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Wednesday, 26 December 2007
Technology is no longer confined to a single store space. The retail customer experience is branching outside of store walls and into mobile phones, kiosks and other technological devices. To hammer home this point, the National Retail Federation's annual convention and expo is providing attendees with an interactive look at the future of retail stores.
The trade show, to be held Jan. 13 - 16 in New York, NY, will bring together 18,000 top-level executives and retailers from companies across the globe to experience new and future trends in the industry. One of the highlights of the show will be the "X08 - Beyond the Walls of Retail," a show floor exhibit designed to demonstrate how customers are now able to shop with the use of new interactive technologies.
Show attendees visiting X08 will be engaged in interactive visuals and holographic images hovering around storefronts, some allowing you to shop via cell phone or PDA, and a reactive billboard that triggers digital imagery, while communicating a retailer's message as you enter into its field of sensitivity. Other areas in the exhibit will include intellimat, countervision, kiosk and RFID technologies.
The DESiGN STUDiO is another section at the show that features sessions on store design and store planning. Retail case studies will be presented by industry leaders from both the retail and design communities.
In the center of the DESiGN STUDiO is the Design Genius Bar. The Genius Bar will highlight special tools and interactive features which will enable participants to gain a greater understanding of store design process, branding and visual merchandising. In addition, four DESiGN STUDiO Lounges are a retreat for attendees to relax and engage in in-depth conversations that require a bit more privacy, organizers say.
Someone that knows a little something about design and fashion, Tim Gunn, TV host of Bravo's "Tim Gunn's Guide to Style" and chief creative officer at Liz Claiborne Inc., will be one of the key speakers at the show. Gunn, who also serves as a design mentor on Bravo's "Project Runway," formerly served as chairman of the Department of Fashion Design at The New School for Design. He plans to speak during a session entitled "Leveraging Product Innovation to Win the Hearts of Consumers."
Business strategist, CEO and author of "Wikinomics" Dan Tapscott will also speak on the topic of how online social communities are shaping the business culture. Thomas Kinder, vice president of Customer Business Development, Global Innovation and Strategic Alliances at The Proctor & Gamble Company will also join Tapscott.
Tapscott and Kinder will take a close look at product introductions and the enormous cost retailers undertake when that product fails. They will also discuss the emergence of social networks that shape consumers' buying behaviors and how leading retailers and consumer products companies from around the world have reshaped their innovation development practices for greater success.
Other retail and industry leaders that plan to speak include representatives from Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Harrods Ltd., EMI Music Americas, The Coca-Cola Company and The Gymboree Corporation.
Many of those industry leaders will be honored at the show's Retail Industry Luncheon. The tribute will recognize innovative retailers for their advancements and career achievements. Award winners this year include:
- Gold Medal Award Winner
Terry J. Lundgren
Chairman, President and CEO
Macy's Inc.
- Retail Innovator of the Year Award
John L. Morris
Founder
Bass Pro Shops Inc.
- International Retailer of the Year Award
Lane Crawford
President
Hong Kong Limited
- Silver Plaque Award Winner
Daniel J. Doyle
VP, Loss Prevention and Human Resources and Administration
Beall's Inc.
Back on the show floor, a diverse group of Expo hall pavilions will also be on display, said Daniel Butler, NRF's vice president of merchandising and retail operations. The pavilions will focus on different topics including customer experience, environmentally friendly products, kiosk technology and veteran-owned retail businesses.
The "Customer Experience Pavilion," a joint venture between NRF and Retail Customer Experience magazine, will provide a hands-on environment where retailers can see real-world strategies and solutions available to help them connect more meaningfully with customers in a marketplace where connecting with shoppers is a rapidly growing challenge.
Different areas of the pavilion will demonstrate how retailers can improve the customer experience, increase sales, merchandise more effectively, educate employees, generate customer and employee loyalty and integrate technology seamlessly into a store environment.
KioskCom.com's Self-Service Pavilion is an area designed to be a starting point for retailers looking into automated technology.
"The pavilion is a place for attendees to start their quest for self-service," said Lawrence Dvorchik, the pavilion's organizer and general manager of KioskCom's Self-Service Expo.
The pavilion will include self-service companies ELO TouchSystems, Meridian Kiosk, ShoptoCook and Freedom Shopping.
"The NRF is a great show," Dvorchik said," and we hope to provide retailers with a quick and easy way to get self-service."
