The retail investments you can’t afford to skip in 2026

Retailers are facing a whole range of challenges right now, from rising costs and economic headwinds to cautious customers and offshore competition, even as consumers’ expectations for seamless shopping continue to rise.

Those pressures are having real impacts on retailers’ investment decisions, as they try to control costs and make productivity gains while still protecting the moments that matter in building customer relationships.

Resilience is key. Deciding where to invest is challenging, but those retailers willing to adapt to change can still find room to succeed. And those ready to go beyond the status quo and imagine new ways of engaging customers won’t just survive – they’ll thrive.

Here we look at where the smart money is going this year and at how getting investment right means focusing on your people and customers, as well as tech.

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1. Lay the groundwork for AI discoverability

AI has gone from being a novelty to an everyday piece of technology infrastructure. However, a recent KPMG study found that while most leading brands in Australia and New Zealand were experimenting with AI, 17% had no plans to do so. This comes at a time when 85% of surveyed retailer websites did not meet basic standards for AI-driven discovery, leaving those brands invisible to shopping agents. And, crucially, poor discoverability often goes hand-in-hand with duplicated or badly maintained inventory data. As the National Retail Federation (NRF) put it, “if your data isn’t in order, your business isn’t ready for AI.”

Smart investments would include improving website structure and data consistency so that products are discoverable and you can keep pace with AI search engines.

KPMG also found that while more than 80% of Australian retailers are testing AI, only a small number are implementing it fully across core functions. They recommend that “retailers should focus on ‘boring but big’ applications – such as inventory visibility, demand forecasting, and dynamic fulfilment – that directly meet consumer needs for value, speed and reliability.”

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2. Know your customer, grow your business

Accurate, comprehensive data is as vital for understanding your customers as it is for online product discovery. When you capture the right information you can create wishlists, link intent to transactions and create personalised offers that drive engagement and growth.

Without a deep view of customers you’ll struggle to anticipate demand and respond quickly when categories shrink, and you’ll risk spending money in areas where it’s no longer needed. Investing in a robust CRM and a retail management system that can give you a 360-degree view of the customer has the potential to pay dividends.

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3. Make every channel feel like one

Customers don’t think in terms of channels – they expect everything to “just work”, and they’ll judge you on how quickly and seamlessly you deliver on that expectation.

When it comes to offering a truly channel agnostic, unified shopping experience, the most durable investments are the unglamorous ones: order orchestration, accurate availability and return-to-stock speed. If you can improve accuracy and reduce rework, you’ll be on the way to boosting margin as well as growth.

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4. Make the showroom pay

For many retailers, the store is still the differentiator as it becomes a centre for fulfilment, but only if teams can serve customers quickly and confidently. Retailers are investing in self-checkout systems, digital signage and contactless payment solutions, as well as simpler processes that give time back to staff. The best ROI is typically found where the investment reduces handoffs and improves speed-to-yes.

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5. Back your people

At a time of almost unprecedented technological upheaval, it turns out that one of the best things you can do is invest in your people. KPMG found that “While there has been a lot of talk about adopting advanced technologies or enacting better supply-chain processes to boost productivity, a common avenue for productivity gains … is through customer-service improvements.”

In-store product demonstrations, consultations and workshops give customers the kind of one-on-one experiences and even a feeling of community they simply can’t get from your offshore online competitors, and they have the potential to be game-changing when it comes to conversions.

But face-to-face service is only as good as the people delivering it. Investing in and nurturing high performers who understand your business and its customers can give you an edge at a time when the human touch is set to become a vital point of difference.

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Want help to prepare for the future of retail?

We’d love to help you implement the solutions you need today and in the future. 

Email us at sales@triquestra.com about unifying your inventory and customer data or book a 20-minute discovery call today. 

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For more on how a move to a unified commerce strategy gives you the flexibility and agility you need to keep in step with consumers’ changing needs, download our new ebook.

Seven things to look for in a retail technology partner

So, you’ve decided to upgrade your retail system. Now what?

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Over recent blog posts, we’ve looked at why your POS platform and retail system need to keep pace with customers’ expectations for ‘phygital’ shopping experiences, laid out the questions to ask before changing your POS and given you strategies to use to unlock the money needed to make that vital investment.

Convincing your business to move to more modern technology is a huge win, but it’s just the start of the journey towards implementation. The next step is perhaps even more important — choosing the right implementation partner.

No matter the scale of what you want to accomplish — extending POS functionality, creating a single view of inventory, or starting your unified commerce journey to connect POS, inventory, fulfilment, order and customer data — you need a partner with the right people, processes and technology.  

You’ll need someone who can provide you with the systems to innovate quickly, optimise inventory, maximise margin and deploy frictionless customer experiences, efficiently and profitably. 

You’ll also need someone who understands the 24x7 demands of retail and the budgetary pressures that retailers face, while having technical insight into the solutions you need now and how those solutions will help you meet the challenges of the future.

Here are the important indicators of a good technology partner, plus questions to ask: 

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1. Maturity and market responsiveness

Look for a partner who’s been around retail for a while, with a platform built on a modern architecture and a sound business model and proposition. They’ll need to understand your fast-paced, data-intensive environment where any significant level of downtime is unacceptable. 

