Articles tagged with "retail technology"
The mobile phone becomes a personal shopping assistant
January 21, 2008 Already much more than a simple communications device, technologies are emerging that will see the ubiquitous mobile phone become an interactive retailing platform. The latest example from StoreXperience is a solution that offers the ability to convert any camera-equipped mobile phone handset into a personal shopping assistant using an interactive bar code system. (read more...)
Micro Industries releases 65-inch interactive retail screen
January 16, 2008 Despite the company name, Micro Industries® new release screen is anything but small. The high-definition (1080p) Touch&Go Messenger 65 is geared for retail customers to create interactive in-store messaging on a super-sized 65” screen. (read more...)
New industrial strength touch screen from Tangent
November 23, 2007 Tangent Inc. has announced the release of a group of ultra slim, industrial strength touch screen PCs called the VITA K Series. The all-in-one PCs feature dust-free, water-proof front bezels, VESA wall-mount brackets, and 15, 17 or 19 inch LCD displays with NEMA 3/IP55 dust and water proofing. The metal enclosures not only look smart, they are also energy efficient and industrial strength for use in healthcare, industrial automation, digital signage, information kiosk and self-service check-outs roles, and other applications exposed to hostile environments. (read more...)
Intellivid Video intelligence software streamlines in-store security
September 19, 2007 We’ve all seen the seemingly ubiquitous eye in the sky cameras watching us from store ceilings and most of us have probably wondered if anyone actually monitors those things. In an effort to improve the efficiency of such surveillance, Intellivid has developed a Computer Aided Tracking (CAT) tool that incorporates a newly patented adjacency algorithm. The technology uses sophisticated video analytics to streamline video surveillance, giving the ability to seamlessly track in-store movements and create complete end-to-end footage. (read more...)
Smart video advertising at the petrol pump – rolling out in 115 countries globally
July 26, 2007 Pay-at-the-pump petrol is a great convenience for drivers, but it sucks profit away from the retailers who derive the majority of profit from convenience store sales. Petrol buyers are the perfect target for point-of-sale advertising – they’re already out of their car, and what’s another five dollars of snacks or coffee on top of a $50 fill-up? To combine the best of these scenarios and catch more of these disposable dollars, a global partnership between three market giants is about to target every petrol customer in 115 countries with a sophisticated video advertising campaign right at the pump, and it promises to change the gas station experience for good. (read more...)
Retail evolves: the wireless, handheld store assistant
June 14, 2007 A knowledgeable store assistant who knows what to suggest at the right time can mean the difference between a t-shirt sale and a whole outfit - not to mention making shopping a much more pleasant experience for the consumer. Motorola have just released the fascinating new MC17 handheld device for retail outlets that acts as a virtual shop assistant as a customer carries it around a store. Customers can use it to locate items, check pricing, options and availability, see related or complementary items, scan coupons and even whizz through the checkout process - and it's an ideal platform for intelligent cross-promotion and pinpoint-targeted advertising. (read more...)
The 42 inch mobile computer
June 7, 2007 Presentations are leveraged interpersonal communication and we’re a great believer in having the most effective tools for the job when you have the attention of so many important people at the same time. We love stories about how expertise gained in one industry can be applied to another and the hook with this story is that JACO has been providing point-of-care wireless carts to hospitals worldwide for several decades. The company has now applied its engineering and manufacturing expertise to fill a market void for presentation systems aimed at education, hospitality and professional service firms. The top-of-the-range, 42-inch, height-adjustable Premier System has an integrated computer, high speed WiFi, wireless keyboard/mouse and a battery supply so it offers true mobility without ever requiring the system to be powered down. Moving a complete presentation system from where it is to where it is needed has never been easier. Indeed, it could also be the mobile desktop which you move around the office or home to suit your needs. It could also be adapted to become a mobile DJ system, a mobile home theater system a retail technology merchandising system ... big possibilities with this product. (read more...)
The interactive RFID fitting-room mirror
May 8, 2007 Retail tracking solutions provider Paxar has been thinking slightly outside the square in coming up with its consumer-facing item-level RFID solution, magicmirror. For brands and retailers, magicmirror means the ability to touch customers on an emotional level and positively influence their purchasing decisions. When a customer or sales associate brings an RFID-tagged piece of clothing in front of the magicmirror, it automatically displays rich personalized information including brand messaging, garment description, size and color availability, as well as mix-and-match guides that suggest other items for accessorizing a wardrobe. When installed in the fitting room, customers can request immediate assistance from a salesperson by simply touching the magicmirror, without ever having to leave the room. (read more...)
