Almost two million programmable EPoS units were shipped globally in 2016, representing a one per cent increase on 2015 and marking a seventh consecutive year of growth.

This is according to RBR’s Global EPoS and Self-Checkout 2017 study, which found that large-scale refreshes by retailers in developed economies helped to boost shipment numbers. Leading grocery players began replacement projects, including discount supermarket Lidl, French co-operative group Système U and convenience store chain 7 Eleven in Japan.

Similarly, in Australia, where EPoS deliveries grew by 23 per cent, several major supermarket chains, including Coles, chose to upgrade their EPoS estates with new equipment. In Asia, the development of the Thai retail sector continues apace, with EPoS deliveries up 49 per cent, while store expansion from both local and international players buoyed the market in Indonesia.

US shipments dipped by one per cent as retailers re-evaluated the number and format of their stores with a knock-on effect on their investment in fixed EPOS. Several major chains, including JCPenney, consolidated their store networks in 2016, while the penetration of both mobile EPOS and self-checkout increased.

RBR reports a slowdown in China, where the economy continued to weaken, while retailers in Latin America cut EPoS investments due to unstable political and economic conditions. In the Middle East, shipment activity also suffered, as oil prices continued to drop.

RBR’s study shows that Toshiba is the world’s largest EPoS vendor with a 19 per cent share, while NCR grew its global share to 13 per cent. HP is the third largest supplier, both worldwide and in its home region of North America. Diebold Nixdorf ranked fourth and became the largest supplier in Europe.

RBR forecasts that the number of fixed EPoS installations will reach 15.3 million by 2022, up 13 per cent from 2016. Much of the growth will come from populous developing economies in Asia such as China, India and Indonesia, as the modern retail sector expands in these countries.

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