during busy trading times such as the Christmas period. And the fact that the one device has embedded payments technology means that it’s a single solution for the whole checkout process, accessible to SMEs. Create a consistent brand experience In many cases, people’s first engagement with your brand will happen online. For this reason, you need to find a way of drawing the online world into the in-store experience. That means from a design perspective, you need to have the same brand concepts, the same logo, the same look, feel and aesthetic in-store as you have online. Customers using a self-service kiosk like the Element PK156 will expect that experience of your brand to continue at checkout. This is where you have the opportunity to build a GUI that showcases your branding in-store, so that your customers have full immersion at every touchpoint. And looking at it from a high-level general view, the PK156 has a small form factor and is a highly aesthetic unit, which makes it the ideal platform for aligning with different brands.  It’s the perfect way to humanise your technology and make the checkout process pleasantly uneventful; the best-case scenario when it’s time to transact. Contact Element  today to learn more about the revolutionary and affordable payments-enabled PK156, and how we can support your business with people-friendly technology touchpoints.

Humans and Robots Our personal investment in the customer experience sets Element apart - The human factor Interaction points with technology are key aspects of the retail landscape How we created a POS environment to enhance customer engagement Product showcase: Self Service Kiosk P-series The cliché about an organisation only being as good as its people is a well-worn classic that warrants a closer look. When thinking about a business, it’s easy to see it as a brand, a slogan, a symbol, possibly a signature product. But where did that signature product come from? Does it live up to its slick marketing campaign? When we talk about design, quality and purpose, these are not simply conversation starters -- they are values we embrace as human beings, they are central to defining our journey. And in the retail world, that journey is all about the customer experience. Lasting impressions Globally, everyone is a consumer -- even a street-food customer in some obscure corner of the world . Everyone deals with point-of-sale interactions, and retail transactions affect everyone’s daily life. Have you ever consciously thought about how you interact with a self-checkout? How would you describe your transaction experience at a favourite retailer? Your point of interaction with technology is usually going to be your last impression of the business that received your money. Retailers engage with their customers in diverse ways -- instore, online, through apps -- and this engagement is vital for enriching the customer journey. The technology interface customers interact with is consistently a cornerstone of their engagement: by shaping their impression of a retailer, it can often have a bearing on the likelihood of loyalty. At Element, we qualify, investigate and align with our partners’ unique needs -- and because we appreciate the value of the customer experience, we deliver nuanced solutions to complex requirements. A passion for fashion For a retailer in a shopping centre, lease is calculated by square metre, so from a store design point of view, this means every centimetre is prime real estate. For a fashion chain, generous counter space is particularly crucial to brand identity: this is where sales staff fold and bag garments while lavishing the customer with attention and making them feel like a VIP. For many people who sell POS hardware, the status quo is to discuss feeds and speeds, and other parameters of the terminals themselves. At Element, we take a more ambitious view -- applying our understanding of what goes on in a retail store, not just from a technology perspective, but in terms of design, visual merchandise, and how these factors integrate into a brand’s overall market strategy. For our fashion partner, we supplied a POS unit that could fold down flat instead of being mounted on a stand, freeing up precious counter space. Alongside that, we provided an under-bench mounted printer, and solved the issue of cable management with a cordless scanner that was also stowed under the countertop when not in use. This way, staff could place clothes on the counter when making a sale and focus on engaging the customer, folding their new garments for them and placing them in an attractive bag -- all part of the luxury retail experience. There was no cumbersome IT equipment between the salesperson and the customer to detract from the look and feel of the retailer’s store -- it didn’t encroach on their brand. Modular by design The COVID world has changed everything, including people’s preferences for how they transact. Retailers still need to engage their customers, and as the pandemic has made people more wary of face-to-face interaction, the response has been to give customers more choices about their points of interaction. Self-checkouts have been a standard fixture in supermarkets for years now, and the paradigm is also becoming a popular option for fast food outlets. But there is an increasing call to use self service kiosks across much more of the retail world. Element SSK-P Self Service Kiosk For these reasons, Element has developed the Self Service Kiosk P-series , based around either a 21.5in or 27in head unit that supports Windows or Android. Modular by design, the same head unit can be installed into a wall mount if the retailer requires an unobtrusive option, or positioned on a back-to-back stand in a QSR (quick service restaurant) setting. It can be stood on a counter or it can be part of a full supermarket setup, incorporating a scanner scale and security scale, and these are just a few of the options available. In practical terms, this means our partners can invest in a single ecosystem of a head unit to suit an incredibly diverse range of applications. Their software can be tested and run on it, a standard operating environment can be established, and then -- thanks to its modular design -- it can be incorporated into practically any retailer’s use-case environment to help them enhance the customer engagement journey. That customer engagement is, and always will be, the human factor at the heart of the retail experience. And the technology that represents the point of interaction must support a smooth and effortless transaction no matter what setting it fits into, keeping the customer journey free of stumbling blocks.

