When “green” initiatives first started to pop up in retail, they were generally perceived as “feel good” initiatives driven by marketing executives looking to differentiate their brand. However, with store operations teams now trying to squeeze every cent of efficiency out of their stores, green initiatives are now seen as a competitive necessity to lower energy costs. 
With this in mind, eco-friendly point-of-sale systems are now becoming more attractive to retail IT executives. According to a July 2009 study from Retail Systems Research (RSR), “greening up” is seen as a strategic initiative by 48% of retailers, up from 44% the year prior. The benchmark study, “Real-World Green: The Role of Environmental Savings in Retail,” found that 92% of respondents identified store energy costs as a key challenge that would benefit from a green overhaul and 62% of retailers said the cost reductions provided by environmentally sound products were the top motivator to go green.
During his Technology Update overview at tekSESSIONS 2009, John Pruban, President of tekservePOS, ranked the proliferation of “green” POS products as one of the top trends for 2010. “Business cases are beginning to be made with energy efficiency in mind,” Pruban said. “2009 was a transition year on this issue and it will be a bigger push in 2010 and beyond.”
Some of the specific factors influencing the added emphasis on green POS, according to Pruban, include:
- Focus on upgradeability to extend product life
- Reuse and recyclability at end of product life
- Use of recycled materials (product and packaging)
- Energy efficiency
- Reduced heat/fanless processors
- Ability to be safely disposed of at end of product life
Pruban credited hardware vendors such as IBM, NCR and HP supporting the green push with innovative new products. He specifically pointed to IBM’s new SurePOS 300, which boasts a 49% improvement in energy usage, a 37% smaller footprint, and use of recycled plastics & packaging material, and NCR’s new Real POS 70 (XRT), also offering a improvement in energy efficiency, as innovative examples.
Alan Outlaw, Business Line Executive for IBM’s Retail Store Solutions group, agreed that the renewed emphasis on green is driven in part by the focus on cost savings. “The majority of retailers are making decisions based on TCO so that aligns well with sustainability initiatives around power management/efficiency capabilities, recyclables, extended life, etc.,” Outlaw said.
Vendors are making advancements with processors that draw less power as well sleep power management features. For example, IBM’s SurePOS 300 suggests retailers can save up to 35% on utility bills with energy-efficient POS terminals and 47% more savings with innovative deep sleep power management.
“Power consumption is at the top of the list though some retailers will also focus on serviceable life which relates to sustainability. Most retailers understand that the key metric on power is what the total POS solution pulls from the power outlet since that's what they're billed on by the utility companies,” Outlaw added. “Some have gotten off track and only focus on power consumption of processor which is not the driving factor in system power consumption.”
Jim Crawford, executive director of the Global Retail Executive Council (GREC), http://www.globalretailexec.org, said retailers are now realizing that green initiatives can be a win-win from both a top-line and bottom-line view. "Retailers are focusing on sustainability not just in the ‘how green are we?’ sense but for the first time recognizing that holistically improving their efficiency and making better long-term decisions leads directly to more profitable operations and more satisfied customers," Crawford said.
Although Crawford credited POS hardware vendors with expanding their eco-friendly products, he added that the industry still has plenty of room for improvement. "Retailers looking to make their POS choice more sustainable have plenty of good options for reducing power consumption, as POS vendors have been focused on that for several years,” Crawford said. “But with few exceptions, the use of recycled materials in the POS itself is minimal, and many vendors tout minimal compliance with US and European hazardous waste regulations as making their products ‘green.’ There are only a handful of POS terminals that are EPEAT certified, compared with hundreds of laptop and desktop models."
In addition to focusing on the energy efficiency of the new POS hardware they are purchasing, Pruban said he is seeing growing interest in the ability to recycle the older equipment they are replacing. “Retailers are increasingly becoming concerned with asset disposal at the end of the life cycle.”
