Tesco signs #60m Epos deal

Tesco has signed a #60m pan-European contract with Siemens Nixdorf to replace all its ageing electronic point of sale (Epos) terminals with Pentium PC-based systems over the next three years.

All 568 Tesco UK stores will get the terminals. They are intended to cut staff training by 60%, print receipts faster, reduce the number of barcode and credit card misreads, and run for 20 minutes on their own if the till network collapses.

IT director Ian O'Reilly said Tesco wanted a standard software platform for running new features and future applications.

'The new checkout systems are easier to use, allowing the cashier to spend more time with a customer. We can add new functions and features very easily. It's not an investment for three years but a platform for the next 10 years,' he said.

Each store's checkout network will be run from an SNI server running Windows NT.

Twenty five stores are already using the new system and Tesco will upgrade its petrol stations in the next phase of the roll out. Tesco will announce a range of new services later this year.

Expansion of its Club Card services using the Epos PCs is also likely.