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The largest food retailer in Africa, Shoprite Group, serves 11.6 million customers with quality brands at affordable prices. The South Africa-based company needed to modernise its point-of-service (POS) tool to maintain its competitive position, introduce new products, and improve customer service. After considering several options—including Linux—Shoprite opted for Windows® Embedded for Point of Service, which is designed to provide retailers with a platform for diverse POS applications. As a result, Shoprite has achieved complete modernisation of its stores with a cost-effective solution that is fully supported by Microsoft and offers greater security. Shoprite is introducing new products and services on its POS system because more companies support Windows than its previous system. Shoprite is using the latest technology due to its Microsoft® low-cost volume licensing agreement.

A mix of older technology began to hinder business users and technical staff at AMC Entertainment. The company needed a new infrastructure and considered both Microsoft® and open-source solutions. AMC attended several Microsoft Technology Center (MTC) engagements, which provided their team with the technical insight and support to make a confident technology decision, implement the solution quickly, and conserve resources.

Retalix develops and markets software solutions for food industry retailers and distributors in 51 countries. The firm offers an array of software applications for mechanizing and synchronizing the retail activity, distribution, and management of the supply chain in stores, headquarters, and warehouses. Retalix wanted to create a solution that would cut the costs of data distribution, maintenance, and logistics, cut employee training costs, and streamline the chain of supply. The firm used Microsoft® development tools to create Retalix StoreLine.net. Executives at chain headquarters now can see a full picture of the business status at all times, and respond to business developments. The solution has simplified the distribution of software updates and data, increased employee and customer satisfaction, and offers the ability to add unique and advanced software in the future.

Kitamura Co., Ltd is a leading Japanese photographic retail chain with more than 760 retail outlets nationwide offering an “ultra” high quality printing service. This is done by utilizing its online network to connect all retail outlets to its central photo finishing laboratory. However, Kitamura realized that its existing point of sale (POS) system did not meet current requirements. The company opted to upgrade its legacy POS system with a new solution powered by Microsoft® Windows® Embedded for Point of Service (WEPOS) in order to achieve optimal benefit from its network. The WEPOS installation was the first in Japan, and enabled Kitamura to improve its business speed, efficiency and customer service. It has also gained savings on maintenance and management costs, and provided users a variety of new features.

 

Virgin Megastores USA was used to applying innovative technology to enhance sales at its 13 stores. So it was natural for the company to be among the first to deploy Microsoft® System Center Operations Manager 2007. Virgin expects to cut helpdesk trouble tickets by 20 percent, save 35 percent on helpdesk costs, redeploy internal resources to avoid spending U.S.$100,000 on consultants—and boost company sales by $500,000.

Kaufhof Warenhaus, based in Germany, has achieved success in the retail marketplace with a combination of product offerings and customer services. To ensure its employees had the right level of support to strengthen customer relationships, the business looked to roll out a new counter scales solution. Working with Microsoft® Certified Partner Mettler-Toledo, it created a fully integrated scales platform based on Windows® Embedded for Point of Service. Today, shop workers using the new scales deliver a rapid checking-out service while providing detailed product information and advice that adds to the customer experience. In addition, with the platform integrated into the core IT infrastructure, administrators can access vital data on sales and delivery cycles that drives new efficiencies.

Using Microsoft® POS for .NET, a class library that is part of Microsoft Windows® Embedded for Point of Service, developers at Hand Held Products® were able to generate software for its new barcode image scanners in just a matter of weeks. The company estimates that development time would have doubled without POS for .NET technology. The new image scanners support cutting-edge applications, such as reading a driver’s license to quickly populate electronic forms such as credit card applications, saving retailers time and money.

 

Livraria Saraiva recently became the first major retailer in Brazil to adopt the Microsoft® Windows® Embedded for Point of Service operating system. Saraiva considered Linux software for its new checkout systems, but that would have required rewriting existing Windows-based applications and adding more than six months of development time to the project. Since Windows Embedded for Point of Service is a retail-specific operating system, it requires little configuration for point-of-service equipment like checkouts. As a result, Savaira can cut in half the time it takes to set-up new checkouts using Windows Embedded for Point of Service—which helps speed up the customer service experience, especially during the all-important holiday season.

 

Livraria Saraiva recently became the first major retailer in Brazil to adopt the Microsoft® Windows® Embedded for Point of Service operating system. Saraiva considered Linux software for its new checkout systems, but that would have required rewriting existing Windows-based applications and adding more than six months of development time to the project. Since Windows Embedded for Point of Service is a retail-specific operating system, it requires little configuration for point-of-service equipment like checkouts.