Worldwide Quarterly Point of Sale Tracker

IDC Retail Insights' Worldwide Quarterly Point of Sale Tracker® fills the growing demand for detailed, timely, and accurate information on the global point-of-sale (POS) market. It provides detailed quantitative analysis, quarterly market share data, and a five-year forecast with geographic, customer, and technology segmentation. IDC Retail Insights' POS Tracker leverages a core "tracking" platform and methodology that has helped excel many IDC data research programs to become industry standards. The core output of this research is in the form of quantitative analysis delivered in a detailed Excel workbook. This quarterly research is a result of IDC's top-down and bottom-up methodology that includes vendor interviews, channel analysis, and survey work. In addition to the quantitative output, clients of IDC Retail Insights' POS Tracker have access to a team of skilled analysts supporting this research who are strategically located across many different countries.

Technology Coverage and Data Segmentation

This tracker provides total market size and vendor share for the following technology and customer segments. Measurement for this research is in unit shipments and factory value.

Technologies and Subtechnologies

  • Electronic POS workstation/terminal (ePOS)
  • PC-based POS systems/PC cash drawers (PCCD)
  • Self-checkout systems (SCO)

End-User Segmentations

  • Food establishments
  • Non-food establishment

Geographic Scope

  • Asia/Pacific excluding Japan
  • Canada
  • Central and Eastern Europe
  • Japan
  • Latin America
  • Middle East and Africa
  • United States
  • Western Europe

Forecast Coverage

Forecast data for this tracker is updated quarterly and includes historical data from first-quarter 2010 through a five-year forecast. The five-year forecast is made up of a rolling two years of quarterly forecast data and an additional three years of annual market projections. Forecasts are available at a worldwide, regional, and country level and include the following segmentation:

  • Regional/country data (same as in geographic scope listed above)
  • Technology segmentation: Electronic POS workstation/terminal (ePOS), PC-based POS systems/PC cash drawers (PCCD), self-checkout systems (SCO)
  • End-user segmentation: Food establishments, non-food establishments
  • Measurements: Unit shipments and factory value
  • Period: 1Q10 through five-year forecast (two-year quarterly, three-year annual)

Delivery Schedule and Deliverables

This tracker is delivered on a quarterly basis with an easy-to-use informative data delivery option including data, taxonomy, contacts, exchange rates, and product instructions. Each quarterly deliverable is on the following schedule:

  • Historical data: Week 9 after quarter closes
  • Forecast data: Week 10 after quarter closes

IDC's Tracker Methodology

IDC's tracker data is developed using a rigorous methodology that includes well-planned and well-coordinated local, regional, and worldwide data cross-checks combined with a proprietary advanced data consolidation and analysis data platform managed by IDC's Worldwide Tracker organization. Data sources used in the process of determining IDC's tracker numbers include, but are not limited to:

  • In-country local vendor interviews
  • Distribution data feeds
  • Worldwide and regional vendor guidance
  • ODM data
  • In-country local channel partner discussions
  • Import records
  • Feedback from component suppliers
  • Vendor briefings and public financial reports

Enabling Better Business Decisions Across the Organization

IDC trackers provide the accurate and timely market size, vendor share, and forecast information you need to identify market and product expansion opportunities, increase revenues, and win market share. IDC's tracker research is a critical input to the planning and monitoring cycles of the business process. Common uses of the tracker data include:

Planning Process

  • Regional, state or city-level planning — setting regional, country, state or city-level sales targets based on market opportunity
  • Product marketing — creating a product strategy and road map based on currently available product features and expected growth
  • production planning — using customer demand data as an input in the creation of production schedules
  • product portfolio planning — accessing accurate and detailed data as an input into the product development process

Monitoring Process

  • Performance measurement — comparing vendor performance on prior fiscal periods
  • Competitive analysis — reviewing competitor performance across multiple dimensions: product, features, channel, segment, geography
  • Sales forecasting measurement — assessing internal sales forecast versus actual results
  • Price benchmarking — comparing vendor versus market pricing data by model
  • Marketing communications — using positive results for messaging in the press, at partner events, or in sales collateral

IDC's Global Tracker Process at Work