In a sector battling razor-thin margins, A.S. Watson views information technology as a means to help lower operating costs and increase profits. With an eye to both, the Group has chosen Wincor Nixdorf as a strategic IT partner to supply advanced ePOS (electronic point of sale) systems and services at competitive prices to its retail chains

In its Superdrug chain of health and beauty shops in the U.K., for instance, A.S. Watson has put Wincor Nixdorf in charge of managing a program to replace more than 4,000 ePOS systems in 450 stores. The IT vendor and service provider is collaborating with an Israeli software specialist, which supplies the POS software.

“We won the bid against some tough competition because we were able to provide exactly what the customer demanded,” says Stuart Saunders, Sales Manager Retail at Wincor Nixdorf. “A.S. Watson wanted an ePOS platform provider that was able to deliver hardware on a global basis in order to maximize purchasing power and reduce complexity.”

More recently, A.S. Watson has chosen Wincor Nixdorf in the U.K. to deploy new, state-of-the-art ePOS technology in the Savers Health & Beauty chain of shops in the U.K., which were acquired in 2000, and in Paris-based Marionnaud, Europe‘s largest perfumeries and cosmetics retailer. Marionnaud is the latest addition to the A.S. Watson family. The leading perfumery chain in France, with a market share of 30 percent, has meanwhile established a 1,226-store network that stretches to 13 other countries. The company is a market leader in 10 of them.