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Does anyone know what Point of Sale software that large retailers in the US (from Macys to CVS to Bestbuy) use?

What do you suggest for a person with a brand new idea in a better point of sale software to enter the market? I am completely not sure on where or how to start.

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Does your idea only apply to large retailers? As software development and support costs come down there seems to be trend towards providing the traditional tools of large businesses to SMBs. You may have more success approaching the market in a similar direction. – RSG Apr 2 '11 at 18:38

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IBM and NCR are two of the primary vendors in large retail chain POS systems.

If you're not already intimately familiar with POS systems in large retailers you have a very steep wall ahead of you. Not to discourage you, but this is not an area that you're going to come in with a better mousetrap and disrupt the marketplace.

Aside from the hardware and specialized OS that runs the registers, plus integration with accounting and inventory control, you also need to solve the service aspect. Best Buy for instance isn't just buying a POS kit from IBM, they're buying a 2-hour response time to service issues that cause any register to be down. They're buying the fact that IBM has parts warehouses across the US, so that any failed component can be replaced without delay.

It's been many years since I was last involved heavily with POS systems (IBM), but the software is almost the LAST thing they care about.

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+1 The fact that you want to market new POS "software" raises alarm bells. – David Apr 2 '11 at 18:39
thanks Brian point very well taken. – user9141 Apr 3 '11 at 14:43

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