India's diverse retail space requires POS systems that can meet every need. Samba Moorthy, Senior General Manager, Sales & Marketing, Epson, tells Craig Fonseca about the potential of a good POS system in retail and Epson's offering in this area
Could you tell us a little more about Epson and its offerings to the retail sector? Epson in India deals in printing and imaging products. Last year, the company saw a turnover of around Rs 400 crore. Our retail focus in India is led by our retail transaction printers, which are point-of-sale (POS) systems. This business contributed close to 15 per cent of our total revenue. The launching of our latest bill printer, the Epson LQ-50, which has been developed especially for the Indian retail market, marks a special occasion for the company. What prompted Epson to introduce the Epson LQ-50 in India? The LQ-50 is basically a product of research that was carried out over the past 24 months. Epson did a lot of research in the Indian market to understand the thoughts of the retailers, system integrators and the independent software vendors. We noticed that there is a segment of the market which shows immense potential and is not at all served bythe existing products available in the market today. If you look at the size of receipts in the market today, these range anywhere from 2-8 inches. Retailers usually use a 2-inch or a 3-inch receipt printer or an 80-column printer to print the bills. Today, 50-70 per cent of retailers who use an 80-column printer for retail transaction printing applications use a receipt size that is anywhere between 4.5-6 inches, while the printer can print a receipt of up to 8 inches. Thus, printers are never used to their full potential.  In the Indian market, only 17 per cent implements retail technologies such as bill printers. So almost 80 per cent of the market is still untapped. Even this 17 per cent mainly consists of the tier-I, tier-II and, to an extent, tier-III cities. Even in these locations, a large percentage of customers today still issue manual receipts. The traditional size of any manual receipt, since the retailer needs to write the bill details on the receipt, ranges anywhere from 4-6 inches. This same trend is seen in the rural market as well. In the rural markets in the country, most stores continue to use manual receipts. One of the main reasons is that technology implementation is a challenge in these rural markets.Noticing this trend, Epson had an interaction with the retailers and integrators and received feedback that there is a clear need for a bill printer which can print receipts between 4-8 inches. We felt that this gives us complete bandwidth to address all customer segments. We have a number of products which can meet the entire range of customers. Manual receipt users account for more that 83 per cent of the total market. As most of these are present in smaller cities and towns, Epson felt that there is a clear need to provide a printer with the capability to print in different regional languages, since most of these businesses are local family-owned businesses. Typically, these donít exceed a few stores per city. A key trend in these situations is that it is a challenge for customers to understand a printed bill. Since the bills are printed in English, the majority of the customers in smaller towns and cities find it hard to understand the language. Ideally, the printer should be able to print in multiple languages, to suit the language of the region. Keeping this is mind, Epson has incorporated support for ten Indian regional languages in the LQ-50. This allows the retailer to offer the customer language facilities. Thus, Epson is able to target retailers in both the urban as well as the rural areas. The LQ-50 has a small form factor, which means it sits on the check-out counter, and occupies very little space. It also has the capability to print in ten different regional languages, thus meeting the customer cultural requirements. The perceived value of goods is also a major problem for retailers. A customer pays Rs 2,000 on goods from a store and still gets a bill thatís small in size. The perceived value of the goods automatically decreases. Epson tries to address this misperception with its printers What other uses do you see for the LQ-50 printer? The verticals Epson is trying to address are F&B, pharmacy, footwear, apparel and any over-the-counter retail opportunities. However, there are also a whole lot of non-retail applications for the printer as well. For instance, for railway ticket reservations, only the details of the tickets need be printed, and this printer fits in exactly with these applications. With its small form factor, it is easier and more convenient for the customer to use. How important is a good POS system? What should a retailer look for in a POS system? When a retailer wants to adapt any particular technology, the biggest factor that comes into play is the price. At the same time, most customers focus on the fact that everything in retail revolves around value for money. The situation today is that customers lack information about the available options, which is the most important part in choosing a retail technology solution. Most retailers expect everything in a system at the minimum possible price. As a result, the pressure amounts and solution providers may try to cut corners. Hence customers do not get the full benefit of the product they purchase, be it software or hardware. System integrators, POS vendors and software vendors all hold the responsibility of educating the customer. We understand Epson has adopted green practices. Could you elaborate on this? Epson products are completely lead-free, and our manufacturing facilities do not use any products that have a lead impact. When a customer uses an 80-column printer, he often does not use the full width of the printerís capabilities. The material that is used inside those printers is all unnecessary. All these finer aspects add up a huge impact. Even when the opportunity is there in the market, it is our corporate responsibility to take care off the environment. |
