The trepidation of the retailers
The KassenSichV regulations stipulate what electronic or computer-aided cash register systems and cash registers must be able to do. Stationary retailers, who in addition to Covid have been under great pressure in recent years due to digitalization and Internet commerce, also had to adapt their systems to the new legislation. While smaller retailers were able to add functionality for the KassenSichV to their cash registers, this was not so easy in the SAP environment.
SAP holds back
Companies that use SAP employ different solutions for processing cash sales. In order to make these KassenSichV-compliant, they have to implement the individual adaptations independently. In addition, due to the complex certification process, only a manageable number of companies offer technical solutions for the KassenSichV. SAP itself does not offer a certified technical security equipment (TSE). And the support offered by SAP in connection with the KassenSichV is also manageable. SAP is therefore being very cautious when it comes to the KassenSichV - as a customer, on the other hand, you might get scared.
With SAP Customer Checkout, a respectable point-of-sale solution for retail, kiosks and restaurants has been available for some time. This gives SAP a real unique selling point, as there are not many providers of such fully integrated products. On the other hand, such comprehensive software with great affinity to other SAP products is not suitable for every customer requirement at the POS.
POS without new data silos
So what do you do if you're a retailer somewhere between a kiosk and a major corporation? Probably what our long-standing, internationally successful customer from the beverage trade did: look elsewhere. With a high proportion of POS sales, he needs a strong solution that integrates with existing processes and applications. One that is capable of handling complex requirements such as store and ramp sales, existing customer management, purchase quantity checks and returns processing in cash sales. In addition, the retailer wants to use its well-maintained customer and product master data from the group-wide SAP ERP and not create new data silos.
These specifications would be a considerable challenge anyway, but during the evaluation phase some additional customer-specific features were added. However, the proof of concept showed that the development of an own, parameterizable product is more target-oriented. In accordance with the Snap community idea, according to which new developments always benefit the community of all software users, we therefore agreed on a pilot project: the checkout solution for SAP.
The new application is integrated into ERP/ECC 6.0 or S/4 Hana and uses customer and material master data as well as the processes in SAP's Sales and Distribution module. In addition to the previously mentioned features and typical POS functions, the POS solution also offers cashless payment and, as required by law, protects POS transactions against manipulation. The signature components for the POS solution come from the trust service providers Globaltrust (AT) and Fiskaly (DE), whose cloud services we integrate.
The go-live of the first expansion stage will take place in the second quarter of 2023 at a recently acquired subsidiary of the beverage wholesaler. The next release, with features such as electronic signatures for ramp sales, is scheduled for the end of the year. After the successful first implementation, the POS solution for SAP will be rolled out to all ten locations in Austria. "The retailer's anxiety" has thus definitely come to an end, at least for this customer.
