I am currently on my way back from the National Retail Federation (NRF) show in New York. There are two trends to follow in the checkout area. The first one is not really new anymore, but tablet PCs (like the iPad or Galaxy) will increasingly serve as the "checkout of the future". Hey, the solutions partly look really funny, plus there are more tablet cradles to see at the show. The question is, do you really need to take your stationary checkout with you "occasionaly"? What happens to it if you drop it? The argument they announced was: with an iPad or a Galaxy, users can simply use the service organisations of the giant companies Apple or Samsung if they experience a problem. But everyone would consider it twice, if he would really want to make an appointment at the Apple store once the checkout has been set up.

Secondly, everything is "Cloud". In the future cashiers will only have scanners and printers. Prices and article descriptions come up to date from the Cloud, plus the tally is taken there. Meaning, no more need for a PC at the checkout. It sounds great when you first hear it: 90% electricity savings and no PC maintenance. But, taking a second look at it: what happens when the Internet freezes? In a store with 20 checkouts it might be possible to invest into more secure connections, and to have fallback lines with various providers. However, if there are only one or two checkouts then these alternatives cost more than the checkouts themselves. Solution: there must be a back-up computer in each store with the latest data. This means the PC is still physically there, even if in the back office of the store. I don't see the breatkthrough here.

We are all looking for new "killer hardware", which every shop owner wants to have in his store. Hardware whose advantages are easily recognisable and also which processes so quickly that everyone instantly wants to throw his old hardware out the window. But I fear for 2012 too: nothing to report.