Last year’s POS Channel KPI Study, published in early March 2020, began with this statement: Change is the norm and dizziness is a de facto condition for solution providers in the retail IT channel. New technologies, business models, competitors, and consolidations continue to morph our channel, plus we’re seeing the emergence of dozens of niche software developers and a growing influence of ISV/VAR hybrids, resellers investing in their own intellectual property through proprietary software.

And then COVID-19 hit, compounding the aforementioned challenges by situating unprecedented change on top of dizzying change. This year’s KPI Study shows that retail IT VARs and ISVs might have been staggered by the pandemic, but they weren’t knocked down and certainly weren’t knocked out.

For the fifth annual POS Channel KPI Study, the RSPA has compiled data that will help VARs and ISVs better navigate today’s retail IT ecosystem. Among the key takeaways:

• ISV/VAR hybrid business model more popular than ever
• COVID crisis stunts VAR and hybrid sales growth in 2020, ISVs refuse to slow down
• VAR net profits narrow during pandemic, ISV margins less impacted
• Led by ISVs and hybrids, recurring revenue revolution marches on
• Expect significant M&A activity among ISVs, hybrids in 2021-22
• What are the hottest niche verticals for 2021?
• Solution providers hope to “capitalize on the need for technology” in 2021

Access the 2021 RSPA POS Channel KPI Study here.

For additional analysis of the KPI Study, listen to this episode of the RSPA Trusted Advisor podcast. Josh Wintoniak of Auto-Star Compusystems Software, Hunter Allen of VAR Cervion Systems, and the RSPA’s Jim Roddy share their perspectives on this year’s report and what it means for the retail IT channel.