Within the established markets of Europe and the United States, the year under review saw a cautious approach to new investment in fundamentally new automation technology in response to gloomier economic prospects. Nevertheless, intense pressure between competitors meant that new investment included the introduction of next-generation software and hardware as a way of exploiting further potential for operational streamlining. The major international retail groups continued to expand in the emerging markets. In most cases, they take their proven business models with them, although increasingly they are being challenged in these new markets by innovative and fast-growing local providers.

The general trend towards differentiation between types of operation and product ranges continued throughout the world. In parallel, many retailers are developing new service (Glossary)  concepts, with investment in modern POS (Glossary)  systems playing a key role. Market research firm PAC anticipates average yearly growth in spending on branch hardware of 4% for the years 2007 to 2011. With regard to spending on branch software/services, it forecasts an average increase of approximately 6% p.a.

Developments among retail groups during the year under review can be summarized in the following list of key trends:

Optimization of Customer Services and Process Efficiency.

Against a background of tough competition in the retail industry, efforts to reduce costs while adopting a more customer-friendly profile to stand out from rivals have emerged as important investment criteria.

Checkout:

One of the main areas of innovation in retail branch operations has been the process of recording and paying for the purchased goods (checkout process). At present, almost all the major retail groups worldwide are looking at new concepts for the checkout area, with potential solutions (Glossary)  ranging from pure self-service concepts to staff-operated systems and various combinations thereof. To achieve a more customer-friendly system, the emphasis is on reducing waiting times at the checkout, extending opening times and offering more advisory services – all with the same level of staffing. Likewise, modified checkouts also need to cut process costs, while improving the generation of data and its integration into the group’s IT system. As a more conservative investment option, many retail groups are replacing their previous ePOS (Glossary)  systems with new and more versatile solutions that, when combined with the right software, help bring about significant improvements in process management at branch level.

Automation:

There is considerable scope for improving the handling of cash in retail branches and in the corresponding back office. Automatic reverse vending systems also provide a major boost to process efficiency, while at the same time appealing to customers. We are also seeing a greater prevalence of kiosk and “visual merchandising” solutions (electronic advertising boards for product presentation, special offer notices or as advertising media) as a means of increasing sales performance.

IT-based Customer Services:

Increasingly, retailers are looking to new, IT-based service concepts to help them stand out from the competition. One example is mobile shopping technology that allows customers to scan their own purchases at the supermarket using small handheld devices. For shoppers, this ensures a consistent level of cost transparency and speeds up the checkout process. Mobile terminals can also be used by service staff for tasks such as reordering. Further examples of the use of modern technology are electronic advertising and information displays. This technology depends on being connected to a central system to ensure a constant exchange of data.

Advances in IT Standardization.

Multinational retailers in particular are increasingly putting their faith in internationally standardized hardware and software and in services that can be applied across their entire organization. Consequently, for all their branches they are choosing to implement uniform software platforms that need only be adapted for the country in question. However, if such systems are to stand the test of time, it is vital that the software can support a range of applications – mobile, stationary, self-service or staff-operated. Furthermore, it is important that the branch software can be integrated into a central system.