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  • Why SMEs Need People-Centric POS in 2026

    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.

  • The power of peripherals

    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.

  • The Human Factor

    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.

  • Future-Proofing Retail & Hospitality: The Evolution of Flexible POS and Seamless Payments

    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.

  • Tech You Can Trust: Smarter POS Systems for Retail & Hospitality

    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.

  • Revolutionise Device Management with inefi Spotlight for Element

    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.

  • Hospital-Grade Technology Solutions

    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.

  • The hidden magic of technology

    Concealment is the name of the game for a next-level customer experience The benefits of a technology-free counter are more than skin deep Hiding the hardware will necessitate practical considerations such as cable management Element offers a super-compact product that is perfect for under-the-counter installation There may be a proverb about not judging a book by its cover, but the reality is that everyone does anyway. So, ensuring a sleek, attractive appearance at the sales counter is an important way to create a positive impression of your business. One effective way to deliver a neat, minimalist look is to conceal as much POS hardware as possible by building it into the cabinetry. It’s generally unlikely that you are going to hide 100% of your technology, but Element has worked with retailers to fit even items such as touchscreens into recessed areas that leave the benchtop free and open. There are functional benefits to having as much of your technology hidden as possible. Apart from the appearance of a clear counter space, it will be advantageous for a fashion business to have more of the benchtop available to fold and bag clothing. Keeping the POS hardware out of sight means you can get away with a smaller counter, diminishing the Great Wall of Retail and making less of a barrier between sales staff and customers. Saving space at the counter also means more floor area for displaying products to sell, or in a hospitality setting, room for an extra table. Security is another advantage, as keeping the technology under the counter makes it less accessible to staff. Without an available USB port where someone can charge a phone or potentially plug in a USB drive, the network is protected from cyber threats that staff may unwittingly bring to work on an unsecured thumb drive. Putting it into practice There are several considerations that must be taken into account when installing POS hardware under the counter. Heat is the chief consideration, and adequate ventilation was crucial for older-type 180W POS systems. However, cutting-edge hardware such as the Element MPC1 (see below) is a low-power fanless unit, featuring reduced heat output. Element MPC1 Mini Box PC Cable routing is vital for the effective functioning of your POS system, and choosing peripherals that support Bluetooth or WiFi connectivity will be efficient to use in this scenario. Remember to ensure peripherals such as receipt printers are mounted so that staff can readily access them, for easy replacement of consumables as required. Use a display-mounted barcode scanner on the head unit, or keep a handheld or desktop scanner in its own recessed area under the counter for storage, to be brought out when needed. The key is to keep these items concealed whenever they are not in use, leaving as much of the counter free as possible. Out of sight, out of mind Hiding the technology away can make us forget how powerful and versatile it is. It can sometimes be easy for retailers to not be aware of everything that goes into setting up a POS system, and all the in-built features that can make a huge difference to your business. It pays to explore all the options available instead of just going for a bulky default POS terminal, and one such option is a product whose tiny size belies its enormous potential. The Element MPC1 mini box PC is a commercial-grade, modular unit that is incredibly compact without compromising on power, making it particularly valuable as an under-the-counter POS solution. It is also a prime candidate for use in digital signage, especially in applications where space is at a premium. At just 120mm square by 23mm thick, the Element MPC1 has 100mm and 75mm VESA mounts for effortless installation. Its space-saving form factor allows it to be installed into areas that are prohibitively small for standard-sized POS hardware, and its low energy consumption means you save on operating costs. Plus, because it’s an industrial PC, it is built with long-term architecture in terms of its chipset and its board. This tiny powerhouse is equipped with an Intel Elkhart Lake J6412 processor, runs WiFi 6, and can be operated continuously with very low heat output, and no noise. This is another advantage for applications such as digital signage, where it can be connected to as many as three displays via USB-C and two HDMI interfaces for output in dazzling 4k resolution. Element RW60+ It is also the perfect option for use with a touchscreen as a slimline kiosk. Add a wireless receipt printer such as the Element RW60+  and the Element P135BT cordless Bluetooth barcode scanner, and you have a complete kiosk solution. These wireless peripherals minimise the need for cable management, helping your business create its own kiosk that can be embedded in a wall, for example, to suit space constraints. Element P135BT 2D Cordless Bluetooth Barcode Scanner Contact Element  today to learn more about the hidden magic of technology, and how we can help create a concealed POS solution that will ensure an epic customer experience. We will empower you to understand why the not-so-obvious features of Element technology make it efficient, versatile, and successful for your business.

