To Replace or Refresh? That Is The Question As Retailers Face A New POS Lifecycle

IHL Group recently released its 2011 North American Retail POS Terminal Study that pointed to a 6.9% increase in worldwide POS shipments over 2010. However, despite a market rebound, mobile technologies continue to pose a significant threat to the traditional POS market, according to Greg Buzek, president of IHL Group.

What’s more, IHL research found that upwards of 50% of specialty retailers are looking to deploy handheld POS devices to replace many of their standard POS systems.

While it’s true that many of these game-changing mobile technologies present a practical, cost-effective alternative to traditional fixed POS devices, not all retailers are in the market for a new solution. In fact, additional research presented by IHL analyst Jerry Sheldon in a recent IHL/RIS webinar I attended, indicates that the number of POS refreshes is actually accelerating—especially in the scanner and terminal space.

Even more illuminating were the results of the online poll that was conducted during the webinar. Thirty three percent of attendees indicated that they are currently experiencing difficulties upgrading or updating their existing POS system, while 39% of attendees cited that their biggest pain point is that their POS solution is not aligned with their future needs.

So, the question becomes how should retailers go about integrating the rapidly increasing amount of mobile-type devices and operating systems into their legacy environment without starting over? We see this emerging as a key challenge, but have helped many of our customers realize that this doesn’t have to be as daunting as it may appear. 

As retailers come to terms with the fact that they need to communicate with customers on a variety of platforms and operating systems that they cannot control, innovation around just how to do that has been increasing. However, various methods, vendors and solutions that revolve around “mashing” legacy data have emerged, enabling modern-day mobile devices to be implemented (whether they be Apple, Android, Microsoft Mobile, etc.) and become more commonplace. 

So, is your business struggling with the decision to replace or refresh the traditional POS system? Join us online in our LinkedIn group, Retail tekSPERTS and tell us about it! We’re always online, so if you’d rather just stay up-to-date on the latest developments in retail/hospitality technology, you can always follow us on Twitter @tekservePOS or connect with us on Facebook.