The temporary physical Virtual Store
February 14, 2006 We’ve been hearing about the virtual store for many years now, with the hype growing to a crescendo during the first coming of the internet, and peaking just before the tech wreck. Since then, e-commerce has been growing steadily towards inevitable dominance at some point in the distant future. A spectacular initiative from American department store retailing institution J. C. Penney yesterday might cause everybody to rethink how e-commerce and the future of retailing might unfold though. The company will construct a 15, 000-square-foot physical manifestation of the virtual store at One Times Square on the corner of 42nd Street and Broadway, New York. In our humble opinion, the opening of this temporary virtual store from March 3-26, in which shoppers can purchase the company's full range of merchandise at interactive kiosks, marks a significant development in the history of retail. We believe that traveling virtual superstores could be a part of retailing’s future. (read more...)
SmartShopper - the voice-activated shopping list
June 22, 2006 This is a rendering of a concept device that may or may not be a killer app. SmartShopper is an automated grocery shopping list device that will use voice recognition technology to store, and intelligently aggregate lists for shopping and errands, then print the list. According to the company's co-founder Richard G. Brindisi, "the user simply presses a button on the unit and says the name of a grocery item they will need on their next visit to the store. The unit has an LCD and an embedded thermal printer that actually prints the list right out of the unit. The list will be printed according to the categories in the grocery store, i.e. all of the produce items will be listed together, frozen foods together, etc. The unit comes with nearly 2,000 grocery items already entered and the user can add their own favorite items or brands." Now on one hand, it’s easy to see this functionality being incorporated into a Palm pilot, Windows CE device or built into almost anything with a microprocessor, so it won’t exist without competition. But on the other hand, it is designed for people to keep track of things without having to use a computer, could be used by the technologically-dysfunctional, it’s small and handy, could be used driving a car … and there's a demo of the device here. (read more...)
The fully-automated convenience store
January 14, 2006 ADDED IMAGES INSIDE The world’s first convenience store opened in 1927 serving customers 16 hours a day (from 7am to 11pm), eventually evolving into the 7-Eleven Corporation and a retailing revolution had begun, though it did not really begin to gather momentum until the automobile became popular and available post WW2. The world’s first 24 hour 7-Eleven opened in 1963 and since then society has become accustomed to demanding and getting instant everything, with the logical imperatives such as 24 hour chemists first, followed by supermarkets and shopping malls. Now robotics and computers can offer an automated shopping experience that lacks little and costs less, we can expect to see many new 24 hour services evolving with the ever-entrepreneurial SingPost recently launching the World’s first 24-Hour Automated Post Office and the recent growth in Europe of 24 hour automated convenience stores. All Seasons Services recently unveiled its first Shop24 automated convenience store unit in the United States, expanding its operations from a successful European base of 160 stores across seven countries. Shop24 offers 24-hour access to as many as 200 items, including anything from milk to a six-pack of soda, batteries, iPod download cards, and health and beauty aids, in a freestanding, self-service, outdoor unit. It’s a new concept and one which can be expected to change convenience retailing on college and business campuses initially, with an inevitable impact on main street as time goes by. (read more...)
NetFlix Type ''Borrow and Return'' Retail concept
December 10, 2005 Business models morph, mimic and evolve at a rapid rate these days, which is just one of the reasons we love the borrow-and-return fashion retailing concept borrowed from NetFlix DVD rental system. Fashionable handbags cost a lot of money and given that most women would prefer to never to be seen with the same bag twice, the rental concept makes sense. Internet-based Frombagstoriches is finding enormous success with the model of 'borrowing or renting' designer handbags. This designer emporium will let anyone borrow a purse by the week, month or longer and then exchange it for another, making it a NetFlix for handbag addicts. It's the ultimate indulgence...an endless stream of pristine Designer handbags delivered right to your door. Now, America has enough shoe-addicted women to drive a shoe rental service, and maybe jewellery rental too and at a stretch we might one day see watch rental for men? (read more...)
The 360 degree LED television
November 29, 2005 If you’re looking for a new centrepiece for your new entertaining area, the new 360 degree LED display from Dynascan offers exactly that – quite literally. Taiwanese-based Dynascan has been developing the 360 degree LED display for several years now and it is initially being used as an advertising medium in shopping centres and public areas, with an outdoor version just launched too. The first time you see one of the screens you’ll understand what the fuss is about – the quality, colour, contrast and definition is extraordinary and the screen is absolutely huge – the third generation of the new LED screens is being introduced at present with the largest being a 2.5 metre high, 5.46 metre circumference screen and capable of being viewed clearly from 30 metres away. Interestingly, the screens can actually display one image around the full 360 degrees, so it would be possible to use them as output for a 360 degree camera. In their commercial configuration the screens are usually configured as three identical images, with each image claiming 120 degrees of the surface. Two 180 degree screens is also possible and … if the ambitious Tholos Project hadn’t died, it would have had an ideal screen. (read more...)
New Pedestrian Mobility System Makes Downtown Satellite Parking Feasible
November 22, 2005 Architect, urban planner and inventor John Alt today challenged the parking industry to license and implement new mobility technology that will increase pedestrian access throughout central business districts and make downtown "satellite" parking facilities feasible for the first time. The new technology, called SMRrTRAM ("smart tram"), is a bus-like vehicle that operates at street level and provides continuous, high capacity, two-way transport along a single, dedicated guide lane. Two trams always arrive together at each stop, from opposite directions, and the next pair is never more than two-and-a-half minutes away. (read more...)