Other pavilions at the show include the ARTS Standards Pavilion, the Green Pavilion, the NRF Foundation, the Supply Chain and Logistics Hub and the Veterans in Business Pavilion.
Cultural diversity is another element that makes the NRF show an important event, Butler said. Out of the 18,000 attendees, more than 2,800 are international attendees from 64 countries other than the United States. To accommodate those attendees, show organizers hire five to 10 translators each year, based on need.
Regardless of nationality, organizers hope all of those in attendance will leave with a better knowledge of the retail environment's future.
"We want them to have an understanding of what is changing and how your company's business strategies should change to adjust to that future," Butler said.
Wednesday, 26 December 2007
Los Angeles Times: The Connecticut attorney general's office sued Best Buy in May, charging the electronics heavyweight with using deceptive in-store Web sites to trick customers into paying higher prices than available on the company's actual site. "We thought Best Buy had addressed this," Connecticut Atty. Gen. Richard Blumenthal said. "That's what they said to us. Apparently that's not the case.
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Friday, 21 December 2007
When it comes to irony, seldom does it come more obvious: the tagline on themaxbox.com reads "The Future of Digital Retailing," even while much of the splash page outlines terms of its developer's collapse.
The MAX BOX·a brand of kiosks predicated on multi-functionality·failed to take root in the U.K., and after a company review that culminated in the resignation of CEO Andy Egan earlier this month, administrators announced developer Felix Group was up for purchase. Plans for a U.S. rollout have been scrapped, and its U.S. partner, KIOSK Information Systems, is abandoning the relationship.
MAX BOX applications included many traditional self-service applications, such as cash-dispensing, mobile top-ups, and digital media downloads. But others were less conventional. At some units, users could order flowers, print photos of athletes, even play Sudoku.
But even as the Felix Group brought a kiosk to the KioskCom Self Service Expo in New York City in October, things were unraveling at home.
Felix Group and board chairman Richard Rose announced in late November plans to review the company's business model. They said the notion of doing a review came after results of the company's initiatives had been disappointing, particularly when the cost and time of providing central support and marketing were taken into account.
That announcement was followed by the Dec. 3 resignation of CEO and founder Andy Egan. (Attempts to reach Egan were unsuccessful.)
A week after Egan's resignation, the company announced its trading subsidiary Felix Corp. Ltd. had taken over administration control. David Costley-Wood and Brian Green from KPMG, a provider of professional services including audit, tax, financial and risk advisory, have been appointed joint administrators.
According to a news release, the company concluded that its business model was no longer viable. Felix's board said it became apparent that the business would not generate profit or positive cash flow for the foreseeable future, and not without considerable additional funding.
"At this stage, we are actively seeking a purchaser for the business," said Katy Broomhead, KPMG's PR manager. "However, we can't really say much more than that at this stage as it depends on whether anybody comes forward and, if so, how subsequent negotiations with any interested parties go."
For the last year, Felix, along with U.S. partner KIOSK Information Systems, has taken a prototype MAX BOX to trade shows worldwide in an effort to gather support and business for the kiosk. KIOSK had plans to both manufacture MAX BOX parts and use Felix's software for their own kiosk solutions. Now that relationship is in doubt.
Felix Group announced on Oct. 26, 2007, it had signed a licensing agreement with KIOSK granting the company the right to install Felix software onto its new and existing kiosks in North America. Toward the end of November, the Board was advised by KIOSK that it no longer wished to pursue the license opportunity.
KIOSK's vice president of sales and marketing Tom Weaver explained his company's relationship with Felix.
"Our relationship with them was like that of an OEM manufacturer," Weaver said. "They place an order and we fulfill it."
KIOSK has yet to deploy any of the MAX BOX kiosks in the United States, and Weaver said it was too soon to tell if there would ever be any deployments. KIOSK did not return phone calls asking for further comment.
The wrong road taken?
At April's Self-Service Expo, in Las Vegas, Egan touted the MAX BOX as something the U.S. market was ready for and that he expected it to debut in the United States in the summer. Even as late as the October show, Felix continued to plug the U.S. launch even though it had been further delayed.
"It's a revenue opportunity for the retailer, and there really is no risk," Egan said in April. "The retailer gets about 50 percent of the profit from the transactions, and the MAX BOX gives them a chance to offer services they wouldn't otherwise provide, like digital photo printing."
