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02/02/2010 -
Retailers are expected to invest more in merchant services such as POS terminals and PCI compliance in the coming year, according to a report from the IHL Group and RISNews. There was found to be an increase in IT spending at both the store and the enterprise level, StorefrontBacktalk.com reported, with spending on POS software maintenance in particular expected to increase.
This is because there is a "disconnect between what retailers are claiming they are paying today for software maintenance" and what POS software maintenance vendors actually plan to charge, the website cited from the report. Merchants should therefore do their homework to ensure their planned software upgrades do not break their budget.
The report also found that PCI compliance - and equipment or software updates to achieve PCI compliance - was the second-most important IT priority for retailers in 2010, keeping its top-two position for the second year in a row. Advanced CRM and loyalty programs secured the top spot, with 60 percent of retailers choosing it as their first priority.
While upgrading POS terminals to meet PCI compliance requirements can seem intimidating for retailers due to its cost, experts say that the return on investment is high considering the skyrocketing costs associated with data breaches.
