It’s time to rethink legacy point of sale solutions to optimise the checkout solution for all parties.
Grocery retailers in Australia and around the world are facing crises of labour and inflation, along with a period of super-high volumes. They’ve also had to remain operating during the peak of the pandemic, and react quickly to developments. All this is to say that grocery is still very strong while facing different challenges, says David Wilkinson, President and General Manager at NCR Retail.
“Retailers need to be able to meet consumers where they want to shop – in-store, online, on their mobile devices – and the expectations for these experiences are high,” he told Retail World.
Promoted as the leading point of sale (POS) software provider for retail and hospitality globally, NCR has observed the trends and developments shaping payments around the world.
“Self-checkout continues to grow, especially given global labour shortages,” says Mr Wilkinson “There’s an interest in ‘just walk out’ technologies, but it’s not clear yet what the winning model and formula is for grocery – it’s definitely something to keep an eye on.
“Mobile POS is important to retailers for queue busting and delivery, and consumers are comfortable paying online or at the point of purchase. Delivery can be a way to expand market reach, but grocery retailers will have to charge for the service because it adds cost.”
Mr Wilkinson says grocery retailers must rely on flexible technologies to create consistent, compelling, personalised experiences across all channels and touchpoints.
“Grocery retailers are looking for iterative change over time to go from current, legacy POS solutions to next-gen solutions in a way that doesn’t require rip and replace,” he says.
As a technology provider, NCR is said to provide all the technology and services to transform, connect and run grocery stores in Australia.
“We perform a critical function,” says Mr Wilkinson. “We worry about the technology so Australian grocery retailers can focus on all the other things they need to do.”
He says NCR is taking a platform or “ecosystem driven” approach to address the challenges facing retailers.
“In Australia and the rest of the world today, you have this monolithic software stack that runs the POS, and everything you do has to go through the POS,” he says. “Our platform strips that apart.
“Our digital experience will be one of unifying the data, unifying the transactions, unifying the capabilities to live in a multimodal world, whether I start the transaction outside of the store and want to finish it in the store, or at the gas pump and finish it in the store on my mobile, or whatever.
“Software installations and upgrades can happen quicky and remotely, health monitoring becomes proactive and comprehensive, and innovation happens continuously and at lower cost,” says Mr Wilkinson.
Read more about POS trends and solutions in the November issue of Retail World.