Intelligent Retail POS System Drives Business
Success
Food retailer saves £3M by mobilizing its workforce
United Kingdom retailer The Co-operative Group (Co-op), which has £13.7
billion annual revenue, chose Windows Embedded over Linux for its retail
solution. Using a familiar development environment, the Co-op created a
tailored solution quickly and cost-effectively. Now, they even offer other
retailers this connected solution—which runs on any device with robust
security—to deliver rich applications and real-time analysis.
Situation
With 6 million consumers as owners and
5,000 outlets, United Kingdom retailer The
Co-operative Group knows its business
relies on robust solutions. Says Lawrence
Freeman, Development Manager, Software
Development for Store Systems at the Coop, “Our systems must be secure, reliable,
and agile. Forty percent of our sales are
promotion-based: if we don’t provide the
best prices in near real time, we’ll quickly
fall out of favor.”
In 2002, the Co-op standardized on
Microsoft technologies over open-source
systems, because, says Freeman, “the
Microsoft platform is so well-adopted and
supported.” The Co-op also believes
Microsoft technologies effectively fit its
business and development needs around
InControl Evolution, a point-of-service (POS)
and management solution suite that they
originally developed for internal use.
InControl is comprised of nine modules,
including those for digital signage, a store
portal, and the InFront POS system, which
encompasses sales tills, kiosks, selfcheckout stations, and their InHand mobile
devices. InFront also had to be
secure and robust enough to support an
average 200 million transactions weekly
across 15,000 POS terminals (the thirdlargest POS system in the United Kingdom).
The InControl modules needed to be
flexible and designed to connect to existing
IT systems. Furthermore, to compete in a
harsh retail climate, the Co-op needed data
from an intelligent, connected system, to
more accurately order stock, predict trends,
and set promotional pricing.
For cost-efficiency and simplified
management, the Co-op envisioned a
centralized, remote solution update model
to free up its existing update teams of four
or five employees per store. It also wanted
to enable staff to work from anywhere in
the store.
Finally, the Co-op has a typical retailindustry turnover rate for associates of
about 35 percent. Therefore it wanted to
simplify training.
Solution
Developers used the Enhanced Write Filter
Company: The Co-operative Group
Web Site:
http://www.co-operative.coop/
Country or Region: United Kingdom
Industry: Retail
Company Profile
The United Kingdom’s fifth largest food
retailer, The Co-operative Group
employs more than 110,000 people and
also has a large presence in financial,
healthcare, automotive, and funeral
services.
Software and Services
 Windows Embedded Standard
 Windows Embedded POSReady
 Windows Embedded Compact
 Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2
 Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2
Reporting Services
 Microsoft .NET Framework 4
 Microsoft POS for .NET
For more information about other
Microsoft customer successes, please
visit:
www.microsoft.com/casestudies
www.microsoft.com/embedded
“Using Windows Embedded, we were
able to mobilize our managers and
associates, getting them out of the
back office and away from the tills,
to help shoppers.”
Lawrence Freeman, Development
Manager, Software Development for
Store Systems, The Co-operative
Group
(EWF) in Windows Embedded Standard, the
Microsoft .NET Framework 4, and Microsoft
POS for .NET to abstract and virtualize
InFront software code away from the
hardware. Thus, the Co-op can deploy the
same InFront software to their InHand
devices, personal computers and
smartphones, sales tills, and other devices,
so associates and managers can perform
price checks, cash out sales tills, and review
orders from the sales floor. InFront can use
SQL Server Analysis Services to track sales
and product data in real time, so retailers
can respond to shopping patterns
immediately.
For optimized security and easy
maintenance, the Co-op deploys Windows
Embedded Standard as read-only, with just
selected components. Freeman says, “We
can run a 14-megabyte OS footprint on POS
terminals, which is fantastic: small, agile,
and very secure from attack.” The Co-op
uses the EWF to lock down these read-only
elements to prevent unwanted changes.
With InFront, retailers can set up one central
solution server to deploy automatic updates
to their solution endpoints. This centralized
model eliminates the need for dedicated
update teams, and for having a database
server at each retail branch.
To streamline the UI, developers leveraged
.NET Framework and Windows Presentation
Foundation tools to create visually
compelling effects, and make more
information accessible from the home
screen.
Benefits
Using flexible development tools and
intelligent connections to retail systems,
The Co-op realized cost reductions and new
business opportunities.
Trusted technologies
“Abstracting our solutions away from the
hardware supports immense speed-tomarket,” says Freeman. “We don’t have to
write code with a particular device in mind.
Open-source alternatives are no
competition when you consider they require
much more interaction with third-party
products and drivers that do not meet our
required specifications.” Using Microsoft
technologies also means Freeman can easily
find developers with the skills he needs—
and they are certified, so he can be certain
of those skills: “I can’t get that with open
source products.”
Reduced costs, simplified management
and increased revenue
The centralized, remote update model
saved at least £300,000 per year over
dedicated update teams. In mid-2011, The
Co-operative Group deployed InFront to a
well-known pharmacy chain in the United
Kingdom. This customer will see a return on
investment in less than a year, because
InFront acquisition and maintenance are
less than what it once paid for solution
maintenance alone. Freeman also predicts
savings from mobilizing daily tasks and new
self-checkout options for shoppers.
Lawrence Freeman, Development
Manager, Software Development for
Store Systems, The Co-operative
Group
Security and flexibility
The Co-operative Group used EWF in
Windows Embedded Standard to improve
security and reduce maintenance. “On our
retail devices, the read-only aspects are
locked down and can’t be corrupted,” says
Freeman. “And, InFront will run on our
resale customers’ legacy hardware—or any
future hardware they choose.’”
Intelligence and customer satisfaction
Freeman reports, “Before, associates had
lots of screens to navigate and huge
training docs. Now, all functionality is
available from one screen.”
Real-time data supports more accurate
ordering and better sales-trend tracking for
promotional pricing. Security officers can
see variances in sales tills and react quickly,
instead of waiting for a weekly report. In
addition, Freeman says, “Using Windows
Embedded, we mobilized our managers and
associates, getting them out of the back
office or away from the tills, to help
shoppers.”
Freeman concludes, “Microsoft and
Windows Embedded technologies are
critical to the success of InFront and our
decision to resell it. The intelligence the
solution provides through technology
integration makes it easier to provide stellar
customer service to keep the retail ball
rolling.”
Keyword: Retail & Hospitality; Retail Point-of-Sale
This case study is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS SUMMARY.
Document published January 2012
“Microsoft and Windows
Embedded technologies are
critical to the success of
InFront and our decision to
resell it. The intelligence the
solution provides through
technology integration makes
it easier to provide stellar
customer service to keep the
retail ball rolling.”
Co-op staff member checking
stock with InHand device