At that time, Egan said he expected to launch a full MAX BOX line of products in U.S. gas stations, convenience stores and pubs · locations he said had been successful in the United Kingdom.
At the end of October, Felix continued to eye expansion, even as Felix Group announced pre-tax losses of £5.4m (about $10.9 million) for the year on sales of £81,000 (about $164,000).
While acknowledging that the deployment of kiosks into U.K. shops had been slower than anticipated, Egan told the Manchester Evening News in October that Felix was still well placed to grasp opportunities and had improved its product offering and service to customers. Around 120 MAX BOXs are operating in U.K. pubs and retailers.
However, just a month later, Rose announced the business review and Egan resigned.
Friday, 21 December 2007
StorefrontBackTalk.com: Dell will introduce a multi-function kiosk next month that is designed to change function throughout the day, being used perhaps in the morning to check items in at the loading dock before spending the afternoon as a customer-facing pharmacy information booth.
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Thursday, 20 December 2007
CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Source Technologies has announced the availability of its suite of applications tailored for its line of interactive kiosks. These applications integrate with the kiosk to provide retailers with a comprehensive, self-service solution designed to better serve their customers.
Source Technologies' interactive suite of applications includes price checking, product locator, gift registry, store mapping, coupon dispensing and frequent shopper tracking.
"Source Technologies is one of the few vendors in the marketplace who can provide retailers with both the kiosk hardware and the software," said Snehal Vashi, vice president of software development. "Not only do we provide these applications, but we have the ability to create new ones as our customers' self-service needs change. We strive to make doing business easier by providing both hardware and an array of applications, and quickly creating new and innovative applications when necessary so retailers can rely on a single vendor for all of their self-service needs."
Source Technologies' interactive kiosks feature an open, Windows Embedded operating system, allowing retailers to maximize their kiosks by integrating multiple applications. These applications are created using Source Technologies' authoring platform that allows Source or their customers to rapidly create and deploy these applications. Retailers can offer many services to their customers through a single kiosk rather than deploying multiple kiosks to achieve a complete self-service, retail environment. Additionally, the applications support Simple Networking Monitoring Protocol, allowing the applications to be monitored remotely or deployed from a central location.
Thursday, 20 December 2007
DAYTON, Ohio · NCR Corp. has announced that its two-sided thermal receipt printing technology is now available for NCR FastLane, a leading self-checkout unit.
"NCR's introduction of 2ST for assisted-service checkouts attracted interest from retailers around the world," said Mike Webster, NCR vice president for Self-Service Solutions. "This enthusiastic reception encouraged us to quickly bring this pioneering technology to the self-service environment by offering 2ST to our NCR FastLane customers."
By printing on both sides of a receipt, retailers can reduce their paper roll needs. Because it uses less paper, the technology also requires fewer paper roll changes, which further improves availability and helps consumers finish their shopping trips faster.
RMT, Inc., a nationally recognized environmental management and engineering firm, has calculated how reduced consumption of paper rolls can help benefit the environment. A 1,000-store retail chain with four 2ST-equipped NCR FastLane units in each store and an average receipt length of 10 inches could expect to realize a 40 percent annual reduction in paper usage at self-checkout. According to RMT, this level of reduction would be a savings of more than 100 tons of paper, the equivalent of 1,067 trees.
Due to the paper savings, the use of 2ST can result in energy and diesel fuel savings, as well as reductions in landfill space, carbon dioxide emissions and wastewater generation.
"Businesses worldwide are seeking ways to reduce emissions and the consumption of natural resources while enhancing their operational efficiency," Webster said. "The use of 2ST helps contribute to these important retailer goals."
NCR's two-sided printing technology also allows retailers to customize messaging on receipts rather than relying on paper rolls with pre-printed promotions that cannot be changed. Retailers can also use 2ST to print the receipt in combinations of black on one side with black, red or blue on the other side.
With NCR FastLane, the printer is integrated into the system's cabinet. This design helps present a less cluttered and more intuitive user interface while also reducing opportunities for tampering or damage.
Wednesday, 19 December 2007
Associated Press: Colorado's secretary of state has declared many of the state's electronic voting machines to be unreliable, but said that some of them still could be used in November if a software patch was installed. Other machines that failed could be replaced with equipment certified for use in other states, Secretary of State Mike Coffman said. Coffman recently met with a task force of state lawmakers to discuss what Colorado should do after he decertified three of the four voting equipment manufacturers allowed in the state, affecting six of Colorado's 10 most populous counties.