Beyond the Counter: Enabling Person-Centred Payment Acceptance Anywhere Elevate the Customer Experience: Meet the modern consumer's demand for unprecedented flexibility in ordering and payment options. Omnichannel Solutions for Growth: Element’s integrated POS/Payments technology empowers your business to deliver a truly fluid, multi-touchpoint experience. The Power of Invisible Payments: Achieve the optimal payment outcome; a transaction so smooth and effortless that it goes entirely unnoticed by the customer. Decades ago, the POS dictated how people transacted. In a QSR (quick-service restaurant), for example, there would be a row of POS systems where people would line up to place their order and pay for their meal. In a retail outlet, there was no click and collect option; you would select your items from the shelves and then go pay for them at the front registers. Cash was the dominating payment method, and consumers were at the mercy of how the POS was organised. This couldn’t be further from the reality of today’s retail and hospitality landscape. You can still pay at the POS like you traditionally did, but in 2025, we also have QR ordering from your table, wait staff can put your order straight through to the kitchen using a mobile device, you can order in-app, you can pay at the kiosk or drive-thru. Today, there are countless different points of acceptance, where customers expect merchants to provide them with options for how they pay. The Key to Modern Commerce: Versatile, Converged POS and Payments Hardware Element’s hardware spans all these points of interaction, and the convergence of POS and   Payments  is a technological revolution that is spearheading person-centred acceptance. From kiosks to tablets with embedded payment functionality, Element is committed to staying at the cutting edge as we support our partners to deliver the experience that customers seek. One of the latest additions to our range is the Element MP11NX , a hybrid POS tablet that can either be used with its dock as a stationary POS, or detached as a standalone device. Element MP11NX: The Hybrid Mobile POS for Personalised Clienteling Element MP11NX All-in-One POS Tablet In tablet mode, the Element MP11NX is perfectly suited to clienteling for a truly personalised customer service experience. It gives staff the mobility they need to go around a showroom or retail space with a visitor to the store while looking up items based on their profile and making suggestions relevant to previous purchases or known preferences. It’s the perfect way to combine the advantages of online shopping with the convenience of a bricks-and-mortar store. As a tablet, it can also be used by waiting staff to place a meal order at the table. The Element MP11NX can be docked to a stationary base, which offers multi-port connectivity, ideal for counter service at a busy hospitality or retail venue. But one of its greatest advantages is its ability to take payments right from the device. PaySuite® FLEX-enabled , it features Android NFC (near-field communication) so customers can tap and pay on the device itself, with no need for additional payment hardware. Best-case self-service Element PK156 - Android Self-Service Kiosk with Integrated Tap-On-Device payments The Element PK156 is exactly what customers want to see in a self-service kiosk. It’s an all-in-one solution with scanning and printing built in, and it also accepts NFC payments. It runs Android OS for fast, smooth, effortless operation in a self-service setting, and can be mounted on a wall or countertop, or simply used freestanding. Self-service kiosks reduce the cost of overhead for a business and make customers feel more independent and in control. With integrated POS/Payments that include PaySuite® FLEX, the Element PK156 offers tap-to-pay versatility right from the kiosk itself. Its compact footprint and sleek, ultra-modern design make it a pleasure for customers to interact with, and its aesthetics are well-matched to any sophisticated interior. From retail to hospitality to a service environment such as a gym, the Element PK156 is a driving force for a superior customer experience. The Next Generation of Countertop POS: Integrated Payment Terminals The revolutionary ability to combine POS and Payments on a single device extends to standalone POS systems in the Element range as well. One such POS is the Element Orion series, designed to be extremely efficient for staff to use, but also to epitomise customer convenience. Available in