Critical Issues...
Critical issues affecting the retail supply chain and in store technology

A recent trip to the 100th NRF show in New York provided a look at what's on the horizon for retailers. Vince Haffenden, a Director at Vista Retail Support, provides some insight into the experience and outlines how the retail industry, as a whole, should embrace these changes or face being left behind.
 
For a retail show in its 100th year, it's little surprise that it's full of innovating technology which will help retailers as they look to continually evolve and develop to appeal to their customers in new and exciting ways.
 
This year's NRF was no different, the industry has been buzzing with talk about mobile technology for a while now. In the past when technology becomes a hot topic it can often remain just that – for example, take RFID which was has been spoken about as the next big thing for many years now. However, the difference with mobile technology is that it's here, it's happening and it has the potential to change the world we live in for retailers and customers alike forever.
 
Over the course of the next decade, the way that retailers interact with customers will change dramatically. The traditional EPoS will transform to a mobile device that will allow both the retailer and the customer to transact fully wherever they are in the store. No more queuing at the till as your Smart Phone will give you not only scanning but also full payment capability almost anywhere in the store.
 
While this is very convenient for the customer, it also has huge advantages for the retailer. The transaction may sit on the customers Smart Phone or it may sit on the Stores Mobile device. Whichever it is, the retailer will have the customer captured in front of a screen and able to market to them at a point in the transaction where they are most likely to be receptive to further offers. You'll be familiar with the 'Others who chose this item also bought one of these' technology first made famous by Amazon. The new mobile devices will give the retailer this capability on the shop floor.
 
It would appear, judging by the number of exhibitors who were offering iPad, iPod and iPhones in the free draw, that the now famous Apple Platform seems to be the product of choice. I can't see Mr Gates putting up with that for long so expect all the Apps, Add-ons and Extras to be available on the Windows 7 Mobile platform very shortly.
 
The other 'Next Big Thing' is in-store multi media. NEC were showing an 8' x 4' digital wall that had such high resolution that even up close, and I mean within inches of the screen, you couldn't discern the pixels. It was made up of eight individual screens that could be driven as a single huge HD Screen, eight single screens or any combination in between. It took eight PC's to drive it and would take a truck to deliver it but if you wanted to grab attention in a retail environment, it was a really impressive product.
 
If you couple it with some very clever gender recognition software, you can now deliver gender specific real-time media in store.
 
The final "Next Big Thing" is Near Field Communication. A short range wireless communication protocol that is secure enough to be used as a card payment method. This technology is already widespread in the Far East but is just being launch in the US, UK and Europe. It moves the "Electronic Wallet" forward and makes it useable. Once you're device is set up and you need to make a payment, all you do is swipe your phone across a touch pad and the payment's made. Already thousands of UK store have the Contactless Payment Terminals installed and they're just waiting for the enabled devices to turn up in the hands of the customers. T Mobile and Orange claim they'll be the first to market with a mobile product that will offer the capability, but the rest won't be far behind.
 
One of the things that became increasingly obvious at NRF was with retailers interacting directly with customers in so many different ways it will be vital that the technology is working at all times. If retailers have technology unavailable it may result in not being able to interact with customers and a potential lost sale. The next few years will be an exciting time for retailers and one where they will have to work closer with their partners to ensure they can deliver great service to a more demanding customer base.