The PC-based point-of-sale (POS) market in North America experienced a solid 5% increase in shipments in 2005, according to a new study from Franklin, TN-based IHL Consulting Group.
Looking ahead, “terminals with lower total cost of ownership than previous models and with touch-screen, LCD-display interfaces appear to be in demand this year,” says IHL president Greg Buzek. One reason, he says, is their ability to handle multichannel functions, such as online ordering and store pickup. Additionally, the training on the newer systems is easier than the old systems because of the touch-technology LCD displays.
According to the study, retailers in all vertical segments are looking to purchase their POS hardware and software from different vendors. With few exceptions, the dual-vendor strategy is being pushed by lower-cost hardware options that run on Microsoft Windows operating systems and Linux.
Additional findings from IHL’s new market study, “2005 North American Retail POS Terminal Study,” include:
- The specialty category-killer segment was the strongest, adding more than 321,000 terminals in 2005.
- Intel Celeron/AMD Sempron processors were the most popular choices for new POS units purchased.
- Microsoft Windows operating systems continue to gain market share with a combined 71% percent of the market last year. Windows XPe and WEPOS accounted for 12% of shipments.
- Linux increased its market share from 5% to 9%.