three touchscreen size options 11.6”, 15.6” and 21.5” the Element Orion terminal can be used as a POS system, a touch monitor, or adapted for use as a kiosk or digital display. It supports a second, customer-facing display which can be bracket-mounted to the main unit or positioned on its own stand. Plus the 11.6” variant features an optional NFC reader embedded in the device itself. The Element Orion offers a selection of two processor platforms: either MediaTek G700 or Intel® Alder Lake N97. It supports Android OS for lightning-fast operation and interchangeable modular boxes for either touch PC or display monitor functionality. This versatile system is another example of how Element caters to customers who wish to have more options when it comes to how they order and pay. Seamless Customer Payment Journey With all these devices, the objective is to ensure a flowing, effortless experience throughout the ordering, purchase and payment process. When something doesn’t go to plan, everyone notices, so what we are aiming for is to ensure the technology does its work beneath the level of conscious awareness. When a customer comes into your store or hospitality venue, they are making an investment in your brand . They hope to be rewarded in some way for the ‘golden ticket’ of their attention span that they’ve given you. Engaging and inspiring them with products and services is obviously the most important way you can provide them with this reward, but don’t underestimate the relevance of how smoothly the last mile of the experience goes for them. In the best case, we aim for customers to come away from making a payment without noticing all the magic that takes place in the background to ensure that seamless journey. Contact Element  today to learn more about how our technology can support a truly 21st-century transaction for your customers, and give them a reason to return for more of the person-centred care that you offer.

The values we uphold at Element translate to precious commodities Element’s central motivating factors deliver real-world experiences Rediscover the brilliance of a recently upgraded top-selling POS terminal Join the revolution in device management with a free trial of inefi Spotlight What are the three strongest motivating factors in your life? For many people, family or a significant other would take the top spot, but the other two might vary greatly. For those lucky enough to have a career that makes them feel self-actualised, their job might be associated with their highest values. For others, a sport or hobby they are passionate about might be in their top three.  For Element, there are three values that equally share first prize in the motivation stakes -- design, quality and purpose. If you think about what your own motivating factors mean to you, you can get an idea of how central these are to our company’s DNA. At first glance, they might seem like lofty goals or abstract ideals, but in practice, they are deeply rooted in the real world, they comprise the driving force behind all we do, and it’s easy to directly connect them to the experiences of staff and customers. Our values bring meaning to life The way we design our devices means you can have confidence in anything that bears the Element brand. Our entire range, from POS terminals to industrial panel PCs, is not only beautiful to look at and work with, but designed to solve problems. When designing the technology tools that facilitate a pivotal moment between staff and customers -- the point of purchase -- we always think about what obstacles we can help overcome. We design our hardware for effortless and reliable function, so staff are freed from doubts and customers can believe in the credibility of your brand. The quality inherent in Element technology inspires trust from users. It’s not enough for Element products to shine when they come out of the box -- we are committed to using the very best materials and components to maximise performance over each item’s whole life cycle. Our pillar of quality means staff can feel at ease while customers feel cared for, because we haven’t cut any corners in developing our technology solutions. Element is about much more than just the point of sale -- it’s about retail that feels effortless and beautiful. Element hardware is uniquely fit for purpose, delivering satisfaction for staff and gratitude from customers. By investing in Element, you are choosing products that function exactly as you expect them to, handling high-pressure