This 75 page report focuses on the housed receipt printer market for retail POS devices in North America. Packed with 99 figures, this details the market shipshare, distribution channels and installed base for the top printer vendors doing business in the region and provides for market projections based on changing technologies and changing distribution philosophies through the year 2015. Vendors reviewed include Epson, IBM, NCR, TPG, Star Micronics, TransAct, Citizen, Bixolon, and others.

The Latin/South American market for POS grew at faster rate in 2011 than in recent years. Large western retailers continue to grow in the market, bringing new POS terminals with them. Our Latin/South America POS terminal market study is 87 pages in length and has 43 figures. It explores the market climate for POS terminals throughout the Latin/Central and South American region. More than just numbers without explanation, this report goes deep into discussion of retailing in the countries and segments to reveal the forces that are shaping POS purchase decisions.

For years, customers have been asking for POS Shipments by vendor in a similar format that IDC reports PC Shipments. This is that product. The POS Terminal Shipments by Vendor product provides shipments and installed base on a quarterly and annual basis for vendors such as IBM, NCR, HP, Wincor-Nixdorf, Fujitsu, Dell, MICROS, Radiant, Digipos, and many others. It includes data on processors and operating systems historically and provides a forecast going forward. It is also the only review of the POS market that includes the PC on Cash Drawer (PCOCD) market with vendors like HP, Dell, Lenovo, Acer and others.

Retail WorldView is IHL's IT Sizing model for the worldwide retail marketplace. With over 250 categories of hardware, software, services, and labor/overhead, Retail WorldView is the most comprehensive IT sizing model in the retail industry. Retail WorldView is available for purchase by region, segment or as a complete worldwide view. Whether you are vendor with an application in one area or you have a broad portfolio of products, Retail WorldView is designed to show you where the opportunities are today in each region worldwide and can be customized specifically for your company's needs looking forward. Forecasts for each for the next 3 years are also included.

While the North American and EMEA regions experienced satisfactory POS shipment growth in the current economy, the strong growth in the Asia/Pacific region continues to be a highlight of the worldwide POS market. China and India continue to expand, and their swelling retail ranks will continue to drive growth in 2012 and beyond. Our Asia/Pacific POS Market Study has 48 figures in 78 pages in which we explore the market climate for POS terminals in the Asia/Pacific region. It includes shipment, installed base and trends analyses for POS in Japan, China, India, Australia/New Zealand, South Korea, Vietnam, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Other Asia/Pacific countries.

In spite of the sovereign debt crisis that has enveloped much of Europe, the EMEA POS market showed better growth in 2011 than it has seen in the past four years. Germany and France grew very strong, and even Spain showed some positive growth. This new EMEA POS Terminal Study looks at the overall POS Terminal shipments by country and the nuances therein.

RAPID Store Associate Mobile Project Toolkit is a methodology to safely deploy mobile tablets or handhelds in the retail environment. The process by which you install mobile devices is critical. A misstep in security, in geofencing, or customer interaction can become a major problem very quickly. This toolkit will allow you to think through the numerous areas of the deployment to get to market faster, with better functionality, and in a more secure manner than any other process on the market.

2011 saw a return to solid growth for the PC-Based POS Market, with overall growth of 4.5% over 2010. But threats loom in the form of higher fuel prices and the emergence of mobile tablets being used for POS. This 92 page study focuses on the Retail POS market in North America for 2011-2016. It includes shipment, installed base and trends analyses of POS devices based on processor speed and operating system choice. The report is designed for use by POS Hardware and Software Providers, Maintenance Providers, Printer Manufacturers, EFT device vendors, Retailers and others who might have a vested interest in the North American Point-of-Sale Market.

Now with Sophia Predictive Analytics!
From Data to Insight, WISDOM for Retail. Named after the greek word for wisdom, Sophia is by far the most comprehensive source of not just data, but key wisdom for smart decisions in the retail industry. It is the only data service that links IT spend, to specific technology, to specific personnel, to specific financial results, tied together and backed by our advisory staff. Sophia provides insight into nearly 200 types of hardware/software/services and key personnel for over 2,800 retailers and restaurants.

Now with SPA by Sophia (Sophia Predictive Analytics), the system allows for benchmarking against competitors, identifying which retailers are leaders in specific technologies, their projected IT spending plans in key categories(like Business Intelligence/Analytics, Merchandising/Supply Chain, ERP, and Store Systems), and which technologies they are likely to purchase in the next 24 months. Your enterprise subscription allows everyone in your organization to create targeted mailing lists of key executives, do competitive analysis, look up market share and understand IT spend for an individual retailer or thousands of companies

While most organizations typically perform annual planning sessions, they usually fall short in building a well-designed and effective three year plan, enabling the correct sequencing and prioritization of multiple strategic technology investments. This lack of planning costs organizations hundreds of thousands of dollars a year or more in stops and starts. The Rapid Project Technology Roadmap will help your organization priortize the right projects in the right order to minimize these inefficiencies.

