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POS functionality has improved recently and more advancements are on the horizon. With the technology available today, customers are expecting better service in real time from their favorite stores. In response, 52% of retailers consider modern POS hardware and software a "very valuable" technology to support, according to Retail Systems Research (RSR) in the June 2011 report, The 21st Century Store: The Search for Relevance.

While the broadband era allowed for more data transfer capabilities and a multitude of payment options, it also blazed a path for innovative in-store technologies to meet customer demand. Personal scanners and product information kiosks, for example, are considered valuable by 43% of retailers, up from 25% in 2010, the study said.

Many retailers (43%) also are focusing on providing in-store rewards and/or coupons. According to Ken Black, Senior POS Project Manager at RPE, a Tampa, Fla.-based retail consulting firm and systems integrator, many more companies are leveraging customer relationship management solutions. "Gathering customer information has become extremely important in today's environment," said Black. "Many companies begin using CRM for return validation and then quickly expand into other marketing uses for the data."

The retail industry is entering a new era, unofficially called "the age of consumer engagement." And make no mistake — this experience goes far beyond conducting a simple transaction at POS. Instead, this new retailing landscape merges the physical and virtual worlds.