Their people will have the capability to help you plan and implement your projects so that they work for you now and into the future. When you choose a partner with a mature platform, they can focus on delivering innovation because the core functionality you need already exists. 

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2. Real-world customer experience

Make sure your partner has a recent and proven success record for planning, implementing and managing complex, large-scale deployments across multiple stores, multiple formats and multiple geographies.  

Ask for evidence of the relationships, products and services that help their clients to be successful, including the consultancy, customisation, integration, training and support services you’ll need. 

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3. Flexible and innovative mindset

You want a partner who’s got the people and processes to move quickly, while cultivating an environment where innovation flourishes.  

Check that they have a history of responsiveness and the ability to assess and correct any unforeseen issues. Can they change direction, be flexible and achieve competitive success as opportunities develop, competitors act and customer needs evolve?

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4. Broad product capability

Choose a partner that can give you a broad and holistic portfolio, perspective and experience. You’ll need all your core requirements out-of-the-box, plus the ability to customise and easily add new functionality. 

If you’re looking to implement a unified commerce approach, they’ll need to be able to unify all the backend systems that run POS, inventory, customers and loyalty, pricing and promotions, analytics and fulfilment. You don’t want to commit to a one-dimensional provider who can only cover some of your requirements.   

Your partner should let third parties connect via APIs and cultivate a vendor ecosystem to reduce risk and increase flexibility.  

Also check that they have a strategic roadmap and investment committed for new capabilities. 

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5. Consulting and market understanding

Find a partner that will guide you in the right direction and tune technologies to fit your individual business needs. Do they have consultancy skills that span business and technical knowledge? Can they advise you on business processes as well as on how the software works? Make sure they understand your wants and needs (as well as those of your customers) and can translate them into products and services.  

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6. Exceptional operations

Check that your partner can meet their goals and commitments, and that they have the organisational structure, skills, experiences, programmes and systems to operate effectively and efficiently. That includes agile. They should be able to demonstrate proven, repeatable ways of working that consistently deliver outcomes, and show that they really understand agile principles, methods and practices.  

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7. Local and committed to your success

Look for a partner that is a local business, focused on your region’s potential to succeed. A local partner means you can have more influence on the product roadmap and enjoy direct engagement with people on the ground committed to your success (and not distracted by offshore business activity). And a mid-size partner is more likely to view you as an important customer of influence.  

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How Triquestra can help

Triquestra has been delivering retail management systems in multiple industries and geographies for more than 25 years.

Our Infinity unified commerce platform combines point of sale, inventory, ordering and fulfilment, loyalty, pricing and business intelligence on one open platform. That means you’ve got a hub that centralises all customer and inventory data in near real-time.

You’ll get the innovation, optimised inventory and frictionless customer experiences you need — efficiently and profitably.

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Want help to innovate and scale new services, faster?

If you’re looking to upgrade and extend your POS functionality, get a clearer view of your inventory or unify your physical and digital channels, get in touch. We’d love to help you implement the solutions you need today and in the future. 

 This blog was originally published on 21 January 2019 and updated 7 October 2024 and 17 March 2026. 

For more on how a move to a unified commerce strategy gives you the flexibility and agility you need to keep in step with consumers’ changing needs, download our ebook:

Introducing Infinity+: Real-time inventory wherever you need it

Stock is the lifeblood of any retail business and its single largest asset. And at a time when customers’ expectations for fast, seamless service have never been higher, accurate and timely stock management is crucial to success.

In today's fast-paced environment, you need to know how your inventory is performing at any given moment. With Infinity+ you can keep your finger on the pulse, whenever and wherever you need to.

Available on any device that has a web browser, from phones and tablets to desktops, and suitable for both single-store and multi-store environments, Infinity+ brings the back office to the front of house and lets you monitor and manage your stock, whether you’re in the office, on the shop floor or out on the road visiting other stores.

Its user-friendly interface lets you carry out a variety of vital inventory management tasks quickly and easily.

Let’s say a customer comes instore and wants to know if you stock a product for a lower price than the competitor down the road. You can quickly check that the item is in stock and its price while you’re serving them before helping them retrieve the item from the shelf.

In serving the customer, you realise that the item they bought is beginning to run low. Using Infinity+ you can either create a purchase order for stock replenishment or, if you have multi-store visibility, you can arrange for product to be transferred from another store.

When the stock arrives, you can receipt it from the warehouse or from wherever it’s delivered and carry out any stock adjustments or returns at the same time.

And when it comes time to do stock-taking, Infinity+ lets you count stock 24/7, so you can keep serving customers without worrying whether items have been counted and without the hassle of closing off aisles or counting stock after-hours.

Infinity+ then syncs all these stock updates with the rest of the Infinity retail platform so that all your inventory data is stored centrally and is available in near real-time at the point of sale.

Meanwhile, if you’re overseeing multiple stores, you can keep an eye on how each of those stores is performing at any time and from anywhere.

Infinity+ gives you the power of the Infinity retail platform’s inventory management capabilities and the flexibility to use them however suits you best.   

Click below to see how easy it is to complete a stock transfer from one store to another with Infinity+.

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If you’re ready to reap the benefits of mobile inventory management, please get in touch. We’d love to show you how the mobile capabilities of Infinity+ can help you improve customer service and productivity.