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Wednesday, 19 December 2007
LawFuel.com: Hario Tandiwidjojo, 28, pleaded guilty to federal charges stemming from his hacking into business kiosks at hotels and stealing credit card information. He pleaded guilty to one count of unauthorized access to a protected computer to conduct fraud. In a plea agreement filed in United States District Court, Tandiwidjojo admitted that he hacked into approximately 60 computers inside business kiosks operated by Showcase Business Centers Inc. Tandiwidjojo bypassed four password checks that Showcase Business Centers had in place on their computers, using passwords he obtained while employed by a company that serviced the business kiosks.
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Tuesday, 18 December 2007
BOSTON - Modiv Media, a retail interactive media delivery solutions provider, has announced that its Modiv DeliVision, a deli-queue optimization solution that also features self-service ordering and coordinated media, has processed more than 7 million orders since it first was deployed at stores in 2006. The deli kiosk currently is deployed in more than 150 stores and across seven states, including Stop & Shop grocery stores.
Modiv DeliVision combines queue optimization, self-service deli ordering and coordinated, targeted media to enhance the shopper's deli experience. Modiv DeliVision enables customers to place their deli order, tells the customer when the order will be filled, and offers targeted, relevant offers. This helps retailers reduce line abandonment and "tickets not served," improve deli operations and increase deli sales.
"Using Modiv DeliVision, Stop & Shop can now provide a new way for customers to shop," said Christine Dorman, senior vice president, Operational and Strategic Initiatives & Support Services for Stop & Shop. "DeliVision gives us an opportunity to enhance customer satisfaction and increase our efficiency."
Retailers and manufacturers also use the DeliVision to leverage brand awareness by coordinating their offers and advertisements on the touchscreen self-service kiosk, the deli department's overhead electronic display monitor, as well as the printed-coupon tickets from the kiosk and the queue ticket dispenser.
"Besides an increase in deli trips, we are also seeing a trend that shoppers purchase more items per trip when they use the Modiv DeliVision kiosk as compared to ordering in person at the deli counter,"� said Robert Wesley, president and CEO of Modiv Media. "Because shoppers do not need to wait to give their deli order, they are more likely to order additional items and can quickly fulfill their own customized orders, including specific brand, weight or cut. Convenience and speed are key elements to Modiv DeliVision's millions-order success."
Tuesday, 18 December 2007
CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Source Technologies, a provider of integrated solutions that help companies manage secure, real-time information and transactions, has announced the availability of its first machine in a line of interactive kiosks designed to accommodate retailers' unique self-service needs. The kiosks can perform such services as price checking, digital signage, guided selling, product locator, store mapping, customer check-in, computer-based training and many other functions.
"Traditionally, retailers have been limited to single-function kiosks that perform price checking only," said Bryan Jorett, Source Technologies' vice president, Integrated Products Division. "Our interactive kiosks are distinctive in that they are the first to offer retailers a flexible device that performs multiple services for self-service beyond simple price checking. Retailers appreciate the multifunctionality of the kiosks because this allows them to maximize their investment and provides many new options for servicing their in-store customers."
In addition to its Windows Embedded operating system and field-installable components, Source Technologies' interactive kiosk features a screen larger than traditional price checkers. Though the screen area is 400 percent larger than other kiosks, the overall size of the kiosk still is compact and can be installed in very confined areas.
Source Technologies will debut the interactive kiosk at the National Retail Federation show, held in New York City from Jan. 13-15, 2008.
Monday, 17 December 2007
Stuff.co.nz: New Zealand's customs has shelved plans to trial a self-service kiosk at Auckland's airport that would have let frequent fliers re-enter the country without having their passports checked at a manned customs booth. Customs issued a tender for the self-service kiosk trial in March last year, envisaging a kiosk would be used by about 1,000 frequent fliers who had pre-enrolled to take part in the trial. The kiosk was to have been equipped with a scanner capable of checking machine-readable passports, a camera and facial recognition software, and might also have been able to check passengers' fingerprints against prints passengers had provided when they enrolled.
