Enterprise Linux Today: Linux Poised for Breakout Year At Retail Counter – IHL Consulting Group

“Retail giants poised to roll out tens of thousands of Linux
point of sale (POS) terminals in North America in 2001; large
department stores and specialty hard goods retailers taking the
lead.”

“In 2000, Linux shipments for point-of-sale amounted to about 2%
of total shipshare,” says Greg Buzek, President of IHL Consulting
Group. “But with giants such as Home Depot (NYSE:HD) and Musicland
(NYSE:BBY) already planning to roll out Linux on some 25,000
terminals just between them in 2001, we can expect Linux shipments
to rise some 300-400% this year.”

“According to the study, the segments most likely to adopt a
Linux approach to POS are large department stores and specialty
hard goods retailers. These retailers tend to have a large number
of POS terminals and an IT staff large enough to handle the
development of their own POS system.”

“Department Stores in particular are hurting,” added Buzek.
“They need to update their antiquated POS systems to take advantage
of cross channel selling but in a way that perhaps does not require
them to replace all of their currently installed hardware. Using
Linux is one of the options that they are looking at as well as
re-utilizing the terminals as thin-clients.”

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