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New in Infinity — February 2026

Here’s new functionality across the Infinity platform that will help you and your team reduce operational complexity and create a differentiated omnichannel customer experience.

Infinity is a modular platform and you may need additional components or licensing to access some functionality.

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INFINITY+

Bring the back office to the front of house with Infinity+

As stores evolve to become dynamic fulfilment centres, your retail technology platform needs to give store staff the power to manage stock on the go so they can meet customers’ expectations for fast-paced, responsive service.

We’re excited to announce that our new web-based solution, Infinity+, delivers on that promise and more.

Available on any device that has a web browser, from phones and tablets to desktops, Infinity+ brings the back office to the front of house and enables your store team to respond to inventory demand from wherever they are.

Using the mobility of Infinity+, they can request stock from another branch at the counter as soon as a customer requests it or create a purchase order for stock that’s running low at the shelf where the items reside. They can then receipt the stock from wherever it’s delivered and immediately create any returns and adjustments. 

And for added flexibility, your team can use Infinity+ to check prices for customers on the spot and run stock takes at any time of the day without having to close off aisles or run counts after hours.

Please get in touch if you’d like a demonstration of how Infinity+ could work for your business.

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INFINITY API

Reprioritise customer orders and reallocate order lines for quicker fulfilment

Delivering on customers’ expectations for speedy service is vital to maintaining your reputation for excellence, while falling short of those expectations can do lasting damage. The Sales Orders API now gives you a way of delivering customer orders on time by letting you change an order’s priority from normal to high. So, for example, if stock is delayed you can make an order high priority so your store team are alerted and can move quickly to pick and complete it.

And to make sure that stock is available when it’s needed, the Sales Orders API also now lets you reallocate an order line to another store for fulfilment and switch between pickup and delivery, so you can offer your customers an endless aisle shopping experience and deliver the swift service they demand.

Send product- and inventory-level update notifications

You can now use an event as well as APIs to apply products on your website using the Infinity Cloud Events Service. Two new processors monitor inventory- and product-level changes in Infinity and publish event notifications when items are created or updated, giving you access to the latest stock information and reducing API calls.

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INVENTORY

Enjoy easier searching

We’ve added an improved search feature across a range of Infinity functions, including Demand Forecasting and Field Permissions, so your team spend less time finding the branches, departments and other information they’re looking for and more time focused on getting results.

Use the Amazon S3 cloud storage service to send POs

If you use our EDI function to send purchase orders to suppliers, you can now use the Amazon S3 cloud storage service to send files, as well as using email (SMTP) and sFTP, giving you greater flexibility when it comes to how POs are delivered.

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ORDER MANAGEMENT

Protect revenue with smarter order cancellation

Order cancellations in Infinity can now be handled more safely and consistently thanks to intelligent order-level and line-level locking, protecting critical revenue, reducing costly errors and giving store staff the flexibility to manage changes without risking sensitive or committed order lines.

If an order line has been locked then it can’t be cancelled, with orders protected while any locked line is in place. Once all lines are unlocked, the order cancellation can proceed smoothly.

Note that this change is designed to be used in conjunction with the Sales Orders API. 

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POINT OF SALE

Offer improved service to customers with Adyen

If you use our Adyen integration, you’ll find we’ve enhanced the payment information available to your store team. They can now more easily identify why a payment has been declined and share this with the customer, thereby improving the overall quality of service.

And if you use our extended returns function, your team can also see the payment type used to make the original purchase so they can follow the correct business process for refunds.

Seamlessly process payments with Tyro

There are few things your store staff fear more than being trapped in a doom loop where a payment freezes and they wait for a response from the system that never arrives as the customer wonders what’s happening to their money.

Users of Infinity’s Tyro Payment Integration can now rest easy that when a payment fails, the system will automatically unfreeze after a configured wait period and that they’ll be able to cancel out of the payment screen. They’ll just need to verify that the payment hasn’t already gone through before reprocessing it.

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TECHNOLOGY

Leverage a wider range of EFTPOS solutions

If you're a New Zealand retailer, you'll be able to enjoy our expanded support for Skyzer Nitro EFTPOS, giving you greater flexibility when it comes to choosing an EFTPOS provider. By incorporating the latest software from Skyzer, our integration now supports the ability to charge surcharge fees for payments.

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To find out more about any of these enhancements and add them to your Infinity platform, contact us. 

If you’d like to get our regular ‘New in Infinity’ updates in your inbox, sign up to our newsletter.

Winning in 2026: The four forces reshaping retail

Change has been a regular part of retailers’ lives for years now, beginning with the shift to ecommerce that accelerated during the pandemic. This year, the pace of change looks set to intensify and has the potential to set 2026 apart from even the most disruptive of recent years.

The widespread adoption of AI, together with customers’ escalating demand for seamless, speedy buying experiences, means retailers face almost unprecedented pressure to keep up.

Here we take a look at four trends that we think will shape retail in 2026 and that retailers will need to navigate in order to maintain currency and profitability.