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Monday, 17 December 2007
USA Today: London Heathrow's new Terminal 5, which opens in March, will feature a new car-finding technology that should help passengers who can't remember where they parked. Using infrared cameras and sensors, the system captures an image of a car's license plate as it enters the terminal's main garage. The cameras, which are placed throughout each level of the 3,700-space garage, then take more shots of the car's plate, including one at its parking spot. Passengers who return from their trip can find the car by inserting the parking ticket or keying in the plate number at a Car Finder kiosk in the terminal.
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Friday, 14 December 2007
RICHMOND HILL, Ontario · The Home Depot Canada is changing the way customers shop for home improvement projects with the opening of its first project-orientated store in Richmond Hill, Ontario. The new 115,000-square foot store has been redesigned both functionally and aesthetically based on customer demand.
The project store features a new layout that creates a more project-oriented shopping flow; redesigned departments for greater access to project information and expertise; inspirational showrooms; project-oriented customer service; a new seminar area; self-service kiosks for homedepot.ca product orders; more than 40,000 products; a Tool Rental Centre, Installation Services and an 18,000 square-foot Garden Centre.
"The Home Depot has long been Canada's home improvement store, offering the selection, expertise and value customers expect when completing their projects. As the market leader in the industry, we are always challenging ourselves to look for ways to improve our business for our customers," said Annette Verschuren, president of Home Depot Canada and Asia. "By listening to those who shop our stores, we developed an innovative project store concept that is the next evolution in the home improvement shopping experience."
The Richmond Hill store will include new interactive kiosks to provide customers and associates with the opportunity to access homedepot.ca, complete special order transactions, book installations, complete credit card applications and look up a price and product information.
Friday, 14 December 2007
The (British) Press Association: Approximately two million Britons admit stealing goods when using supermarket self-scan checkouts in the past year, a survey has said. The poll for security company G4S found 7 percent of adults said they had failed to scan the barcode of an item when using the self-service facilities. The company calculated that the self-scan scam is costing retailers hundreds of millions of pounds a year.
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Thursday, 13 December 2007
CNNMoney.com: Aloha Airlines has chosen IBM to expand its customer service offerings. IBM's self-service systems give travelers more options for using the Web as well as kiosks to check-in without waiting, check baggage and choose amenities such as lounge access and in-flight meals. Additionally, with IBM's solutions, Aloha Air customers will be able to select group check-in, purchase upgrades and manage their frequent flyer accounts. The system allows for the retrieval of passenger records by barcode scan from itinerary or passenger loyalty card.
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Thursday, 13 December 2007
CHICAGO - As Americans become increasingly aware about the importance of being "green" to protect the environment, businesses strive to communicate their green message. NextWindow, a company that designs and manufactures optical touchscreen overlays and OEM touch components, together with Quality Automation Graphics, a provider of control systems graphic design for the building automation industry, are helping building controls companies and building owners convey their "green" message through the use of interactive touchscreen kiosks that display building energy efficiency data to the public.
Displaying energy efficiency information on an interactive display also helps a building owner to earn credit towards the U.S. Green Building Council's Innovation in Design Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) system, which recognizes companies for innovative strategies that demonstrate quantifiable environmental benefits.
"There's a growing trend towards building owners using large-format monitors to display all kinds of critical building data for a variety of uses," said Anthony Uhrick, NextWindow VP of Sales, North America. "Using NextWindow and Quality Automation's interactive touchscreens, a building owner can educate the public on the viability of green buildings while making the content interactive."
One of the largest building controls companies in the world is incorporating Energy Star-rated 46-inch LCD's using NextWindow Touchscreen Overlays on the LCD. This provides a solution for the building owner to display energy efficiencies about LEED certified solutions used in the building.
"Providing the connectivity into internal building control systems using out-of-the-box software and 3D photo realistic graphics to display to the public allows end-users a cost effective way to display information," said Dan McCarty, president of Quality Automation Graphics.
Thursday, 13 December 2007
CNNMoney.com: Gourmet coffee giant Starbucks and automated coin-counting company Coinstar have teamed up to test an automated coffee machine under the Starbucks Seattle's Best Coffee label. Marci Maule, a Coinstar spokeswoman, confirmed the partnership but would give few details about the test, such as when it started or where the machines are located. Financial details have not been disclosed.
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Wednesday, 12 December 2007
MovieMate is a leader in the automated vending and automated DVD rental industry. With a small footprint, MovieMate's Automatic DVD Rental Machines can be placed virtually anywhere. Use our DVD Kiosks to penetrate a geographically scattered DVD rental and DVD sell-through market. Our DVD Rental Kiosks have a unique glassfront, built in Digital Signage and flexible POS capabilities. This movie rental kiosk can be used for movie vending as well as game rentals.
