Digital transformation is a key driver of retail growth, with new technologies fueling an omnichannel customer experience, new offerings, and more efficient operations. In fact, 85% of retailers are actively pursuing digital transformation strategies. Of those, 97% expect digital investments will increase profitability in the next 12 months.
As business models evolve to meet the needs of a more demanding customer, retailers have an opportunity to leverage points of sale (POS) to help transform operations and the customer experience — if they can avoid the disruptive and costly challenges associated with traditional POS hardware and software upgrades.
Retailers need to move fast while minimizing store and customer disruption
Replacing POS hardware impacts the physical retail workspace in ways that are disruptive to both customers and staff. Replacing POS terminals can require retrofitting cashier lanes or workspaces. Often stores are forced to update furnishings to maintain an appearance and functionality that is appropriately aligned with the brand experience, which creates additional costs beyond those associated with a retailer’s technology investment. Cabling and power are also frequently impacted, adding costs, requiring new plans, and causing disruptions.
Hardware replacement can cause chaos in retail locations. The results? Increased TCO, destruction of ROI from previous expenditures, and unnecessary projects that disrupt store operations, increased management costs, and a negatively impacted customer experience.
With so much riding on POS systems, how can retailers adapt to new business models and undergo digital transformation while avoiding the disruptive and costly challenges associated with hardware and software upgrades at scale? By virtualizing POS systems to eliminate chaotic software and hardware release cycles and operating system end-of-life events that create artificial horizons for the life of expensive hardware.
VMware Retail POS virtualization solution simplifies retail complexity and saves costs
VMware Retail POS virtualization solution decouples the operating system from hardware utilizing a proven virtualization hypervisor, secure VDI, and cloud management tools. Built upon proven VMware technology, including VMware Horizon® and Workspace ONE, VMware Retail POS virtualization solution enables retailers to manage the full lifecycle of any endpoint in one management console in support of all retail use cases. With Stratodesk NoTouch OS, retailers can replace legacy operating systems running on their POS hardware with a managed operating system that simplifies IT infrastructure through centralization and automation. This innovative approach provides future workstation flexibility and/or repurposing of existing POS terminals with Stratodesk’s secured operating system that can easily be provisioned locally or over the network.
How VMware and Stratodesk technologies work together
VMware Workspace ONE allows POS software to be deployed and managed by replacing the operating system on the POS terminal endpoint located in the retail front of house with Stratodesk NoTouch OS. Stratodesk centralizes lifecycle management of the POS and other applications. At the same time, VMware Horizon virtually connects retailers to the applications they require to run their operations, allowing their POS apps to be accessed via any terminal. Connected peripherals can be supported through the virtual environment providing users with a seamless experience. With VMware Workspace ONE and Stratodesk NoTouch Center, retailers benefit from simplified management of POS terminals and can approach managing POS just as they would a traditional PC.
Streamline patching and updates to reduce retail and IT impact
VMware’s Retail POS virtualization solution allows retailers to approach patching and updates to critical systems, such as payment controllers, as they would any other software defined workload. Virtualized solutions can be handled with snapshots or with Green/Blue environments, allowing teams to shift traffic to updated solutions while back–up environments are maintained. This enables near zero downtime and rollback, greater scheduling flexibility for IT teams, and no lost revenue for 24-hour environments.
VMware Retail POS virtualization solution contributes to achieving environmental and sustainability goals
As organizations focus on environmental responsibility and sustainability programs — with some retailers incorporating these programs into the brand’s guiding principles — ripping and replacing hardware can be problematic. POS terminals contain plastic, batteries, and storage devices that require proper disposal. When you think about the sheer scale of retail, disposal becomes a significant environmental issue. At the same time, with POS terminals containing storage devices with sensitive personally identifiable information (PII) and credit card data, end-of-life disposal becomes even more complex.
VMware Retail POS virtualization solution helps address environmental concerns by extending hardware lifecycles of POS devices by 30% to 50% and allowing retailers to embrace thinner, lower powered hardware for energy savings. This means that less e-waste goes into landfills, and with fewer truck rolls required for deployment, carbon emissions and energy consumption from shipping equipment and technician travel is minimized.
VMware Retail POS virtualization solution transforms retail and powers innovation
By taking advantage of proven VMware solutions, and leveraging existing technology investments, retailers can securely deploy new technology quickly while eliminating the need to retrain POS teams on new technology.
At a time when point of sale has evolved from the last point of customer engagement to a business process enabler, VMware Retail POS virtualization solution gives retailers a proven solution that helps them transform operations, improve the customer experience, and accelerate innovation.
Discover how VMware Retail POS virtualization solution can help lower TCO, maximize ROI, and power retail momentum.