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1. AI adoption will take off

Any commercial forecast for 2026 has to start with the potentially revolutionary impact of AI. As Deloitte put it, “AI’s journey from pilot initiative to the heart of retail operations is accelerating, with an overwhelming majority of retailers either already using, or set to use, AI in the next 12 months for core operational capabilities.” They found that 48% of retailers are currently using generative AI for pricing and promotion optimisation, while 33% are using it for personalised recommendations and product search, with most others planning to use it for these tasks within a year. Other common use cases include demand forecasting and supply chain visibility.

If 2025 was the year when generative AI began to bed in, 2026 is shaping up as the year of agentic AI. Deloitte found that 68% of surveyed retailers were planning to deploy AI agents within one to two years. Most commonly, this will mean using a “proactive digital concierge” to curate and purchase products in response to customer prompts without human intervention at each stage of the process.

But the move to pervasive AI recommendations comes with warning signs as well. As shoppers begin to rely more heavily on AI agents to identify brands, traditional advertising spend could become less effective for retailers. As the National Retail Federation (NRF) in the US points out, “Whether or not a retailer’s brand shows up will depend on AI optimization — not just SEO or paid ads — flattening long-standing competitive advantages.”

Retailers also need to be mindful of trust and legal compliance implications. Privacy concerns around the information that agents gather and how that data will be used and stored need to be resolved, while the potential for malicious actors to exploit agentic commerce flows might curb the enthusiasm some shoppers feel for this new technology.

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2. The need for speed accelerates

Customers’ expectations for speedy service and real-time engagement have been rising for a number of years now. In 2026, those expectations will be central to how shoppers judge their experience.  

 As Australia Post says, speed is now everything, with consumers expecting faster and faster deliveries and speed becoming a key driver of customer satisfaction. “Retailers who optimise fulfilment and embrace express options will win loyalty in 2026.”

Timeliness is making itself felt in other ways too. According to Inside Retail, “Customers are increasingly judging experiences by timing and context. A message that arrives too late, or ignores what they are doing right now, quickly feels irrelevant. Whether someone is browsing, comparing products, or waiting for an order update, they expect brands to respond in the moment, not hours or days later.”

Triquestra’s CEO, Greg Cantlon, agrees that meeting customers’ speed expectations will be a defining factor in retailers’ success this year, and the onus will be on them to anticipate and respond quickly to demand. “The consumer demand for speed will see retail cycles compress, meaning that retailers will have to adjust their offering on a daily or weekly basis. Speed won’t just be about how fast you process a sale; it will be about how fast you change a price, launch a promotion, replenish stock or identify a problem before it impacts your margins.”

All of this means that retailers need to understand their customers and what motivates them on a granular level so they can engage with them in near real-time.

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3. Bricks and mortar rebounds

If there’s one thing that can be said about consumers in 2026 it’s that they are full of contradictions. They’ll prioritise price and value for money for one purchase and then splurge on another.  And while they demand speedy deliveries and convenience, they are apparently also returning to the more leisurely shopping experience offered by malls and bricks-and-mortar stores in growing numbers.

In the US, for example, shopping mall traffic increased during 2025 and is set to grow further this year.

While on the face of it these trends seem to be at odds with each other, understanding consumer preferences explains this seemingly conflicting behaviour. Shoppers are willing to choose the channel that suits them best on any given day or for any given purchase. And at a time when traditional retail shopping centres are transforming themselves into destinations for entertainment and socialisation, customers are seeking out not only tactile product experiences but interaction.

As NRF says, “In a world increasingly starved for connection, human interaction and new experiences, shopping malls can bring together people and create spaces that are an antidote to screen time.”

For retailers, the secret to success will be understanding and catering to these preferences across all channels.

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4. Data lays the foundation

As has been the case for a number of years now, understanding customers and offering them the experiences that meet their needs and expectations will require sound, accurate, real-time data.

That’s as true for understanding how to build a compelling in-store experience as it is for implementing AI agents and delivering timely personal engagement.

In fact, having high-quality data has never been more important than it will be this year. Without it, you can’t deliver the right message at the right time and curate a personalised shopping experience. In 2026, it could be the thing that sets you apart and makes your brand discoverable at a time when search methods are rapidly evolving.

And as Greg Cantlon says, the uncomfortable truth about AI is that it can only amplify the data you already have – good or bad. “If you want smarter ordering, better demand forecasting and personalised loyalty offers but you’re feeding AI with incomplete POS data, siloed systems and manual stock adjustments, then you won’t get the competitive advantage you’re looking for.

“Retail trends come and go. What lasts is the foundation you build beneath you.”

— Greg Cantlon, CEO Triquestra NZ Ltd

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Want help to prepare for the future of retail? 

If you’re looking for help to prepare for the data-intensive, speed-focused future that will shape customer interactions and meet their expectations, get in touch. We’d love to help you develop the solutions you need now and guide you to where you’re headed next.

Retail reboot: Strategies for unlocking IT investment

Countless ideas, a great deal of discussion, yet no progress on moving to a modern tech architecture. Does this sound like your retail business?

In a recent blog we asked if your retail business is spending enough on IT and shared some critical indicators that can mean you’re underspending. At a time when retailers are increasing their IT budgets, when technologies like AI are moving at pace and when your competitors aren’t just local but global, getting stuck in disagreements over where and how much to invest can leave you playing catch-up, at best.

