North American Retailers’ POS Expenditures Expected to Reach $5.8 Billion in 2007

New Installs in Specialty Retailers and Restaurants to Drive 2007 Growth

FRANKLIN, Tenn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The PC-based point-of-sale (POS) market in North America experienced an 8 percent shipment increase in 2006, says a new study released today by IHL Consulting Group.

“Added functionality at the POS, whether in the form of capabilities like customer returns, inventory look-up, or workforce management, helps retailers see POS as THE central system in the store, and they are willing to invest in it accordingly.”

The largest boost came from shipments for new stores for specialty retailers (in the Apparel, Home Improvement and Auto Aftermarket segments) and restaurants (Casual Dining and Coffee/Donuts). Other segments, such as Grocery, saw shipments typically including touch-screen, liquid-crystal-display (LCD) interfaces that replaced aging hardware. These trends are expected to continue for 2007, according to the 2007 North American Retail POS Terminal Study, which is available immediately from IHL.

"Retailers continue to see the POS as more than just a method for accurately recording sales," said Greg Buzek, president of IHL Consulting Group, a global research and advisory firm that serves retailers and retail technology vendors. "Added functionality at the POS, whether in the form of capabilities like customer returns, inventory look-up, or workforce management, helps retailers see POS as THE central system in the store, and they are willing to invest in it accordingly."

According to the study, retailers in all vertical segments are seeing a larger impact due to governmental action, and recent security breaches are weighing heavily on their POS purchase decision-making process. Retailers want POS systems that are PCI compliant so as to avoid situations like those experienced recently by TJ Maxx and other retailers. These are just some of the findings from IHL's POS market study.

Additional findings include:

• Replacements by retail giants like Kroger and Wal-Mart generated the majority of shipments for the Grocery, Supercenter and Mass Merchant segments.
• Windows® XP Embedded shipments grew by 242 percent, and shipments of WEPOS (Windows Embedded for Point of Service) grew by 80 percent.
• Pep Boys, Burlington Coat Factory and Circuit City helped to grow the Linux installed base by 44 percent in 2006.

IHL's 2007 North American Retail POS Terminal Study reviews the shipments and installed base of POS terminals sold into retailers in North America. It includes market shipment and installed base figures, market value, situation analysis for 10 retail market segments, overall trends affecting the POS market, and forecasts through 2011. The study is available for purchase at www.ihlservices.com.

About IHL Consulting Group

IHL Consulting Group is a global research and advisory firm headquartered in Franklin, Tenn., that provides market analysis and business consulting services for retailers and information technology companies that focus on the retail industry. For more information, see www.ihlservices.com, call 615-591-2955 or send e-mail to [e-mail].