Mobile 3D breakthrough showcased at International Display Symposium
May 26, 2005 Philips 3D Solutions showcased two new 3D technologies this week at the International Display Symposium that could play an important role in the evolution of mobile phone and mobile billboard displays. The first is an LCD monitor that enables 3D to be seen by several people at different angles in front of the screen without the need for special viewing glasses. This technology will find applications in retail stores, shopping centres, airports and indoor events. The second is a display signal processing chip for mobile phones that enables 3D to be rendered in real time with low power consumption. (read more...)
The Interactive virtual showroom
March 12, 2005 Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Telecommunications HHI in Berlin are demonstrating a system at CEBIT that can display real environments as high-resolution 360-degree panoramas rather than simply on two-dimensional monitors. Videos, moving or stationary objects, and sound can be embedded in the display. (read more...)
Klever Shopping cart begins roll-out
Feb. 23, 2005 Klever Marketing has begun licensing its technologies for electronic display and messaging devices mounted on the handles of supermarket shopping carts, the penultimate step in bringing its KleverKart shopping carts to market. The KleverKart features a built-in wireless computer that shoppers can use as a self-service assistant to scan items to check the price, a store directory to easily locate the item, automatically generated shopping lists based on individual consumer's prior history (via a loyalty card), seasonal promotions, electronic coupons, recipes (so you don't get home without all the ingredients) and you can even follow news and local weather. (read more...)
The future of RFID is dawning
January 21, 2005 Radio Frequency Identification Devices (known as RFID's) are set to usher in a new world of consumer convenience. But beware the 'silent stalker' that accompanies this technology. You may need an electronic jammer to shield your privacy. An RFID attached to your windscreen (E-tag) lets you automatically pay road or bridge tolls but in parts of the USA it can also buy a fast-fill from Mobil or a Big Mac at a McDonald's drive-through. Now, micro devices, no bigger than a grain of sand, can be implanted in passports, driver's licences and credit cards to transmit your ID. Embed them in products and they transmit (the equivalent of) a barcode - able to be read at a distance. (read more...)
World's tallest building and largest mall announced
December 14, 2004 The construction of what will become the world's tallest building - the Burj Tower in Dubai - will commence in January, 2005, with plans for the 800 metre tall, 160 floor skyscraper to be completed by 2008. The building will also contain residential, commercial, hotel and entertainment facilities, including the largest shopping mall in the world. Located on Sheikh Zayed Road, the complex will contain a city within a city - a planned Old Town with intimate streets and architectural detail to create a special ambience with the mystery of yesterdays Arabia, in what is expected to be the centrepiece of the Gulf region's most prestigious urban development. (read more...)
Intelligent Vending Machines point towards a cashless future
Stickups are on the rise but it's not guns being pointed - its mobile phones. And you're not being robbed - far from it. You're shopping in the cashless future that is now catching on with a convergence of technologies promising to digitise money and change the way we buy. The age of cashless transactions is here - not the end of money as much as the end of physical currency as we know it and the beginning of a networked economy of retail diversity, convenience and micropayments. Across America everything from ticket sales, laundromats, public phones, vending machines and automated kiosks are integrating USA Technologies' wireless, cashless networking services in a full scale roll out of the new digital economy. With the click of a bluetooth enabled mobile phone consumers can now shop without physical cash - leave your wallet at home. (read more...)
The Bluetooth shopping centre
October 12, 2004 A new location-based Bluetooth customer service system will begin operation later this week in Sydney. The bluepulse system enables people within the shopping centre to use their mobile phones to get useful information they want about their surroundings. Broadway Shopping Centre in central Sydney will become the first Bluetooth-enabled shopping centre on Friday, October 22, allowing retail outlets in the Broadway Centre to communicate with 'bluepulse' subscribers as they walk through the centre by giving consumers access to relevant and valuable information and offers through their mobile phone. (read more...)
FAB Card prevents allergy reactions in restaurants
Not all innovations that have the potential to save lives are high tech, as the new FAB card proves. With More Than 11 Million people suffering from food allergies annually in the United States alone, the New Food Allergy Buddy card simply instructs chefs about which ingredients to avoid for particular patrons. Launched earlier this month, the FAB Dining Card is a free and personalized ingredient card that restaurant patrons can present to waiters and chefs detailing and easily communicating their food allergies. Chefs will then alter their recipes accordingly to ensure patron food safety. Consumers can log onto www.FoodAllergyBuddy.com to easily enter in their allergy information. They may then print out numerous business-sized cards that easily fit into their wallet or purse. There's no cost for the service or the cards, which are available in adult and children's designs. Users are assured that the information entered into the FAB system is not collected. (read more...)
