This is not just an operating system; it’s an operating system for M&S
That’s the thing about retail technology stories isn’t it? You wait for one forever and then three come along at once. The evil forces at Microsoft (just kidding) clearly knew I was blogging on this subject last Friday and yesterday - and so saw fit to use today to start talking about Windows Embedded POSReady 2009.
But this is not just an operating system (OS); this is an OS for retailers designed to be connected and industry-specific. Really? What’s so special about swiping bottles of plonk over a bar code scanner that they needed to hang the flags out for this one then? Don’t tell me that RFID is reaching a new plateau and we need a new OS to match.
Microsoft says this product is ultra POS (point of sale) savvy and offers a plethora of whizz-bang features for enterprises using POS devices and the way they connect with POS solutions with peripherals, servers and services.
In keeping with the theme of my blog yesterday, this is all about technologies that help with transaction processing. Where it dovetails and makes the difference (if the retailers embrace this and Microsoft has got this right) is when technologies such as Silverlight, .NET 3.5 and WPF can be brought to bear upon the total solution.
Think totally automated control of retail data, think CRM to target customers, think profitability – or so they say (actually they didn’t say that – I did, but I’m just trying to follow the argument through).
“Windows Embedded operating systems will lead POS shipments in EMEA by 2012, according to projections from IHL Group's 2008 EMEA POS Terminals Market Study,” says our friendly neighbourhood corporate press statement.
Ah, all this talk of high-tech retailing takes me back to when I worked in the ‘Tuck Shop’ at Glyn School for Boys in Epsom as a sixth former. We would busily dispatch the frozen Mars bars out to the 12-year old boys gleefully charging them an extra 5p each for the “operating costs of the freezer” and pocket all the extra change. No receipts, no electronic tills and nobody was any the wiser. Now that’s retailing the way it should be.