Today technology isn’t just there to “keep the lights on” – it’s a crucial driver for efficiency, customer satisfaction and sustainable growth.

The problem, of course, is that any increase in IT spend needs to come from somewhere and must be balanced against other priorities.

So how can you push tech investments to the top of the agenda and make sure your business can become stronger, smarter and prepared for the future? In this blog, we look at what gets in the way of scaling up investment and how to make the case for increasing spend.

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Retailers face three challenges when it comes to adopting new technologies:

Challenge 1: Money’s tight and priorities are stretched

In today’s competitive environment, budgets are under pressure and retailers often need to prioritise expenditures that ensure immediate survival, such as inventory, rent and staffing. The pressure to focus on immediate competitive tactics, such as price wars, maintain low prices and manage operational costs can leave few resources for innovative IT spending, with execs opting to chase quick wins instead of playing the long game with investment. It’s all about juggling priorities, and sometimes tech just doesn’t make it to the top of the list.

Challenge 2: Risk aversion and wanting to stick with the tried and true

Even at times when a new technology such as AI takes off, or when the benefits of adopting a unified commerce approach are clear, retailers can suffer from risk aversion. They fear not achieving the anticipated return on investment, especially if they’ve been burned by failed tech projects in the past. This scepticism is fuelled by rapid technological changes and a market flooded with new solutions, making it difficult to tell whether the investments will achieve the touted benefits.

Challenge 3: Desire to avoid downtime and disruption

Upgrading IT infrastructure can be a complex task involving downtime and retraining. For some retailers, the disruption to current operations presents an operational challenge they’d rather not face, especially if it means missing out on precious revenue while incurring extra cost. On top of everything else, compatibility issues with existing and future systems can make the transition to a modern IT infrastructure seem a daunting task.

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So how do you navigate the budget blocks to start over?

Making a business case for increasing IT spend involves a mix of strategy, foresight and clear communication.

Here's how to justify the investment:

1.   Understand the solution: Make sure you understand the solution you’re proposing. Know its features and benefits and be confident that it’s the right fit for your business. You won’t convince the c-suite to spend money on a solution that doesn't address the issues you face and that can’t deliver the benefits they expect.

2.   Show real ROI: Demonstrate how the investment will help achieve your strategic business goals by allowing you to take advantage of new opportunities. Illustrate its benefits with concrete data and case studies. Show how a modern tech infrastructure increases revenue, reduces costs over time and enhances operational effectiveness.

3. Check out the competition: Highlighting what others in retail (and other sectors) are doing is a powerful motivator, especially if they're gaining a competitive edge through technology. Show how changing consumer preferences and rising expectations for speed, convenience and personalisation are creating new growth opportunities, with retailers that deliver a tailored omnichannel CX best positioned for long-term growth and loyalty.

4. Include a roadmap that addresses risk aversion: Any implementation plan needs to address the presence of risk aversion in the c-suite. Present a clear, phased plan for how the IT investment will be rolled out that minimises disruption and leaves store staff ready to roll. Include timelines, milestones, budget requirements and expected outcomes. Show you know how to select the right technology that delivers the expected returns for your retail business, and that you have a plan for what to do if things go wrong.

5. Highlight the importance of compliance: Detail how IT investments will ensure compliance with data security and privacy standards. Demonstrate the operational necessity and legal imperatives for the IT upgrade that will protect against the reputational damage that comes with data leakage.

6. Showcase scalability and sustainability: Explain how investing in IT is not just a short-term expense but a step towards making the business scalable and future-proof. Demonstrate how the solution you’ve chosen will adapt and scale as the business grows, rather than acting as a brake on expansion and flexibility.

7. Present data-driven insights that support efficiency: Show how a better IT infrastructure can lead to more effective data collection and analysis, which can shift your business strategies from guesswork to smarter, data-driven decisions. You’ll have insights into how your new solution can help you get a real-time view of stock levels and sales patterns, predict trends, deeply understand your customers' behaviours and optimise your operations for efficiency and satisfaction. This optimisation leads to a reduction in tied-up capital, freeing resources for other strategic investments.

By focusing on these seven strategies, you can craft a compelling case for increasing investments in IT, showing it’s a crucial driver for efficiency, customer satisfaction and sustainable growth.

Originally published in February 2024 and republished in January 2026.

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If you want to ensure your retail business accelerates innovation while lowering costs and risk, get in touch. We’d love to help you navigate the budget blocks and craft a compelling business case.

New in Infinity — December 2025

Here’s new functionality across the Infinity platform that will help you and your team reduce operational complexity and create a differentiated omnichannel customer experience.

Infinity is a modular platform and you may need additional components or licensing to access some functionality.

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INFINITY API

Seamlessly create and update item details in bulk

We’ve made creating and updating stock items in bulk using APIs more seamless and cost-effective. Product dimensions are now supported, as are kitsets and custom product options, meaning you can update a wider range of granular item detail without having to drown in complex spreadsheets. 

You can also retrieve and update site-specific variations for a master product and update site-specific item configurations.

Take the hassle out of processing cancelled orders

You’ll no longer have to waste effort doing a manual refund at the POS when a customer cancels an online order. Instead, cancelled lines can now be handled automatically via the Infinity Sales Order API, saving you time and streamlining the process.