environments with ease and ensuring that the staff who operate them can stay calm and deliver an outstanding customer experience. In this context, purpose is the antithesis of chaos, allowing a seamless checkout process that flows like water, free from lags, friction and glitches. Thanks to Element products, retail and hospitality can be everything that they should be: a graceful and effortless transaction at the end of a rewarding and fulfilling customer journey. Get your hands on this reimagined winner Embodying design, quality and purpose, Element’s 455 and 455W POS systems Element 455W are among our best-selling products, and they have recently undergone a new evolution to stay abreast of available technology, aesthetics and functionality. This silent, fanless terminal -- available with either a 15.1” (1024 x 768) or 15.6” widescreen (1920 x 1080) display size -- now has a modular, removable CPU box to simplify servicing and allow easy upgrades, future-proofing your investment. It is also fully compatible with Intel N97 processors, making it transition-ready to Windows 11 IoT. Both variants of this brilliant terminal feature a beautiful bezel design with a sleek, modern look and a smaller footprint, giving it breathtaking aesthetics as well as improved space efficiency. Yet its sophisticated exterior belies rugged, industrial-grade build quality for high-traffic environments and heavy, continuous use. The 455  and 455W systems are purpose-built to be fast and responsive, with a visibly premium appearance that fits perfectly within a polished, professional retail or hospitality venue. The upgraded systems have been developed through user-centred thinking that empowers staff to deliver an outstanding customer experience. A new era in smart software Take the headache out of managing your devices with inefi Spotlight, now available throughout the Element range . This remarkable UEM (unified endpoint management) platform gives you a real-time overview of how all your devices -- even peripherals -- are performing from a single screen, for unprecedented insight into and control over your entire tech stack. Receipt printer out of paper? Touchscreen behaving erratically? Spotlight sends an alert and allows you to rectify the problem immediately, meaning minimum downtime and maximum customer satisfaction. For seamless provisioning, Spotlight allows you to deploy software simply by assigning a profile to a device’s MAC address, and as soon as it’s detected on the network, it will be furnished with the image and all the configs it needs. Spotlight also supports remote control of your hardware, making it so much easier for your IT department to diagnose and fix issues without having to physically send a technician to the site.  We are offering a free 30-day trial  of inefi Spotlight for Element products, so you can see for yourself how much money you can save by running your hardware at optimum efficiency. In keeping with our ethos of design, quality and purpose, this is another way we aim to inspire you with confidence in Element as an all-round technology solution. Contact us  today to learn more about how our values can enhance your business.

Assess, manage and fix every device in your business from your laptop The Only Platform for your Element Endpoint and Peripheral Management Element plus inefi equals smart device management nirvana Troubleshoot remotely and perform seamless provisioning, all from your browser Real-world examples that show how effortlessly Inefi can transform device management Imagine this: managing your entire fleet of technology, including touchscreen POS terminals, kiosks, mobile devices and PCs, from a single computer. What would it mean to you to ensure everything is running smoothly and optimised for power efficiency? Normally, keeping hardware in that kind of finely tuned shape would be a full-time job. But now, with inefi Spotlight available for most Element devices, you can deploy software, start up and shut down from off-site, even resolve hardware problems remotely. The inefi Spotlight UEM (unified endpoint management) platform brings unprecedented power and visibility to your entire system, revolutionising how you control your hardware. What is inefi Spotlight? Think of it like the ‘brain’ behind your tech stack. Giving you a real-time view of everything you have online, inefi Spotlight helps you connect the dots and see what all your devices are doing. This includes not just panel PCs, tablets and kiosks, but also peripherals