Although the 2011 Holiday Season was strong and IT spending for the year was even better, 2012 shows some storm clouds on the horizon with fuel price concerns, an election cycle, and a store that is being transformed by mobile. Those retailers that survived the downturn and grew through 2010/11 are now looking to expand their businesses, and they are planning to do so with new technologies like mobile tablets, innovative loyalty programs, cloud-based computing and virtualization. This very detailed study is the result of a joint effort with RIS News in which we interviewed retailers on their future store systems buying decisions. With responses from many of the top retailers in North America, we have produced the results in a detailed, but very easy to read study. With 44 charts and graphs, the data is broken down by retailer size, by retail segments, and by other criteria such as desire for real-time integration with other retail systems, the primary motivations for upgrading their store systems, and the desire for mobile solutions. This is the "meat-and-potatoes" part of the research IHL with RIS News entitled "Expanding Boundaries."

In total, Inventory Distortion costs retailers collectively nearly $800 Billion globally. Or put another way, same store sales could increase 9.2% if this problem was completely fixed. Building upon previous research from IHL, this research study looks at the true cost of Inventory Distortion (Out-of-Stocks and Overstocks) to retailers. Beyond just looking at empty shelves or the discount rack, this report brings clarity on the size of the problem that heretofore had been missing in the industry.

From the C-Level on down, retailers marvel at the success of the Apple Stores, how they use handheld devices for customer interaction and transactions. They want that same experience, the same throughput. Is there room for traditional POS? Do tablets make sense in your store environment? This study looks at the status of ruggedized tablets and traditional POS, as well as new tablets. We review the number of devices in the market by segment, with forecasts and the impact that tablets will have on the shipments of traditional POS devices. Finally we look at best practices and recommendations for retailers as they look to deploy the devices in their stores.

In this 51 page market study, we delve deep into the POS Software market for Softgoods retailers. We identify which software providers are leading the pack, what is their market share and what complementary systems their software has been installed within the industry.

In this 53 page market study, we delve deep into the POS Software market for Hardgoods Retailers. We identify which software providers are leading the pack, what is their market share and what complementary systems their software has been installed within the industry.

Transactions at Self-Service Kiosks are growing better than 10% per year in North America with transactions expected to grow past $1.1 Trillion per year through the devices by 2015. This study looks at arguably one of the more explosive yet most difficult areas to define in the IT sector - namely Self-Service Kiosks. Key to any review of Kiosks is a definition of what types of kiosks that are included. In this study we ventured beyond retail in the breadth of our discussion, but focused only on those devices where payment is currently or soon to be taken.

It is not only coupons and discounts that can drive traffic to retailers or brands, but rather an opportunity exists to create an emotional connection through publicly promoting charity as part of the sales process. This FREE study reviews the impact on consumer behavior of tying products or entire retail chains to a specific charitable cause. The bottom line, doing good is good business. YOU CAN DOWNLOAD THE COMPLETE STUDY HERE

On Monday evening the POS industry had the most significant announcement in the last 10 years as ToshibaTEC announced the purchase of the IBM Retail Store Solutions Business. The fact that IBM RSS was for sale was one of the worst kept secrets in the industry among analysts. (We had a lot of fun in those briefings on this issue, for sure.) But it was a bit surprising as to who purchas... [ More ]

Earlier this week IHL's president Greg Buzek joined RBM and Motorola Solutions for webinar on the rise of Tablets in the retail enterprise. The focus was at store level and among executives. For a replay of that and to see the slides, you can visit the website. See webinar here. ... [ More ]

According to the IHL POS Vendor Database, IBM in particular had a stellar year, extending their overall market leadership position in 2011. Although showing strong growth overall, the performance in the Europe/Middle East/Africa division was especially strong. In the case of HP, their entrance into the hospitality segments worldwide helped lead their growth and extend their position as t... [ More ]

The explosion in web-based workforce management systems provides the retailer with the opportunity to manage the entire process of budgeting, forecasting, scheduling, optimizing schedules, task management, time and attendance, and analytics much more holistically. However, the advertised strength of these systems requires two distinct qualities that retailers are often lacking: * Effe... [ More ]