4POS and Pan Oston jointly lead the market for SCOs in the German-speaking region
With customers such as Rewe Group, Swiss market leader Migros and major German discounters, the companies 4POS (Switzerland) and Pan Oston (The Netherlands), which have joined forces as Pan Oston Holding, delivered more self-checkouts to retailers in German-speaking countries than all other providers combined in 2024. These are findings of the ‘Global EPOS and Self-Checkout 2025’ study by Datos Insights. According to the research, Pan Oston Holding’s market share in delivery of new self-checkouts to the DACH region was 52 per cent.
Diebold Nixdorf ranked second among suppliers of self-checkouts, followed by Swedish shopfitting and checkout giant Itab, which secured the third place. NCR Voyix, the global market leader for self-checkouts, plays a minor role in this technology for the retail sector in German-speaking countries.
Self-checkouts are currently one of the most important areas of investment for the retail sector in German-speaking countries. According to a study by EHI Retail Institute, the number of self-service checkouts in Germany has more than doubled in just two years up to August 2025. Looking at the past four years, the number of self-checkouts in Germany has increased more than fivefold, from 7,240 in 2021 to 38,650 in 2025.
Retailers want customised designs
The fact that the sister companies 4POS and Pan Oston were able to rise to the top of all providers in the German-speaking countries, surpassing competitors that had been established for decades, at a time when retailers were investing heavily in self-service technology, is primarily due to the innovative strength and ability of both companies to respond to individual customer requirements. Retailers’ requirements include not only device designs tailored to individual processes, but also the ability to work with the retail company’s standard checkout software.
Pan Oston Holding has taken on a significant role among self-checkout suppliers not only in German-speaking countries: in Western Europe, the merger of 4POS and Pan Oston is the third-largest provider of self-checkouts and ranks sixth worldwide.
Market leader in the German-speaking countries for other POS Hardware
Pan Oston Holding is the largest supplier to retailers in the DACH region, not only in the area of self-checkouts, but also in POS hardware for manned checkouts, which must also be replaced at regular intervals at existing registers. With a 20 per cent share, the merger of Pan Oston and 4POS also leads the market for hardware for conventional staffed checkouts. Outside the German-speaking region, the two merged companies are also among the top suppliers of POS hardware for staffed checkouts: according to the study, they rank fifth among all suppliers in Western Europe across all retail segments.
