Point-of-sale software sits at the heart of retail operations. When it falls short, whether that might be outdated, inflexible, or incompatible with a retailer’s changing needs, the pressure to change becomes more urgent. Modern solutions are reshaping the market as operators prioritize flexibility, customer experience, and operational control.
Retailers are taking the plunge and investing in modern POS solutions
Research from Datos Insights shows what’s happening in this evolving market. Between June 2024 and June 2025, there were around 440,000 new POS software installations at major retailers across grocery, general merchandise, and hospitality, with around a third of these a result of switching to a different supplier altogether.
A rollout across hundreds or thousands of stores represents months of planning, integration work, and operational risk. These numbers demonstrate that retailers are seeing genuine value in updating their POS software at a time when investment budgets are inevitably tight.
Making the move from legacy to flexibility
Around the world, retailers are pivoting to modern software solutions. In the U.S., pizza chain Papa Johns is moving from an on-premises legacy system to a cloud-based platform, seeking faster deployment of menu changes and real-time visibility across locations. Similarly, 7-Eleven in the Philippines has selected a solution able to handle updates across thousands of sites. Meanwhile, the U.K. Post Office required that its new solution use a modern microservice architecture.
The premise of these moves is that cloud-based, microservices-driven architectures offer flexibility, allowing retailers push new capabilities to stores without requiring extensive IT support at each location.
Managing complexity across borders and brands
Multi-brand and multinational operators can face compounded challenges. BDS Co, a sports retail group in southeast Europe, had multiple legacy POS systems across its brands, reducing visibility between markets. By moving to a single platform, it aims to boost efficiency and scalability. Standardization across POS systems is also a driving factor of a rollout by Africa’s largest restaurant franchisor, Famous Brands.
Gebr. Heinemann’s case illustrates the complexity facing such chains. The global travel retail firm operates in more than 100 countries across duty-free shops, cruise ships and ferries – each with its own tax and compliance rules. The company required a supplier able to handle such a complex environment.
Reducing friction as expectations rise
Adding to the mix are the ever-increasing expectations of customers, with the modern shopper anticipating a range of experiences in-store, from self-checkout to mobile scanning to the pick-up of online orders. Often a new POS software solution is needed to support these channels and ensure a smooth experience across them. For example, DTLR and Shoe Palace in the U.S. adopted a mobile-first solution that integrates with order management systems to provide “endless aisle” functionality.
New solutions can also reduce friction at the checkout, improving the experience for both customers and store associates. In the UK, clothing chain Matalan selected software that integrates customer-related applications such as loyalty, allowing for a smoother checkout process, while value retailer B&M rolled out a platform enabling faster transactions.
What comes next in a fast-evolving retail technology environment
Technology is continuing to develop at an unparalleled pace and customer habits are also constantly evolving. This puts the onus on retailers to find POS software suppliers to work with who can show them a roadmap which future-proofs their investments and harnesses the data flowing through POS systems. In some cases, this will mean looking at brand-new solutions from a different vendor, in others it’ll be a case of maintaining existing relationships and upgrading the solutions. U.S. fuel convenience chain Pilot and the U.K.’s Card Factory are among the retailers to choose the latter of these approaches.
The point of sale remains a critical part of the physical retail environment. The technology suppliers who will succeed and thrive in this space will be those listening to retailers’ needs while also anticipating the challenges ahead.
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