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INVENTORY

Easily find the right supplier when entering invoices

If you have to enter invoice details manually after goods have arrived, you’ll now be able to find the right supplier much more quickly and easily, instead of having to search through a list that includes suppliers you no longer use.

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CUSTOMER AND LOYALTY

Protect against fraud when using epay digital gift cards

If you’re a New Zealand retailer who uses epay gift cards in conjunction with Infinity, you can now offer your customers the flexibility of using either plastic or digital cards.

To make the move to digital cards more secure, we’ve implemented a layer of fraud protection by allowing you to define the digital cards that can be scanned at the POS. If a customer scans a card that isn’t on your permitted list, then it needs to be swiped on the magnetic reader instead. And as an added layer of protection, a PIN needs to be entered when a card that is on your permitted list is scanned during balance enquiries and redemptions.  

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PRICING AND PROMOTIONS

Offer ‘spend more, save more’ discounts

Offering customers discounts based on the total value of a transaction is a great way to reward their decision to shop with you. Our new total sale discounts let you scale your promotion, meaning the more a customer spends the greater the reward.

You can decide which customer types to includes in the promotion, how long you want a promotion to run, which products you want to include and whether you want to reward customers with a dollar-off or a percentage-off discount, giving you flexibility over how the reward is designed and delivered.

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REPORTS AND ANALYTICS

Easily customise point of sale documents

Customising point of sale documentation is an effective way to communicate both your brand and the vital information your need to give to customers. We’ve made it easier to get those essential documents just right by introducing an integration with FastReport.

Using standard templates, you can customise your customer order and tax invoice layouts to easily add logos, QR codes, barcodes and custom fields such as customer emails, as well as lines of text in the font of your choice.  You can also create your own templates, although you’ll need to obtain a licence from FastReport first.

The integration is designed to use A4 layouts, but you can use thermal layouts by resizing them as required.

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POINT OF SALE

Refund prepaid sales without losing revenue

If you use Infinity’s enhanced returns module, you can now prompt your store staff to refund items to a specified payment type. So, for example, if the customer paid with a gift card, you can prompt staff to issue the refund as a gift card balance, so it will be spent with you in the future instead of being given away as cash.

Easily locate scheduled stock takes

Completing stock takes is all about getting the details right. If your store staff carry out scheduled stock takes at the POS, they’ll be able to locate the right stock take more easily now that they’re listed alphabetically by name, speeding up the process and letting the team get on with what really matters – entering accurate stock counts.

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TECHNOLOGY

Get the latest SQL Server support

On 19 November, Microsoft announced the general release of SQL Server 2025. To keep pace with these latest changes, we’ll be adding Infinity RMS support on SQL Server 2025 by 1 April 2026.

We also need to let you know that Infinity RMS support on SQL Server 2012 and SQL Server 2014 will end on 1 April 2026.

Existing Infinity installations operating on current SQL Server versions will remain functional, but support for issues related specifically to SQL Server 2012 and SQL Server 2014 will no longer be provided.  If you’re running either of these versions, you’ll need to upgrade to access new releases of Infinity RMS after 1 April 2026.

Simplify upgrades using the Infinity Upgrade Service

You have more options when it comes to upgrading Infinity now that you can use the Infinity Upgrade Service on a Restricted Back Office and on POS stations that connect directly to the Back Office, simplifying automatic upgrades across a wider range of environments.

We’ve also made using the Upgrade Service easier and more reliable by enhancing the EventLog Report to let you confirm that the Linker is running as a service before you begin the upgrade.  

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To find out more about any of these enhancements and add them to your Infinity platform, contact us. 

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Low tech, high risk: why you need to keep pace with IT investment

It used to be a truism that the retail industry spent less on IT compared to other industries such as health and banking, mostly thanks to its focus on physical stores where IT played a less vital role and its lower dependence on data storage.

But times have changed and retail’s IT budgets have changed along with them. In 2024, over 72% of global retail chains reported increasing their IT budgets compared to the previous year.

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What’s driving investment?

The driving force has been consumer demand for seamless omnichannel shopping, along with the proliferation of cloud-based services, integration of AI and investment in cybersecurity. As retailers have gone online not only have they had to invest in robust cloud servers and CRMs, they’ve also needed to up their game when it comes to securing customer data.

The store, too, has seen new investment. As our recent blog said, retail POS platforms need to keep pace with customers’ ‘phygital’ expectation that their instore experience will be harmonised with the shopping they do online, while mobile apps and self-service kiosks have added another layer to retailers’ store spend.

Meanwhile, edge computing is gaining traction in high-volume environments. A recent study found around 22% of Tier-1 retailers globally have integrated edge computing to manage instore data processing and address latency issues during peak hours.

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The upside to investing

For retailers in the Asia-Pacific region, the benefits of IT investment are clear, given the rapid uptake of new technologies among shoppers. For example, three-quarters of Australians use their phone to shop online and a third use dedicated shopping apps, meaning that investing in mobile solutions is now the retail equivalent of table stakes rather than a nice-to-have.

