Established in 1974, ABM Integrated Solutions (ABMIS) is the largest point of sale and computer hardware maintenance service provider in Atlantic Canada. ABMIS provides point of sale, IT and project management products and services to the grocery, retail, convenience store and hospitality markets.

In the United States and Internationally, ABM products are marketed through a mix of direct sales and a network of high quality, reputable dealers. In Canada , ABM ’s products and services are marketed exclusively by its sister company, ABM Integrated Solutions.

Company History
ABM Systems has been in the business of providing point-of-sale systems to grocery retailers for over 30 years. As one of the largest DTS value added resellers in North America , ABM gained extensive expertise in the configuration, maintenance and augmentation of point-of-sale systems. As information technology evolved in the retail industry, ABM undertook its own development and marketing, introducing a point of sale software application in the early 1990s called The Edge.

The Edge was marketed successfully throughout North America in grocery, hardware, liquor and convenience stores with a number of installations still in operation today. In the late 1990s, ABM began the search for the "next generation" point of sale system. The simplest approach was to resell an existing solution, but nothing was found that was truly "new". Most offerings were modified versions or extensions of products that had been on the market for years. Based on the lack of a new and innovative solution, ABM embarked on the design and development of our current flagship product, Market² (pronounced “Market Squared”).

Currently, ABM markets software and software support in both the United States and Canada . In Canada , ABM also offers system integration, hardware sales, and service through ABM Integrated Solutions.

* DTS was also known as “Data Terminal Systems”, “DTS/Datachecker”, “National Semiconductor”, and “ ICL /Fujitsu”.

MARKET²
Industry conferences and seminars, along with the trade media, emphasize the need to keep pace with critical changes in the marketplace. Demanding consumers are in search of more services, more convenience and a pleasing shopping experience. Unfortunately, the labor required to meet these demands are becoming less capable, more expensive, more transient, and harder to find. Furthermore, the competition is not waiting idly by – consumers are being offered more alternatives for products, promotions, and multi-channel access.

Most supermarket operators confront these challenges with store systems that are little changed from when scanning was introduced in the 1970’s and 1980’s. Cosmetic changes like video screens and thermal printers may have been added, but in reality many supermarket systems in use today are derived from that period.

MARKET² is a fresh approach. It assumes the supermarket operator wants choice with hardware and from whom it is purchased. It assumes the supermarket operator wants choice with software applications that will interact with the point-of-sale system. It assumes that no one knows what the market will require three, five, or ten years from now, but it assumes the platform for a store system must allow new applications to grow and adapt to technologies not known today. It assumes that cashiers will be asked to handle more complex transactions, but there will be fewer cashiers to do so, and those cashiers are likely to turn over very quickly.

MARKET² addresses these assumptions by using the best, most modern technologies and methodologies available. Its applications are “built from scratch” embodying functionality in use today as well as new functionality traditionally not found in a supermarket point-of-sale system. Market² recognizes the need for choice – choice in hardware platforms such as brand name point-of-sale terminals from IBM , NCR , or Fujitsu, or general purpose PCs from manufacturers like Dell, HP/Compaq and others – choice in operating systems such as Windows, Linux or Unix – choice of database systems like Oracle, Microsoft, and IBM , or even open source database systems such as PostgreSQL and MySQL. Operationally, MARKET² is quick to learn, easy to use, yet capable of very complex functionality.

And finally, MARKET² is sensitive to the preservation of the investments in platforms and peripherals already running in the stores today.

Market² -- Something powerful in store