Our Product business again benefited from new developments in the modular BEETLE/EPOS system group. Sales of ePOS (Glossary) systems exceeded the impressive figures recorded a year ago. In doing so, we achieved some very effective economies of scale, which helped to mitigate the intense pressure on prices and margins in this segment and thus gain a competitive advantage. These systems are an ideal response to the requirements of both international and local retailers.
We made further improvements, during the year under review, to our high-end systems, such as self-checkout (Glossary) and reverse vending systems. Although, as expected, sales of reverse vending systems fell below those of the previous year. We consolidated our share of the German market at around 30% and marked the beginning of the internationalization of our reverse vending business by establishing a presence in Scandinavia, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
Software/Services.
Fiscal 2006/2007 brought further growth in the Software/Services business.
Global sales of our branch software TP.net were driven by its implementation on behalf of large multinational retailers, with a substantial rise in the sale of licenses. We also installed NAMOS (our branch solution for international gas station networks) at customer sites in several new countries.
Interest remains high in our solutions for the automation of cash handling processes from the checkout to the bank. Closed and automated cash circulation rules out the possibility of manipulation by employees or of accidental errors in giving out change. However, the main focus here is on the cost savings generated by process automation in terms of normal checkout transactions, checkout handover and cashing up. We implemented these solutions for a large number of customers at the POS as well as in the back office environment.
Our consulting operations performed well in the period under review. In this segment we offer IT and business consulting in selected countries, the emphasis being on SAP applications.
During the year under review, we continually expanded our global network of partners, the objective being to support our international retail (Glossary) customers from a wider geographical base. Together with the standardization of service modules, this represents a further step in the expansion of our product-related service portfolio.
In the high-end area, we attracted a number of high-profile retail customers for our Managed POS services.
Wincor Nixdorf Retail Services GmbH was established in fiscal 2005/2006, to provide best-in-class services for the range of reverse vending machines installed in Germany. The new company has geared its own service portfolio specifically to the needs of retail (Glossary) customers and recorded positive results during the year under review.
We now also offer a special service to retailers wishing to expand into new markets. This involves preparing the entire IT infrastructure ready for the opening and operation of a new branch. In turn, this means the retailer can concentrate fully on setting up and launching the business. The new store opening concept provides a global solution that includes consulting services, preparing the optimum IT and hardware configuration and the control of all suppliers and partners. This concept met with particular success in Asia.
