The market for cash register systems, or POS systems, is growing in Europe due to an increasing demand that itself is being fueled by new fiscal rules. Overall, the industry is expected to increase its sales by 6.3% annually to 2021, according a study by Interconnection Consulting.

Food Retailers Under Scrutiny New regulations in Germany, France, and Poland now require many companies that have cash transactions to acquire POS systems. These rules have been implemented to prevent tax evasion among retailers. In particular, food retailers, restaurants, and hotels were the areas most affected by the new regulations. It thus comes as no surprise that in 2017 food retailers and restaurants & hotels accounted for 36.4% and 26.3%, respectively, of all POS systems sold.

High Growth Rates The five countries surveyed (Germany, the Benelux region, France, Great Britain, and Poland) have attained, in part, high growth rates. In Germany and Poland, the growth rate in sales is 11.2%, in the Benelux countries 5.4%, in the UK 8.6%, and in France 3.7%. Overall, the market volume in 2017 amounted to EUR 673.6 million, representing an increase of 9.5% over 2016. With 517,183 units sold and a growth of 7.9%, the half-million hurdle was cleared last year for the first time. The legislative changes especially benefited the top ten companies, which increased their market share from 78.8% to 79.4%. The leading players are, in alphabetical order, HP, NCR, Sharp, Toshiba Tec, and Wincor Nixdorf.