Chain Store Guide’s 2013 Databases of Retail and Foodservice Technology are now available and the data indicates there are planned spending initiatives on several key technology categories.

As with the past few years, the economic forecast for the upcoming year continues to be cloudy, but despite the downcast outlook, there are still flashes of optimism.

When we look at the data, point of sale will be the big investment area this year. The data shows that seven percent of the foodservice companies and eight percent of the retail companies indicated they would be making a buying decision within the next 12 months on POS hardware. Also, many companies will not just be investing in new system integrations but will also spend for upgrades.

Mobile devices are becoming much more prevalent in both retail and foodservice locations with uses ranging from point of sale, ordering, product and inventory browsing, comparison shopping, and even gaming. Currently eight percent of the companies across both databases have a mobile device in at least one of their locations.

POS software investments will see a lift this year with five percent of the companies reporting they will make a buying decision in the next 12 months. Wi-Fi will continue steady growth in foodservice and retail due to the influence of mobile technologies.

Accurate and timely information about the technologies retailers and foodservice operators use is extremely valuable and CSG’s 2013 Databases of Retail and Foodservice Technology are designed specifically to meet the needs of manufacturers, software vendors, VARS, and retailers.

The databases are updated daily and contain nearly 2,700 retail and foodservice companies that operate 25 or more locations throughout the United States and Canada. Both databases combined have nearly 30,000 key personnel names and 80% of the names in each database have a personal email address to help you reach the right contact.