Technology spend has come with other tangible benefits, too, in terms of both sales and cost savings. Retailers in Southeast Asia experienced a 24% increase in sales after deploying cloud-enabled logistics, while cutting-edge inventory systems have reduced shrinkage by 14% 

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The constraints

Of course, investment also comes with risks and challenges, the most obvious being the significant capital outlay that IT projects require, particularly at a time when retailers are already experiencing revenue and cost pressures.

The fear of losing revenue through potential disruption that comes with implementing a new POS is multiplied when applied across channels, while globally 36% of retailers experienced a failed IT deployment in 2023 after trying to integrate legacy systems with new solutions.

But not spending comes with risks, too, most obviously the risk of being left behind as competitors invest in the solutions and experiences that customers not only expect but demand.

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How much should retailers spend on IT?  

The simple answer is it depends. There’s no one-size-fits-all solution and the right number depends on a retailer’s specific circumstances. IT spend can vary greatly by retail category, company size and growth stage. 

Our anecdotal experience suggests that most retailers spend only 1–3% of their revenue on IT, although one study found that retail and ecommerce IT spend was 10% share of company revenue in 2023 (up from 7% in 2022), while another suggests that deploying multi-store cloud-based IT infrastructure costs between 14–22% of the annual revenue of mid-sized retail enterprises.

We’re not suggesting retailers need to invest at these levels, but they do need to scale their IT spend for opportunities that make their businesses stronger, smarter and ready for the future. 

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This blog was originally published in February 2024 and updated in December 2025.

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Want help to find the right systems to build your unified commerce business model? 

We can help you build a foundation for operational efficiency and continuous, innovative growth. Get in touch.

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Infinity drives U-GO’s launch into the market

Key results

• Fast rollout of unattended fuel sites
• No need to run multiple systems across channels
• Easily repurpose existing systems and infrastructure

When Z Energy (Z) launched the U-GO fuel station brand in New Zealand earlier this year, it was looking to meet the needs of customers who want to match great value with fast and convenient self-service. It was also building on its reputation as a leading fuel retailer in the New Zealand market.

With a nationwide network of retail service stations, Z offers customers a range of full-service amenities, including hot food, snacks and coffee, car washes, EV charging and trailer hire, as well as the Z Rewards loyalty programme.

By converting select existing stations into U-GO sites that offer only pay-at-the-pump fuel delivery, the company was able to keep serving its customers in a way that best suited them but without incurring the cost of building new locations from the ground up.

As Z’s Customer General Manager Tim Bailey said, “We've identified a small number of locations in our current network where a self-service fuel station would better meet customer needs. We're working to convert these into U-GO branded sites now.  Z and U-GO have different offers and are designed to appeal to different customers.”

In making the transition, Z turned to its long-term partner Triquestra to provide the retail solution that would underpin the new offering, via the Infinity retail management system.

Triquestra has worked alongside Z to deliver a range of services and offers at its attended sites, including the Pumped and Z Rewards loyalty schemes, virtual fuel solution Sharetank, as well as comprehensive wet stock and dry stock POS functionality. Infinity’s flexibility meant that U-GO could use the same underlying retail solution, stripped back to suit the needs of unattended sites.

It also meant that U-GO sites could be up and running quickly. Implementing a single, modular platform across all retail channels allowed Z to scale efficiently and avoid the usual complexity that comes with managing multiple systems. The result has been a quick and seamless rollout at unattended sites.

“We’ve been able to roll out technology quickly by configuring existing tools instead of building custom solutions. This has allowed us to tailor the solution to the market in just a few days.”

— Callan McLaughlin, Z's Retail Platform Manager

By leveraging the power of Infinity, U-GO has brought greater competition into the self-service fuel retail market in New Zealand, offering competitive local fuel pricing for all U-GO customers.

For Z, partnering with Triquestra and Infinity has allowed them to build on an existing relationship to deliver for all their customers, wherever they are and whatever they need, in a seamless, cost-effective way.

Changing your POS? 7 questions to ask before taking the leap

In a recent blog, we talked about how the retail store is and will likely remain vital for customers who value trusted advice, social engagement and tactile product discovery. And those customers will continue to have high expectations of the instore experience, including the expectation that it will be harmonised with the shopping they do online.  

As your store evolves to meet a future where it can serve as an experiential hub and as mission control for customer fulfilment, you need to ensure that your retail platform is keeping pace rather than holding you back.  

Here we look at the challenges retailers experience when making the shift to a new POS, and the important questions you need to ask before choosing a new platform.

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 The POS upgrade challenge 

Preparing the point of sale for a future where tech-savvy consumers expect ‘phygital’ omnichannel experiences can be daunting.  

Retailers need to keep up with shoppers’ demand for a unified, cross-channel buying journey, but many have outdated point of sale systems that aren’t suited to the task. 

Making the shift to a new point of sale comes with challenges, though, especially when margins are tight. Fear of losing revenue through potential disruption to current operations and having to invest in staff training while perhaps not achieving anticipated returns can deter retailers from taking the leap.  

You don’t want a project that fails to deliver the desired returns because the wrong product was selected. 

So how do you select the right system for your business requirements? 

Here are the 7 questions to ask when looking for a new POS.  

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1. Can it be implemented and deployed rapidly?

The number one priority for most of the retailers we speak with is speed of deployment.

