Consumers shopping at the Spar Group retail outlets will soon be welcoming state-of-the-art touch-screens at Spar pay points across the country.

Fifteen-inch Elo Desktop touch monitors, supplied by Tactile Technologies, are being introduced at point of sale (POS) stations, to assist patrons in paying for their goods quickly and efficiently. According to Len Venter, MD at CEB Marketing, a key Tactile reseller, Spar is aggressively expanding its footprint in South Africa, which creates great opportunities for further touch-screen market penetration.

"We find that local retailers are looking at how their counterparts in other countries are harnessing touch-screen technology, such as interactive retail catalogues, self-service kiosks, touch-screen gaming applications and digital signage, to drive more revenue. Elo's touch screen solutions are the perfect vehicles through which to achieve this," he says.

Abdul Laher: Group POS Systems Manager at Spar, says Spar has approximately 800 stores countrywide, and each year new stores open. Additionally, existing stores need software and hardware upgrades or replacements of faulty monitors. He says Spar Group encourages its retailers to take advantage of its bulk trading power to save costs on new equipment purchases, and to ensure that they have access to the latest technologies that can be effortlessly integrated into their existing environments.

"The Elo 1515L with IntelliTouch Surface Wave touch screen is recommended by Spar as the technology of choice for POS systems countrywide because of its durability, its stability, its ease-of-use and five-year warranty. Until a couple of years ago, the idea of touch-screen technology wasn't on Spar's radar because a normal monitor costs far less. However, a lot of retailers are realising the benefits of touch and many have gone that route," he says. Elo's IntelliTouch touch-screens offer perfect precision for high-use applications and their pure-glass construction delivers excellent image clarity and works even when scratched, a common occurrence with traditional LCD screens.

To date, Venter says CEB Solutions has installed approximately 550 units at various stores, but says the project will be ongoing and the speed of the uptake depends on each independent retailer. "Even though the units are still quite new in the field, the touch screens proved to be incredibly reliable with a failure rate of less than one per cent."