  • Power up your business with self-service kiosks

    Self-service technology is streamlining and improving the customer experience all over the world, from your local café to the busiest supermarkets. The rise of contactless service during COVID-19 made kiosks a must-have for many retailers Self-service kiosks speed up transactions and reduce staff workloads, especially before Christmas Element's self-service kiosks offer scalable solutions for all types of businesses If you haven’t succumbed to the convenience of a self-ordering or self-checkout kiosk recently, you’re probably living off the grid and doing a digital detox. These handy digital devices are transforming the customer experience across the planet, from your local café to the busiest supermarkets, making shopping faster and easier for everyone. Even more importantly, self-service kiosks are helping smaller companies to stay in business, because they reduce overheads and encourage repeat business. When customers know they can nip in and out in half the usual time, they’re more likely to come back.  Blame COVID-19, but in a good way So, what’s driving the adoption of self-service kiosks? While they’ve been around for a while, in recent times (aka pandemic times) they’re really taken off.  When COVID-19 hit the world, businesses had to think on their feet. Suddenly, contactless everything was the way to go, which meant self-service kiosks became the holy grail of customer service. No need for face-to-face transactions, just a few quick taps and you’re done.  Fast forward to today and these kiosks are still doing the business, because customers love the speed and independence of DIY service. Whether it’s checking out groceries or ordering a flat white, kiosks make the process snappy and stress-free.  Christmas chaos? Not with a kiosk! With the holiday season looming, businesses are already bracing for the Christmas rush. Like tinsel and big guys dressed in red and white, we all believe that long queues, frazzled staff and impatient customers are part of the season. Or are they? By adopting self-service tech, it’s possible to flip the negatives and make Christmas shopping easier for everyone.  Imagine a packed café in December. Instead of standing in a queue, customers can place their orders through a kiosk. Staff can focus on making coffees, while customers get their flat whites and matcha lattes faster. And in retail? Self-checkout kiosks speed up the checkout process so that shoppers can get back to wondering where they parked their car and if one turkey will be enough for Christmas dinner.  Element’s got the right self-service kiosk for every type of business No matter what type of business you run, Element has a self-service kiosk to suit your needs. From affordable, space-saving models to high-tech, customisable options, there’s a kiosk solution for every company that physically interacts with its customers.  On a budget? Check out the SSK-E  If you’re a small business looking for an affordable option, Element’s SSK-E and SSK-V kiosks are a great fit. Compact, simple to install and easy for customers to use, these Element kiosks are working brilliantly in smaller cafés and shops. They’re particularly good at helping stores to cope with times of high demand, like lunchtime, without having to put on extra staff.  If space is really limited, a countertop kiosk is the way to go. Element’s SSK-E can be configured to sit on your counter without hogging floor space. Customers can search for products, place orders, or pay – all from the tiniest footprint.  Need something flash? Meet the SSK-P3 and SSK-P4 For bigger businesses with busy front lines, Element’s SSK-P3 and SSK-P4 kiosks offer all the bells and whistles. These premium models can be fully customised to suit your needs, from advanced payment systems to loyalty programme integration. They’re perfect for high-traffic businesses that need self-service options to keep up with the Christmas crowds. Picture a bustling gastro-pub during the holiday season. With a self-ordering kiosk like the Element SSK-P4 , customers can easily browse the menu, order and pay in one seamless process—no queues and no fuss. Plus, these kiosks are modular, allowing you to add extras like printers or scanners to fit your operational needs. Does a self-service kiosk make sense for your business? If you’re still on the fence about getting a self-service kiosk, here’s a quick checklist of benefits to help you decide. Faster service:  Customers can breeze through transactions, easing the workload on your staff. Happy customers:  People love the speed and independence of self-service kiosks, because they can get more done in less time.   More efficient:  Kiosks can be used to take care of the routine stuff, so your team can focus on more important tasks. Cost-effective:  Even the most budget-friendly self-service kiosks help save on labour costs while improving service. Scalable:  From a single countertop kiosk to multiple self-checkout stations, Element’s kiosks can grow with your business. Why choose Element for your self-service revolution? Element’s kiosks aren’t just about looking good – they’re practical, adaptable and easy to use. Whether you’r e after a basic self-ordering kiosk or something more advanced, Element has the self-service tech to match your business needs. And with the option to add peripherals, like barcode scanners and payment terminals, you’re getting a kiosk that’s tailored to fit your operations. And the best part? You don’t need to be an IT expert to get them an Element kiosk solution up and running. Installation is straightforward, so you’ll be seeing the benefits of self-service in double-quick time.  Ready for the Christmas rush? As the holiday season approaches, there’s no better time to consider how Element’s kiosk solutions can help streamline your business and solve staffing issues. Whether you’re a café, retail store or something in between, Element’s range of kiosks has you covered. Get ready to impress your customers with faster service and the convenience they’re craving. Self-service kiosks can turn the silly season into the slick season, because who has time for queues when there’s a glazed ham in the oven!

