Retailers explore Java POS systems

Computerworld - Growing numbers of retailers are scoping out Java-based point-of-sale (POS) systems as one option to replace their aging cash registers.

Several retailers that are either deploying or piloting Java POS systems said they like the fact that the software can run on any hardware or operating system and also noted that they're finding the code easy to modify as their needs expand. Some also reported decreases in implementation and support costs, depending on the additional systems choices they have made.

"We want something that won't lock us into any particular platform and will give us the flexibility to deploy it in whatever way we'd like in the future," said Mike Prince, CIO at Burlington Coat Factory Warehouse Corp. in Burlington, N.J. Prince said his company has committed to a Java POS system on Linux and is rolling out the Linux operating system but has postponed the Java POS portion because of competing projects.

Robin Lynas, CIO at Mark's Work Wearhouse Ltd., a Calgary, Alberta-based chain that was acquired last year by Canadian Tire Corp., found himself peppered with questions from fellow retailers at the National Retail Federation Conference & Expo earlier this month in New York.

The Canadian retailer has rolled out its Java POS system from Retek Inc. to new Linux-based IBM terminals at 70 stores. Plans call for the rollout at the remaining 240 stores to be completed by the end of June.

"My guys said, 'Do we really want to pay Microsoft licensing fees? Why don't you go open systems?' " Lynas recalled. Once they proved that the POS system would run on Linux, he was sold.

Mark's Work Wearhouse claims to have lowered store opening costs by 30% and maintenance costs by 50%, in part because it no longer needs in-store servers. The registers will connect directly via frame relay to central servers at the home office, thanks in part to Java's networking class libraries, according to Retek Chief Technology Officer John Gray.

Another advantage that Mark's Work Wearhouse has found is the ease with which developers can bolt on new applications that connect to the POS system. Those include Web site, time sheet, business account and Web reporting applications, Lynas said.

"Retek gives you the Java source code for their POS application," Lynas said. "You just take the objects they've got and extend them and write your new functionality."

Java at Home Depot

Atlanta-based The Home Depot Inc., whose IT shop is heavily invested in Java, settled on a Java POS system from 360Commerce Inc. in Austin, Texas, so it would be able to migrate code between clients and servers running disparate operating systems, said Ray Allen, director of IT.