Above-Par
Performance
KICKY BLACKBURN SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS
It is a large potential market.
ext time you're buying your
radishes or canned beans Supermarkets in the U.S. alone
on your weekly shopping spend an estimated 5330 million
trip to the supermarket, a year on software. Europe spends
spare a thought for the check-out about the same.
The other sectors also have sim-
system.
The once slow, ponderous till ilar-sized markets.
The company was founded in
has been replaced by a high-tech
PC-based cash register, which can 1982 by Mr. Shaked and a part-
scan goods in seconds as well as ner. South-African born Mr.
provide information about pro- Shaked took over the reigns when
motions, discounts and other store his partner left a year later. It
incentives. wasn't Mr. Shaked's dream to
In the coming years, shopping open such a company. A keen
is likely to get even easier and sportsman— his trophies for bas-
quicker with the introduction of a ketball, football and golf jostle for
new generation of mobile shopping space with snapshots of his fam-
devices. With these shopping ily on his office shelves — he was
carts, the lengthy check-out line contemplating a career in golf For
will be a thing of the past. On the some years he was Israel's golf
cutting edge of this movement is champion.
"There wasn't much future in
Herzliya-based Point of Sale
(POS), a promising software house golf here, though," he admits. In-
that offers system solutions for re- stead he studied computing and
tail chains and restaurants all over brought his sports skills into busi-
the world. ness.
He initially programmed ECR
Over the last 15 years,POS has
grown from a small, two-man cash registers (stand-alone pro-
start-up with sales $50,000- prietary tills), then later began
$100,000 a year to a public com- selling first generation point of sale
pany with 120 staff members, a systems (PC-based servers driving
subsidiary in Israel called Net- proprietary tills).
For the first few years compa-
point, another in the United States
employing 15 people and repre- ny growth was slow, but in 1987
sentatives in Britain, South Africa, POS signed a distribution agree-
ment with international hardware
France and Germany.
In 1996, sales were $6.5 million. manufacturer Siemens Nixdorf.
This year they are expected to rise A similar agreement followed with
to $10-13 million. Customers in- ICL in 1989. In a market domi-
dude British supermarket chain nated by giant international com-
Tesco, White Hen Pantry in the panics, this was an essential move
U.S., and other major retail as it gave POS a chance to sell its
chains. "The company has lots of software to retail chains all over
potential," says Aaron Katsman the The
world.
one drawback was that
of Commstock Trading. "It's in an
industry with a lot of growth and none of the foreign chains knew
it isn't sticking to Israel. It's head- they were buying POS software.
'The big companies took our soft-
ed in the right direction."
POS offers a gamut of solutions ware and ran with it," says
from the central computer of the Shaked. "We supplied software for
eri0 Tengelm ann sto s in this
chain or store right down to the 1,40
hardly met re the cus-
individual registers. "From host pod and
to post," as 40-year-old POS Pres- tomer."
In 1994, when the second gen-
ident and CEO Barry Shaked
likes to say, host being the com- eration of point-of-sale solutions
puter and post the point of sale. became popular, this all changed.
At a supermarket, for example, "With the first generation, the big
his software can scan items at the hardware companies sold the
check-out, give change, deal with hardware and provided the soft-
credit cards and smart cards, give ware," says Mr. Shaked. "In the
information on promotions with- second generation, the emphasis
in the store, control loyalty cards moved to software houses. They
in
and deliver coupons. had become the major players
At head office, it can assess and retailing solutions.
"It gave the company a huge
compare cashier efficiency and
monitor sales, inventory, special boost. Customers wanted to deal
offers, profit margins and other with us directly. Suddenly we
were being introduced to big cus-
valuable marketing data.
The software is available for a tomers and our software was sold
range of retail outlets including under our name, not that of the
supermarkets, department stores, vendors." ❑
restaurants, gas stations and con- (c) Jerusalem Post 1997
venience stores.
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