  • The power of clienteling

    Connect with customers like never before, thanks to cutting-edge hardware Element Tanso POS Tablet Use customer data to personalise the sales experience The personal touch can make visitors feel uniquely understood The right technology is essential to support effective clienteling Human connection is something we all seek, and effortless connections can be a potent driving force for successful sales transactions. Skilled sales staff always have a knack for developing rapport with customers and will also know when to give people space when they need it. But repeat visitors to a business can grow tired of re-telling their story and explaining their preferences and requirements to new staff. Luckily, in the 21st century, technology can come to the aid of sales assistants, equipping them with not only background information on customers but also the power to show different options immediately, filter results and check stock availability in real time. This offers all the advantages of the online shopping experience in a brick-and-mortar store, combining the best of both worlds. What is clienteling? This is a term that refers to using customer metrics to personalise the sales experience for them. When the so-called ‘ platinum rule ’ can be the deciding factor for what makes shoppers return, it’s imperative to tap into how the customer  wants to be treated. Clienteling can do just that: by bringing up a customer’s profile, sales staff can provide relevant recommendations and instantly have a platform for developing great rapport. As soon as a customer is identified, which can be as early as when they make a booking at a hospitality venue or present a loyalty card, they can be treated to a personalised shopping or dining experience. Using data such as ordering preferences or purchase history, staff can tailor the in-store experience to each visitor, creating a meaningful relationship very quickly. And that relationship can be leveraged both for purchases made during that visit, and to encourage the customer to return to the store for more of the uniquely connected, personalised service that is on offer. The personal touch Through clienteling, staff can address a customer by name and draw on their purchase history to help establish a meaningful connection -- recreating an old-school shopping experience where ‘everyone knows your name’. For example, being aware of a customer’s recent appliance purchase can allow the sales staff to ask how their new smart fridge is shaping up, for an effective ice-breaker in more ways than one. Element Tanso POS Tablet Based on preferences such as knowing a previous fabric colour selection for a sofa, staff can make recommendations for items that complement the customer’s interior colour scheme. This depth of insight can elevate the customer journey to a truly bespoke experience: if a visitor to the store feels innately ‘understood’, then they are much more likely to return to the business that creates that feeling for them. Ultimately, it’s about investing in a process that will not only generate sales but ensure happy customers who are more likely to review your business positively and recommend it to others. The tech that makes it possible Powerful hardware is essential for a memorable clienteling experience, as the device used by sales staff will not only need fast processing and impeccable connectivity but a vibrant display and a fast, responsive interface. The Element Tanso POS Tablet is the perfect tool for clienteling: a sleek design that is lightweight and easy to carry, it features a generous 10.5” screen for presenting staff-facing data and customer-facing options. Tanso 10.5" POS Tablet Running Windows 11 on an Alder Lake-N, N100 processor and boasting impressive battery life, the Element Tanso is the ultimate platform for delivering customer profile information for staff. It is equally effective for presenting product catalogues, menus and item variants to customers on a beautiful IPS display, which supports 4k media decoding. Thanks to WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity, it can integrate with your existing POS system and connect to peripherals such as printers and barcode scanners. In one example of clienteling, it can efficiently bring up all the details of a customer who has identified themselves using a loyalty card. The salesperson can quickly make a connection with the customer and explore how they can help -- drawing on previous purchases to provide subjects for conversation and points for comparison. From there, the Element Tanso facilitates showing new product ranges, filtering by various parameters ranging from colours and sizes to material types, as well as checking stock availability on the spot. In a hospitality setting, the Element Tanso can be used to show a digital menu pre-populated with a customer’s favourite meals to make cuisine selection a breeze. Depending on the menu software running on the tablet, meals can also be filtered by dietary requirements such as vegetarian or gluten-free options, all illustrated with sumptuous graphics. Enhance Your Hospitality Experience with the Tanso Tablet Contact Element  to learn more about this portable powerhouse and how it can become an affordable technology cornerstone for your business. Product demonstrations are available so that you can see for yourself what a difference the Element Tanso can make through clienteling.