Wednesday, 12 December 2007
The Economic Times: Mobile phone users now can buy their favorite movie, music or even game directly from retail outlets without access to the Internet. Customers can walk into any India-based Media Magic retail outlets and select the content, pay for it and have it downloaded on their handsets. Alternatively, customers can download the authorized content themselves through the store's touchscreen kiosks.
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Wednesday, 12 December 2007
TROY, Mich. - NEXTEP Systems has announced two additional casinos that selected the company's Casino Express self-order kiosk technology for their food and beverage ordering.
Cache Creek Casino Resort in Brooks, Calif., installed the self-order system, which allows its guests, primarily those in the poker room, to order from The Sport Page Pub & Grill menu and have the food delivered. Guests can pay with credit, debit or Cache Club loyalty cards. All orders are sent to the existing MICROS 9700 POS system for fulfillment and consolidated reporting.
The IP Casino Resort Spa on the Mississippi Gulf Coast installed self-order kiosks at the Back Bay Buffet. Customers will have the option of paying with cash, credit, debit, IP Rewards, coupons and room charges. All transactions will be sent to the existing MICROS 9700 POS system for consolidated configuration and reporting.
Wednesday, 12 December 2007
TRUMBULL, Conn. - Self Service Expo conference organizers have announced the debut of their highly anticipated new event, The Digital Signage Show. The Digital Signage Show debuts in 2008 at Self Service Expo in Las Vegas. Both shows will be co-located at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center from April 16 — 17, providing attendees with access to like-minded colleagues and thought leaders, new technologies, forums and case studies.
"The Digital Signage Show is debuting after extensive research over the last 12 months, including meeting with industry leaders, companies that have deployed digital signage initiatives, current attendees and digital signage exhibitors," said Lawrence Dvorchik, general manager of Self Service Expo and The Digital Signage Show. "It became clear to us that our attendees made the final decisions on digital signage purchases, and they requested that we enable them to meet with more of these suppliers by bringing them to the event. They are excited about now being able to fill their short list of suppliers and address all of their buying needs under one roof at one time."
The Digital Signage show will reflect Self Service Expo's 12-year reputation as a valuable and critical resource in attendees' decision-making and implementation processes. The speaker rosters are comprised of merchant deployers who are facing - or have faced - similar challenges as attendees. Well-known companies including Harrah's Entertainment, Dave & Buster's, McCarran Airport, United States Postal Service, Vanguard Car Rental, redbox, Avery Dennison, Sprint-Nextel, SuperShuttle, Hollywood Entertainment, Rolls-Royce, LiveNation.com, Mayo Clinic and SanDisk will participate in educational sessions during the April conferences. Attendees receive admission to all aspects of both Self Service Expo and The Digital Signage Show.
"The key for us is meeting with qualified buyers and we were excited to see the positive customer reaction to Netkey's kiosk and digital signage products at Self Service Expo in New York," said V. Miller Newton, CEO of Netkey, a leading kiosk and digital signage software provider. "By adding The Digital Signage Show to Self Service Expo, the organizers have made it easy for buying attendees to see both technologies in one place. We are confident The Digital Signage Show in Las Vegas will continue to deliver pre-qualified buying attendees. We couldn't be happier to be a Platinum Sponsor of both the Self Service Expo and The Digital Signage Show."
Tuesday, 11 December 2007
Manchester Evening News: Andy Egan has quit as Felix Corp.'s chief executive after differences over strategy emerged between Egan and chairman, Richard Rose. The future of the company Egan founded back in the late 1990s hangs in the balance, after Rose told investors that he is reviewing the viability of the group's business model.
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Read also, Felix Group revisits business model
Tuesday, 11 December 2007
PADERBORN, Germany · Wincor Nixdorf International AG reports that it closed its fiscal 2006-2007 year Sept. 30 with a 10 percent increase in net sales. EBITA also jumped 16 percent year over year.
Wincor Nixdorf says it has achieved double-digit growth for the third consecutive year.
"We have further extended our market position as a supplier to the banking and retail sectors by drawing on our abilities as an innovator and by capturing new markets,"� said Eckard Heidloff, Wincor Nixdorf's president and chief executive. "We are confident that business will continue to progress on a solid basis."
