A significant shift has occurred in our POS market—one of our long-standing competitors, Tower System, was just sold. I'll wait for the formal announcements before commenting in detail.
This latest acquisition continues the trend in Australia of our local Point-of-Sale (POS) software industry being taken over by large American companies.
Forty Years of Industry Change
This latest market movement brings to mind a pivotal industry meeting from twenty years ago. Six of us were there, representing different POS companies, and we were all passionate about the future of the news-agency industry. It's pretty sobering to realise that I am the only one still active in the industry from that group. All the others have passed on; I am the last one left. It's particularly deep as I have known this guy for almost 45 years.
The Complexity of Market Consolidation
What's particularly interesting about this recent acquisition is the overlap the acquiring company already has in the market segments of the company it just brought. I also made an offer, but I did not offer enough.
Market Overlap Analysis
This acquisition is notable for this crucial reason: the acquiring company already has a strong presence in many of the target company's market segments, e.g., e-commerce, convenience stores, retail, non-profits, grocery, liquor, and pet supplies, so the acquiring company will face critical strategic decisions based on my experience with similar acquisitions. They'll need to evaluate which market segments to prioritise and which ones to streamline.
Final Thoughts
While I am the last one standing from that meeting 20 years ago, what I do know then as now is that the fundamentals of good service and understanding your market always stay in style.
