After a six-year break, Concept International, the value-added distributor for POS systems and digital signage, is back at the EuroShop trade show. A predictable start-to-finish.

Munich, March 10, 2023 – The market for system integrators in the store sector has changed: In addition to simple checkout, which Concept covers with its Android checkout prime Sunmi, digital presentation has evolved incredibly: Digital signage players and LED walls have become at least as important. Together with player specialist Giada and FutureLED as a manufacturer of highly flexible LED elements, Concept thus represents the three most important growth markets at the POS at once.

“After a six-year break, our range of digital signage players, LED walls and cash registers fully matches what is now in demand at EuroShop,” said Mike Finckh, Concept’s managing director. “It also fulfilled our hopes of reaching professional digital signage and AV visitors who couldn’t or didn’t want to go to ISE in Barcelona.”

Two areas at EuroShop grew noticeably, Finckh said: first, there were some great installations with curved, for example, tunnel-shaped display installations. “For another, I would argue that Android POS systems have made the breakthrough. POS Windows, it’s so Yesterday,” Mike Finckh states with a semi-serious grin.

Eco, Flex and Green – LED walls for the POS

Judging by the visitor demand, the various series of the manufacturer FutureLED were a highlight: Low-consumption Eco LED elements or the extremely flexible representatives of the Flex series on rubber mats, which can be installed in practically any radius. Or the new Green version, which has been optimized once again with 40 percent less power and is also particularly easy and quick to install: cable-free, the only 28 mm thin, 27 inch large individual elements with flat COB surface are simply clicked together. This makes it possible to conjure up 4K walls up to 9 m wide. Unpack – click – run!

Kiosk system and digital signage on course for growth

To fire up the displays, of course, you need the appropriate hardware. Consequently, the signage players were also in the focus of the visitors. In particular, the entire range of Intel’s 12th generation Giada players for a wide variety of requirements was in demand: the fanless DF612, the booksize PC D612 or the OPS slide-in PC and performance giant PC612.
The latest processor generation offers more performance with the same power consumption. Or in other words: With an Alder Lake CPU of the current generation, you get the performance of a CPU of the next higher class of the predecessor generation. An i3/12th gen, for example, can easily keep up with an i5/11th gen.

Cash registers develop into info points

With Sunmi, Concept International has the technology leader for Android checkouts in its lineup. From cloud-managed POS pools with remote maintenance, management and support to self-service POS, Concept covers the entire spectrum for all areas of application. Form factors range from small, ultra-portable handhelds to massive, stationary kiosk systems. The open operating system is stronger at the point-of-sale, more flexible and also significantly less expensive than other solutions. “Customer demand is correspondingly high,” says Mike Finckh. In the process, the simple checkout with multiple screens is increasingly morphing into an extension of digital signage, with information on products, for example, or promotions for customer loyalty such as loyalty campaigns. Self-service checkouts are also playing an increasing role. A first representative from Sunmi in this area is the K2 mini.

Hopes fulfilled?

“Our expectations for EuroShop have actually been exceeded,” says Mike Finckh. “We have been able to make an enormous number of contacts, including international contacts, with system integrators in all three of our areas: Sunmi checkouts, Giada signage players and FutureLED video walls.” So the direction of travel for the future is clear. Concept International will also be back at the next EuroShop in three years. “Even if I end up without a vote again – it was fun, we learned a lot, and the expansion of the show’s focus to digital signage is exactly in line with Concept’s direction.”