Hypermarkets' Venture into Retail Petroleum Spells Good News for POS Terminal Manufacturers.DUBLIN, Ireland -- Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c49058) has announced the addition of Frost & Sullivan's new report: Payment Systems in the Petroleum Markets to their offering. This Frost & Sullivan research service entitled en·ti·tle tr.v. en·ti·tled, en·ti·tling, en·ti·tles 1. To give a name or title to. 2. To furnish with a right or claim to something: Payment Systems in the Petroleum Markets includes a comprehensive analysis of key market drivers and restraints and industry challenges facing vendors to these markets. It provides extensive coverage of both types of POS (1) See point of sale and packet over SONET. (2) "Parent over shoulder." See digispeak. POS - point of sale terminals, namely stand-alone and integrated. This research service also provides detailed unit shipment and revenue forecasts for POS terminals in the retail petroleum industry. Market Sectors Expert Frost & Sullivan analysts thoroughly examine the following market sectors in this research service: By Type of Terminal: - Stand-alone - Integrated By Geographic Region: - North America North America, third largest continent (1990 est. pop. 365,000,000), c.9,400,000 sq mi (24,346,000 sq km), the northern of the two continents of the Western Hemisphere. - Europe, Middle East, Africa - Rest-of-the-world Technologies The following technologies are covered in this research service: - TCP/IP TCP/IP in full Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol Standard Internet communications protocols that allow digital computers to communicate over long distances. - Wireless (Wi-fi, Bluetooth) - Touchscreen See touch screen. - Smart cards Example of widely used contactless smart cards are Hong Kong's Octopus card, Paris' Calypso/Navigo card and Lisbon' LisboaViva card, which predate the ISO/IEC 14443 standard. The following tables list smart cards used for public transportation and other electronic purse applications. Market Overview Hypermarkets' Venture into Retail Petroleum Spells Good News for POS Terminal Manufacturers In a significant emerging trend in the retail petroleum industry, supermarkets, large discount stores, and mass merchandisers are increasingly installing fuel dispensers in their parking lots to offer added convenience, and thereby attract more customers. The entry of such hypermarkets into the retail petroleum business has met with considerable success due to competitive fuel pricing, discounted prices linked to customized loyalty programs, and cross-merchandising. As a result, hypermarket hy·per·mar·ket n. A very large commercial establishment that is a combination of a department store and a supermarket. hypermarket Noun a huge self-service store [translation of French sales of gasoline gasoline or petrol, light, volatile mixture of hydrocarbons for use in the internal-combustion engine and as an organic solvent, obtained primarily by fractional distillation and "cracking" of petroleum, but also obtained from natural gas, by have been steadily increasing, registering more than 20 billion gallons since 2001. Moreover, they account for a significant market share of more than 15 per cent. Currently, a few major hypermarkets dominate this area, namely Albertson's, Kmart, Kroger and Wal-Mart, which control more than half the total hypermarket fuel sites. This poses a strong challenge to the smaller gas station owners whose numbers have been dwindling dwin·dle v. dwin·dled, dwin·dling, dwin·dles v.intr. To become gradually less until little remains. v.tr. To cause to dwindle. See Synonyms at decrease. in the last few years. However, for point-of-sale (POS) terminal manufacturers, the foray of hypermarkets into the retail petroleum industry has created a rapidly developing segment offering excellent growth opportunities, remarks the analyst of this research service. Terminal manufacturers must act fast to capitalize on Cap´i`tal`ize on` v. t. 1. To turn (an opportunity) to one's advantage; to take advantage of (a situation); to profit from; as, to capitalize on an opponent's mistakes s>. these opportunities in order to achieve continued growth in a sluggish market, especially in North America. Move Toward Integrated POS Terminals In the retail petroleum industry, the major oil companies (MOCs) that own the majority of retail sites are located across the globe. This creates a need for globally acceptable solutions in spite of the various region-specific needs related to language and culture. In this respect, the bigger POS terminal manufacturers have a distinct advantage, as they possess the necessary financial and human resources The fancy word for "people." The human resources department within an organization, years ago known as the "personnel department," manages the administrative aspects of the employees. to develop specific systems that can address this requirement. These companies are not only able to offer compatible hardware, their strong infrastructure and ubiquitous presence enables them to provide superior services to end users as well as key insights into local market dynamics. In essence, there are two kinds of POS terminals in use - stand-alone and integrated. While stand-alone terminals perform limited functions and are remotely located inside the particular store, integrated systems are connected to the dispensers in the forecourt and can also handle back-office functions. However, the trend is increasingly moving toward replacing the installed base of stand-alone terminals with integrated ones, since the latter are capable of multiple functions, thereby offering retailers much-needed differentiation. With contactless payment Contactless payment systems are credit cards, key fobs, or other devices which use RFID for making secure payments. The built in chip and antenna enable consumers to wave their card or fob over a reader at the point of sale. and pay-at-the-pump concepts also catching on worldwide, there are numerous growth opportunities available for vendors, notes the analyst. However, due to price considerations, compliance issues, and lack of awareness of the latest technologies, the growth is neither uniform nor progressing at the rate anticipated by the industry. For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c49058 Source: Frost & Sullivan |
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