  • Connecting with greatness

    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.

  • Value propositions

    How our company ethos drives the advantages we offer The real-life applications of our values are continually evolving What does it take to make a product the perfect solution to a business challenge? We look at three peripherals as case studies into relative benefits To ride the wave of innovation, a company must stay at the forefront of market trends, be perpetually up to speed with partner expectations and in tune with the reality of what customers desire. At Element, our values of design, quality and purpose are continually evolving to deliver on expectations and stay at the cutting edge of where the present meets the future. On the personal front, living in line with our values allows us to experience a state of tranquility, peace and harmony. Similarly, applying our company values to everything we do ensures our development from strength to strength, and guides how we continue to bring new products to the market. For partners who have already been utilising the Element brand for some time, our values ensure that they have made an investment into longevity and reliability. Our values are also represented through our deep understanding of what our partners need to deliver, the adaptive retail experience  that today’s customers expect. We fully understand our partners’ requirements, and address these using our industry experience to create technology solutions that are precisely aligned with what is needed in a given scenario. Solutions that fit the problem While the three pillars of our company ethos are closely interlinked, we can also look at each of them individually. At the design level, we start by considering the challenges that a product needs to solve. One such challenge might be how to harness the convergence of POS and Payments  in a single terminal -- the answer is an Android-based POS  device that can also accept payments. Element Tanso Tablet We always design with purpose in mind first, rather than trying to create solutions in search of a customer problem, and this is how the circle closes. When the purpose is to create antimicrobial keyboards for use in a medical setting, the Element ECT-105 keyboard  is fully washable, and this single device features cable, Bluetooth and WiFi to suit any connectivity requirement. For the purpose of pampering customers with one-on-one attention while adding the advantages of an online experience, the Element Tanso tablet  runs Windows 11 and facilitates effortless clienteling. Three tiers of performance Through our distributor, Sektor, we can offer a range of top-quality peripherals such as barcode scanners that are available at great prices to help partners and customers. The value they offer represents a balance of investment and performance; depending on where a scanner or other peripheral is intended to be used, we can make recommendations about the best model to fit the purpose. This month, our focus is on three desktop scanners. At the entry level is the Element P220 barcode scanner. With this item, the purpose is to provide a price-conscious solution for occasional scanning. It’s the perfect option for a setting such as a mixed-business establishment where staff are ringing up a hamburger order on the POS and scanning a can of soft drink. Having a product that is priced at the economical end of the spectrum is necessary in the market, but this has to be tempered with the understanding that there are limitations to such a product’s speed of use, for example. When performance becomes a more pressing priority, we move up a tier to the Element P881 , a 2D scanner that features a 1280 x 1080 CMOS image sensor to help it breeze through higher-volume scanning. This unit is designed for pharmacy, semi-grocery or bottle-shop type environments, and it is capable of scanning effortlessly (including from mobile devices) at a high pass rate.   Our premium offering is the Element P880 Duet , a double-headed scanner with a highly aggressive scan engine. Reducing both the total cost of ownership and its counter footprint, this purpose-driven device features a front-facing product scanner and a second scanning head on its upper surface for capturing loyalty cards or ID. This provides high ROI through customer convenience and efficient service -- essential considerations considering how crucial it is to honour visitors to your store . Element P220 , Element P880 Duet , and Element P881 By providing different levels of performance, we can ensure the value that your business needs, and we can further tailor our technology solutions by exploring the exact features required in a specific setting. Contact us  today to learn about how we can channel our company values to find the right hardware for the challenges faced by your business. Through our adherence to design, quality and purpose, we can help you achieve the optimal balance of performance and investment.

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