This article was originally published in Retailspeak Magazine. Point of sale is a term usually limited to the basic cash register transaction. However today's retailers are welcoming the use of technology to support more sophisticated in-store systems that provide more transaction options and generate a whole new shopping experience. Kiosks, mobile devices, and self-service checkouts, have extended the point of sale approach to one that satisfies all customers' demands. Point of service is the future of point of sale. By fully supporting these new in-store technologies, it creates a unique shopping environment to inspire customers, deliver the latest product information, and drive costs down. Today's retailers require smart technology that doesn’t just sustain in-store technology but is designed specifically for point of service retailing. Microsoft Windows Embedded for Point of Service helps retailers to reduce costs by simplifying the installation, use, and management of in-store point of service systems. This retail-optimized technology runs both standard retail applications and modern in-store devices, helping retailers bring compelling interactive systems to the shop floor. What is the future of retail?All signs point towards a rapid adoption of point of service terminals. Industry analysts Clarendon Reports estimate that nearly 12 million devices will be shipped before 2007. The IHL Consulting Group estimates that in the United States alone, 143,000 self-service kiosks and more than 192,000 self-checkout systems will be adopted in that time. But as retail enterprises become increasingly sophisticated, integration and management of new in-store technologies can be costly and time-consuming. Retailers can’t afford to be restricted by inflexible proprietary software. They need standardized, flexible technology to run their new, multifunctional terminals—software that can support new systems in future. In the past, individual stores in retail chains operated in relative isolation. Today they are expected to be part of an integrated IT network, not only handling transactions but sending and receiving critical business data in real time. In addition, new challenges have emerged, such as a lack of integration between disparate operating system interfaces across the enterprise. As a result, retailers face the costs of piecing together and maintaining multiple, diverse systems. Add to this the costs of acquiring, deploying, and installing new point of service terminals, and the costs of managing, and maintaining them over time and it's easy to see why retailers may be reluctant to invest in new systems. The Microsoft approachMicrosoft Smarter Retailing delivers technology and support that helps retailers face up to the competition through enhanced customer service and improved selling opportunities. It also delivers a compelling and more accessible shopping environment, using open standards technology to allow retailers to utilize their existing legacy investments. Windows Embedded for Point of Service is at the heart of this strategy. Windows Embedded for Point of Service is a version of Windows, which is optimized for retail point of service devices. It is based on the technologies available in Windows XP Embedded with Service Pack 2. Why is it easier to manage?Scheduled for release in the first half of 2005, it will be the first industry-specific software platform to provide plug-and-play functionality that enables retail peripherals to be quickly and easily installed, used and managed. Thanks to a standard platform and familiar management technologies, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) don’t need to spend time developing a new platform for each product and retailers are more easily able to identify suitable solutions that require less integration. Microsoft is partnering with industry-leading OEMs to incorporate this technology in their point of service terminal product lines so that they can deliver it to retailers quickly. How does it offer more control?Windows Embedded for Point of Service will offer you the use of tomorrow's technologies to deliver the desired experiences to your customers, while reducing the overall costs of owning and using a point of service system. You can create the most compelling customer interactions with retail-specific technologies that fully support your existing systems. They reduce your investment risk by supporting the largest base of retail applications and device peripherals that you may wish to deploy in future. Windows Embedded for Point of Service also protects your valuable systems with a full set of proven security technologies. How will it minimize initial and ongoing costs?Windows Embedded for Point of Service provides low life cycle costs by simplifying operating system management and application development, deployment and maintenance. The standardized platform lowers development costs because it requires minimal customization. And additional point of service applications can be easily installed after the platform is deployed. Operating system and application deployment costs are lowered, as Windows Embedded for Point of Service can be deployed in a variety of ways depending on the retailer’s circumstances. And the technology reduces servicing and maintenance costs by offering a variety of tools, such as remote management, for easy and cost-effective support. Give your retail enterprise a head startWindows Embedded for Point of Service will help you to introduce innovative new point of service systems that will help boost your competitiveness and encourage customer loyalty. You can adopt emerging technologies like radio frequency identification (RFID) or multimedia to enhance the customer experience and increase the productivity of in-store and IT personnel. Microsoft has built a broad community of retail application developers, independent software vendors (ISVs) and retail device peripheral vendors who offer point of service solutions for the Windows Embedded for Point of Service platform and the Microsoft .NET Framework development environment. Microsoft also provides up to 10 years of extended product life cycle support for Windows Embedded for Point of Service, providing retailers with the peace of mind they need to make a platform choice to sustain their business well into the future.
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