such as card readers, scanners and receipt printers. By accessing the Spotlight portal, you have an immediate overview across your entire suite of connected devices, and if anything is underperforming, in an error state or using an excess of resources, you are immediately notified. The way it works is that each device can be preloaded or side-loaded with an inefi agent. These agents are compatible with Windows, Android and Linux, for fully OS-agnostic integration. The moment your device connects to the network, inefi can provide instant data on performance, bandwidth usage, errors and more. And all your insights are available on one screen -- no need to hop between apps, and no mystery malfunctions. Why remote control is a game-changer Spotlight supports seamless deployment of software profiles on new or replacement devices. On the portal, it’s simply a matter of defining the hardware’s MAC address and assigning a profile to it. Once the terminal is on site, powered on and detected on the network, it calls back to inefi. From there, the whole image, drivers, configs and so on are deployed directly to the device, and as if by magic, it is ready for use almost immediately. Provisioning has never been so smooth and intuitive. Inefi Spotlight Another advantage of inefi Spotlight is remote tech support. If a device or a peripheral is out of order, inefi Spotlight enables your IT department to diagnose and reset that device remotely as a first step instead of resorting to the costly option of sending out a field technician. Without needing to bring in techs just to reboot a frozen touchscreen, you can dramatically reduce downtime and service costs. Two real-world examples Suppose you have a supermarket with six checkout lanes. Traditionally lanes 1 and 2 are in use most of the time while customers spill over into lanes 3 through 6 during busy periods. Using inefi Spotlight integration into the receipt printers, you can actually see the number of kilometres each print head has been used. This allows you to rotate the printers from the various lanes to make sure your assets are being used equally, instead of thrashing two units to the brink of failure while the others still have kilometres of service life left in them. In another instance, let’s say a kiosk runs out of receipt paper. The longer it’s out of action, the worse it is for your store, as customers will get frustrated that there is one less kiosk to go around. Spotlight picks it up and triggers an email to a manager that the printer is out of paper, enabling staff to take action immediately and restore the system to a functional status in minutes. The result is a better customer journey -- ultimately the priority of any retailer or hospitality venue. Better uptime, longer lifespan, lower costs Instead of managing devices reactively, use Spotlight to work proactively , responding to problems before they cause failures. The insights provided by inefi Spotlight allow you to maximise your hardware’s life cycle and ensure you get a greater return on your investment, reducing your total cost of ownership. Let’s say your fleet incorporates kiosks, POS terminals, tablets and PCs. With inefi Spotlight, you can manage the whole system, including peripherals, from a single computer. It’s scalable and it will adapt to the technology needs that you have in store. By optimising your hardware’s performance, inefi can offer major savings on your power bills. In one case study published on the company’s website , a luxury retail brand with a fleet of more than 1000 devices saved close to 23,000kWh per year in energy costs by utilising the Spotlight platform. Once you know what you are looking for, you can be proactive about reducing power use -- for example, by remotely shutting down terminals overnight and restarting them when the business opens the next day. One of the greatest benefits of inefi Spotlight as a UEM solution is that it creates a ‘single pane of glass’ view of the entire operating environment -- from kiosks to tablets to POS terminals. No more juggling logins or clicking through countless interfaces: with Spotlight, everything is visible and controllable from a single screen, providing a truly centralised service. Start your free 30-day trial  of inefi Spotlight today and discover for yourself how intuitive and accessible it is. Once you see what it can do for your setup, reducing your on-site repair expenses, energy costs and failure rates, you won’t want to go back to doing things reactively.

