Retail sector gets boost from Globe Business MPLS Lite

Manila, Philippines -  Credit card terminals that fail to complete transactions; ATM machines that fail to dispense cash; time-consuming inventory and sales reports – these are a few examples of how slow ICT (information and communications technology) connections affect the retail and finance sectors. These problems and others can be avoided by using more modern and more advanced ICT products.

According to Blue Avelino, head of Small and Medium Business, Globe Business, SMEs in the retail sector, especially, can make their business operations more efficient and more productive by switching to new ICT that provide faster, more reliable, more secure, and more affordable connections.

“Most of the older ICT used by retailers is only dial-up or unsecured DSL connections. Dial-up still needs to dial a number whenever it makes a connection. The connection is not always on. On the other hand, DSL is a public Internet connection, which raises the question of security and privacy.

“Both systems are also slow. This causes significant delays in the transmission and processing of important data. A more advanced system called MPLS, offered by Globe Business, addresses these concerns,” he explained.

According to Avelino, MPLS is a more advanced, real-time network data connection system that is superior to both DSL and dial-up in terms of speed, privacy, security, and reliability. It is especially useful to retail chains when monitoring, gathering, and transmitting information for their reports on inventory and sales from their POS in various branches. MPLS also helps manage various business transactions.

Avelino added that MPLS is considered a premium connectivity option and other providers charge a premium price for it. This is partly the reason why retailers are hesitant to use MPLS, despite its advantages as an advanced, real-time inventory and sales monitoring system.

Globe Business, however, is changing that situation. “Globe Business believes in offering the best ICT advantages to SMEs, so we have customized a version called MPLS Lite for SMEs. MPLS Lite has all the benefits of MPLS but offered in packages that are made affordable to SMEs,” he said.

Business owners who avail of MPLS Lite are able to network their branches and gather inventory reports and sales reports in real time. This allows faster decision-making and timely management of inventory.

A business like an apparel store chain, for example, would have to gather information about sales and inventory from each store in order to make strategic decisions about how to improve sales. However, using a dial-up or DSL system takes considerable time.

In contrast, business owners using MPLS Lite can get inventory and sales reports from all branches as soon as the next day, since the information can be generated and transmitted in real time. This is because data from the POS system may be linked and networked through MPLS Lite. Furthermore, since MPLS connections are “always on”, both cash and credit POS transactions are processed much faster.