To minimise the operational disruption, you’ll need a platform built on a modern architecture. All your core requirements need to come out-of-the-box, along with the ability to customise and easily add new functionality.  

When you choose a partner with a mature platform, they can focus on delivering innovation because the core functionality you need already exists. 

Check the provider has recent and proven success planning, implementing and managing complex, large-scale deployments across multiple stores, formats and geographies. They’ll need to understand your fast-paced, data-intensive environment where any significant level of downtime is unacceptable. And their people will need to be skilled in helping you plan and implement your projects so that they work for you now and into the future.

Our client Z Energy was able to quickly and seamlessly convert some of its existing fuel locations into unattended self-service U-GO sites.    

“By using a modular platform, we’ve been able to roll out technology quickly by configuring existing tools instead of building custom solutions. This has allowed us to tailor the solution to the market in just a few days.”

— Callan McLaughlin, Retail Platform Manager at Z Energy

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2. Will it support your unified commerce business model?

Today, the store is the epicentre for all your unified commerce activity. 

That means you’ll want a point of sale system that supports endless aisle, click and collect, store fulfilment, pricing and promotions, clienteling and loyalty, as well as functions that allow customers to search, transact, acquire and consume products across all your channels.  

You don’t want to be tied to a point player that can only provide parts of a total solution.  

“The reason unified commerce resonated with me is that it would give us one core platform to do the heavy lifting and a single source of truth to manage the customer data, inventory and order orchestration, rather than relying on too many systems to push and pull data everywhere.”

— Shane Lenton, previously Cue’s Chief Information and Digital Officer

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3. Does it allow your store team to deliver exceptional service?

The new solution needs to empower store teams to deliver a superior, frictionless customer experience that maximises their productivity, no matter where they are in the store.

An easy-to-use UX and straightforward setup will enable new employees to quickly learn the system and begin selling almost right away. By removing the frustrations caused by complex technology, you'll also help lower staff turnover. 

In addition, by consolidating store technology onto a single POS-based retail system, your teams can do everything in a single view, from sales transactions, customer loyalty, pricing, product and promotions through to virtual appointments and endless aisle access to stock.

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4. Will the system work offline?

Delivering exceptional customer service is irrelevant if your staff can’t complete sales. 

When inevitable network outages happen, you need to know that your POS will keep all your stores operational without any disruption.  

When implemented correctly, the offline POS experience should be so seamless that your staff may not even realise the system is offline. 

Though some features may be limited, it's essential to know what transactions can still be processed during the loss of connectivity. For example, the system should handle card and cash payments, process returns, capture customer data and link it to profiles, and continue scanning products for smooth checkouts. 

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5. Can it grow with you, and adapt to change?

Whether you're expanding into new locations or launching pop-up stores, your POS system must be scalable and adaptable to change. While it might seem obvious, scalability can easily be overlooked in the excitement of cutting-edge technology. 

Your growth plans should account for how your physical stores can complement your online presence, so that your POS solution can function across channels in the same way as your ecommerce platform. 

It should operate seamlessly across tablets, phones and fixed tills, allowing transactions to flow between devices effortlessly. This flexibility not only opens up possibilities for innovative store layouts but also provides the practical benefit of better backup strategies for your devices. 

Your partner should let third-party solutions connect via APIs so that you are free to focus your development efforts on the front-end. You can be more agile and create a community of third-party apps and systems that work together in an ecosystem. As a result, you’ll reduce integration and maintenance overheads, increase real-time accuracy and enjoy virtually limitless scalability and agility. 

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6. Will it make complex sales simple?

Enterprise retailers with multiple brands, B2B operations or franchises will need a POS system that makes complex sales simple. 

You’ll want the power to set pricing and promotion rules, permissions, return and refund validation, discounting and cash management from either head office or at store level. 

And you’ll want to ensure the solution supports complex sales like charge-to-account, quote management by channel, debtor management, loyalty and all types of pricing, including retail, trade, contract, promotional, project, customer-specific and rules based.  

“Infinity is one of the few platforms able to accommodate our diverse business model, with both retail and wholesale customers requiring multiple volume breaks and bulk purchasing. And Infinity’s New Zealand presence gives us an out-of-the box solution with local capabilities that can be customised to our requirements.”

— Amanda Thompson, General Manager of Moore Wilson’s

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7. Can you rely on the vendor for new functionality and ongoing support?

Working with the right people and processes will make the rollout of your new point of sale much easier and deliver results much faster. 

A partner located in the Australia-New Zealand market means you’ll have direct access to second- and third-level support, as well as direct contact with people committed to your success. 

You’ll also have more influence on the product roadmap and have to deal with less bureaucracy to get things done. And a mid-size partner is more likely to view you as an important customer of influence.

This blog was originally published in September 2024 and updated November 2025.

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Want help to modernise your point of sale? 

As you transform your customer experience to deliver the seamless and personalised buying journeys your customers crave, your point of sale system must transform as well. If you’re looking for help to shape your strategy and extend your omnichannel capabilities, get in touch. We’d love to help you develop the solutions you need now and guide you to where you’re headed next. 

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For more on how a move to a unified commerce strategy gives you the flexibility and agility you need to keep in step with consumers’ changing needs, download our ebook: