Special report 2: Focus on offering standardised services across international markets
Global retailers are increasingly making centralised decisions and rolling out technology and processes from their head offices as they seek to reduce complexity and look for greater standardisation across their international estates. By Glynn Davis in Germany
Speaking at Wincor World 2012 in Germany Eckard Heidloff, chief executive officer at Wincor Nixforf, stated: “There is a need to make central decisions and to then roll out globally. Companies had made local decisions but they have now started buying centrally from their head quarters. With today’s cost pressures companies want central services and standard agreement levels the world over.”
He adds that Wincor Nixdorf is among those IT firms that has the reach and capability to provide services that are standard around the world, which helps reduce complexity – especially with the possibility of managing technology infrastructures remotely. Heidloff suggests this is leading to a “new type of collaboration with more of a spirit of partnership [with retailers] that is helping bring improvements to quality”.
This thinking had led to the group developing its Store Lifecycle Management solution that he says is a “big issue as simplification is a buzzword”. The offering of such services is regarded as important to the likes of Wincor Nixdorf as Heidloff acknowledges that there has been a decline in hardware revenues. Services and software are now regarded as a way to “compensate” for this decline.
He revealed that IT spending was growing only “modestly” at 3% in 2012 – compared 2% last year – but that there are regional variations. Eastern Europe represents a growth market as it has been one of the first to emerge after the global financial crisis. However, this contrasts with a weak Southern Eueope – notably Greece, Spain and Italy.
He also cited the emerging markets as a major opportunity – with it now accounting for 25% of Wincor`s group sales – as this means dealing with many consumers who are “unbanked”. The strong cash management solutions of Wincor Nixdorf is enabling it to tap into this area, which remains bouyant as Reinhard Rabenstein, chief technology office at Wincor Nixdorf, reveals that there is a growing amount of cash in circulation. Between 2006 and 2011 the growth in cash has been between 6% and 24% depending on country.
He suggests that with fully automated systems implemented in-store the cost reduction per payment transaction can be as high as 50%. It is these sorts of benefits that are being achieved by the likes of Ikea that has implemented a closed cash handling solution from Wincor Nixdorf. Johanna Donner, receive payment process leader at Ikea, says that the company`s employees “are not afraid anymore” of counting the cash in a morning and evening and “hoping it tallies”. Its implementation has enabled it to achieve a greater return on investment than it had envisaged.