Element’s All-in-One Medical Devices for Healthcare Efficiency Element K95A Full HD Medical-Grade Panel PC Although healthcare is far removed from retail and hospitality, there are key parallels Element’s panel PCs and washable healthcare peripherals are perfect for a medical setting Together, items in the range can offer an all-in-one solution Far from the world of retail and hospitality, Element’s focus on design, quality, and purpose fits well in a special place: healthcare. Even with the differences, there are still similarities between these settings, both have a fast pace and need for efficiency. The customer experience in healthcare is crucial, because the “customers” are the patients and those receiving care. Element provides a full range of medical-grade products. This includes touchscreen panel PCs and Washable keyboards and mice. All products meet strict certification standards. Element’s healthcare hardware is made from special plastics with silver nanotechnology and is carefully designed for hospitals, where controlling infections is very important. Constant use of eMR (electronic medical records) is essential in healthcare today, so quick access is crucial. Having a terminal available whenever and wherever needed is imperative. This is especially true when hospital staff are always short on time and resources. Having the computing power to get results, enter patient data, and track their health is key to meeting health goals.  The Element K95A and K959 are touchscreen panel PCs designed for portability and ease of use. Both units have optional RFID readers. This lets clinicians use their ID cards to log into their accounts. Their desktop and work environment will be ready to use right away on the terminal. One of the key features of both the K95A and K959 is convenient side-mounted battery access. This design allows for smooth, secure hot-swapping of batteries, minimising strain and ensuring reliable connections. The feature allows easy access for quick battery replacement. Even when on a cart, it works for users of all heights. This makes power replenishment faster, safer, and more comfortable.  On battery power, the K95A and K959 can run continuously for up to 12 hours. Both units have a built-in power supply unit (PSU). This means you can easily plug them into a powered cart or wall socket for power.  The K95A and K959 both feature an optional onboard camera to facilitate video consults, while their 11th Gen Intel® Core™ Tiger Lake processor ensures plenty of headroom for medical applications.  To reduce noise for patients, the K95A and K959 are fanless medical PCs. This allows staff to work quietly at night. Each of these units also has an LED reading light mounted on its lower edge to illuminate a keyboard or hardcopy medical information without the need to switch on brighter overhead lights and disrupt the sleep of patients. The Element M24-HC clinical review monitor is great for diagnostics. It shows medical images clearly and accurately. This includes X-rays, ultrasounds, and MRIs.  Element M24-HC medical-grade touchscreen monitor The monitor is DICOM calibration compliant, meaning that if clinicians share patient files between hospitals, for example, they can be sure they are seeing exactly the same thing as what anyone else with a DICOM-compliant monitor is seeing. This LCD digital display comes in touch and non-touch versions. You can use it on a cart or at an imaging centre. Perfect for any place that needs a high-quality medical monitor. Powerful peripherals The Element ECT-105 is an exceptionally cost-effective but feature-rich medical-grade keyboard. Its small form factor makes it easy to keep on a cart, without compromising on a full 104-key layout. It supports multiple ways to connect. You can use a USB cable, Bluetooth, or WiFi, and it has an IP68 rating. This means you can easily clean it by washing it in a disinfectant solution. The Element ECT-409 wireless washable mouse mouse has very quiet buttons and a scroll wheel. Perfect for medical settings where noise should be low to avoid disturbing patients. The design includes an actively sealed battery compartment, allowing you to sterilise it in a dishwasher. For medical scanning applications, Element offers the P50BT cordless companion scanner. A Useful feature of this unit is that it can connect directly to a tablet or PC using Bluetooth. It can also connect with its charge and communication cradle. You can carry the scanner unit around as it is not permanently fixed and will easily pair with different cradles when needed. Light enough to hang on a lanyard around a healthcare worker's neck, it uses a green laser for scanning. This is better than a red laser, which can remind people of blood in a hospital. The P50BT also features night mode with haptic feedback to avoid waking patients with audio alerts. It reads all mainstream barcodes and QR codes, including those from a mobile phone screen. Element Healthcare Peripherals Putting it all together Element’s healthcare range offers a purpose-designed all-in-one solution to transform healthcare delivery, with a strong focus on staff efficiency and, equally, patient experience. The K95 series can be mounted on a powered or unpowered medical cart, and connected to the washable ECT-105 keyboard via Bluetooth, cable or WiFi.  Paired with an ECT-409 wireless mouse, the system is easily cleanable, reducing the risk of infection. Adding a P50BT provides the necessary functionality for scanning medicines, pathology samples and the like, and together, these products represent a complete technology suite to meet all the needs of a healthcare setting. Thousands of these units are already used in hospitals across Australia and are reliable tools for bedside patient care. Contact Element today to learn more about how we can create an all-in-one healthcare solution to suit your requirements.