Forest fires are often viewed as destructive agents. That’s because we humans have built our homes and communities further and further into the heart of such ecosystems as our population has grown. But what we don’t stop to consider – especially as our homes go up in flames – is the healthy and required cyclicality of forest fires that makes the forest, well, survive.
Take the following into consideration and then we’ll draw the parallels to brick and mortar.
Forest fires are a natural and necessary part of the ecosystem. Even healthy forests contain dead trees and decaying plant matter; when a fire turns them to ashes, nutrients return to the soil instead of remaining captive in old vegetation.
And, when fire rages through dry underbrush, it clears thick growth so sunlight can reach the forest floor and encourage the growth of native species. Fire frees these plants from the competition delivered by invasive weeds and eliminates diseases or droves of insects that may have been causing damage to old growth. Wildflowers begin to bloom abundantly.
Most young, healthy trees are resilient enough to survive a forest fire and will soon have a growth spurt, thanks to flames that thin light-banning canopies above [source: National Geographic]. And scientists report young-growth forests recovering from fire are home to more diverse species, in both plants and animals [source: Krock]. This is because the remnants of burned trees offer attractive habitats to birds and small mammals, and nutrients from burned vegetation continue to leach into the soil to fuel the birth of new plants [source: Pacific Biodiversity Institute].
At Tall Timbers Research Station in Tallahassee, Fla., an experiment that lasted nearly 40 decades provided telling results. The 23-acre (9.3-hectare) swath of land was not allowed to burn during that time. Plant diversity fell by 90 percent and one species of bird, red-cockaded woodpeckers, disappeared entirely [source: Eilperin]. In order to thrive, this ecosystem, like many others, needed fire.
Got it?
Cloud POS is certainly a disruptive forest fire in brick and mortar; it was a natural evolution, like the lightning bolt that fells the tallest tree in the forest. And cloud POS has not been without its accelerants: copious amounts of venture capital for starters, and payment processor balance sheets as the industry has matured.
But we’d argue it is critical to the survival of both the POS industry and the brick and mortar merchant.
You see, nobody has stopped to think about the positives of cloud POS as its undeniable force ravages the sleepy, cottage industry that is point of sale. Instead, you get the kneejerk reaction you’d expect when innovation threatens to disrupt an industry that’s grown fat and happy by doing the bare minimum.
First, let’s talk about the decaying matter.
The old trees and disease can be compared to legacy dealers and legacy POS companies. They are, in utility, detritus on the forest floor. In the case of legacy POS companies, these companies haven’t bothered to invest in a path to cloud or in partnerships that significantly enhance the value of their POS. Many have even made data integration so assiduous that their merchants are forced to use their garbage, homegrown solutions – just like the invasive weeds that strangle out nutrients.
As it relates to dealers, these are the same dealers who overcharge on hardware, want merchants to pay hefty support fees (even though cloud POS is proving more stable), and don’t bother answering their phone after 5 PM. Sure, they’re learning how to stick their hands in the payment processing cookie jar, but Lord help you if you ask that they provide value for that money. Functionally these dealers are no different than the disease and insects that stymie florae growth.
Second, let’s talk about Amazon beating the crap out of brick and mortar.
It should come as no surprise that Amazon’s $1T+ market cap is at the expense of brick and mortar merchants. History doesn’t need to be relitigated here, but suffice it to say that Amazon is able to provide lower prices and a superior customer experience through the use of data optimization. You know, data: that stuff that merchants are producing in countless volumes but not using for anything practical.
Well, merchants have suffered mightily at the hands of resellers and POS companies who refused to liberate and drive action off the data. This apathy has rendered merchants exposed to the fast pace of innovation being set by the large tech companies. In fact we’d argue that better use of data would have avoided the Groupon catastrophe and the impending 3rd party delivery/online ordering bubble.
Cloud POS moves data above store and opens up innovation. This is in stark contract to old, crusty legacy POS companies that aren’t building APIs and (mostly) don’t return phone calls from potential partners. The cloud POS companies that don’t need to meet Herculean-levels of investor returns (i.e. an impossible task) are partnering to deliver more value to merchants and arming their customers with information to remain competitive.
So sure, stare in dismay as cloud POS burns the POS industry down. Brick and mortar will be better for it.
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