According to a news release, Wincor Nixdorf's consolidated net sales hit $2.15 billion (U.S. $3.2 billion), up 12 percent from $1.9 billion (U.S. $2.9 billion) the previous year.
Business within the international arena proved to be the principal revenue driver for Wincor Nixdorf. In addition to continued strength in Europe, the company's net sales in Asia-Pacific and Africa, in terms of U.S. dollars, jumped 30 percent from last year. In the Americas, Wincor Nixdorf's business gained 17 percent in net sales, in terms of the U.S. dollar basis.
In Germany, net sales edged up about 1 percent. After a considerable boost to sales in fiscal 2005/2006, driven by investments in reverse-vending systems within the retail segment, business returned to more normal levels. Excluding Germany, net sales in other parts of Europe · Wincor Nixdorf's largest market, accounting for the largest proportion of net sales within the company as a whole · were up 14 percent.
"Our portfolio of services has given us direct access to global economic growth, while also opening up new opportunities in rapidly emerging countries," Heidloff said.
Wincor Nixdorf also now has subsidiaries established in Algeria, Thailand, Russia and India.
The company now has just more than 8,300 employees worldwide. Last year, Wincor Nixdorf's employee total was 7,787.
Wincor Nixdorf says it recruited 467 new employees from outside Germany, propelling its international headcount to 4,569.
"This approach is in line with our strategy of more pronounced international expansion," Heidloff said.
Personnel employed in Germany rose by 125 to 3,810 employees.
The majority of newly appointed employees have been assigned to in-house services units and the company's international production network. Part of the recruitment drive also was directed at sales-team growth.
Retail
Business in the retail segment showed slight growth, with net sales increasing 2 percent, hitting $787 million (U.S. $1.2 billion). Sales from FY 2005-2006 were flat.
"We are continuously expanding our portfolio by incorporating new high-end services, thereby broadening our structural base for value creation," Heidloff said. "Within this area, we have been focusing increasingly on the integration of large-scale software projects on the customer side as well as new forms of efficient operational management for branch IT systems."
Tuesday, 11 December 2007
infolink.com: With 20 kiosks located on some of Melbourne's busiest streets, the iHubs provide both visitors and locals with immediate access to the city's entertainment, dining and shopping secrets as well as transport information at the touch of a finger. The iHubs also provide a print function allowing users to take away information such as maps, directions and public transport timetables.
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Tuesday, 11 December 2007
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. · M2M Magazine has named Esprida to its M2M 100, a directory of the most influential providers of machine-to-machine technology.
"Esprida is one of the clear leaders in condition-based maintenance using M2M technology," said Peggy Smedley, editorial director, M2M magazine. "Esprida may not be one of the best-known companies in this sector of the market, but it is certainly one of the best-established with excellent customer references. We believe Esprida will play a key role in advancing smart-service applications through machine-to-machine communication."
Technology providers named to the directory were chosen from more than 300 submissions. Selections are based an extensive list of criteria that includes factors such as strength of business model, product/service portfolio, activity in the last 12 months and growth.
"Inclusion in the M2M 100 is recognition of our product's capabilities and further validation of our work with leading-edge projects,"� said Anila Jobanputra, president of Esprida Corp.
Now in its fourth year and published annually in the M2M Sourcebook, the M2M 100 is widely regarded as the definitive record of companies comprising the rapidly emerging machine-to-machine technology market.
Monday, 10 December 2007
James Bickers is editor of Retail Customer Experience magazine, which profiles technology and strategies to help retailers connect with their customers on physical, financial and emotional levels.
By one line of reasoning, radio should have died in the middle of the 20th century. After all, who would want to listen to mere sound when the dawn of television meant you could have sound plus pictures? But radio did not die — it lives and thrives to this day, and is still reinventing itself.
The same logic could be applied to the photo kiosk — who would want to stand or sit in a retail space, doing things they could likely be doing at home? Doesn't everybody have a computer and a photo printer at home now?
They don't, of course, and even those that do find themselves standing in front of a Kodak machine from time to time, cropping and color-correcting and taking aim at red-eye. The photo kiosk is one of the most successful self-service devices ever made, and it has truly found its niche.
Retailers that deploy photo kiosks should constantly work to improve the value they are getting from the machines. That involves watching traffic, watching usage, and making adjustments based on the things they see. A few things to keep in mind, in order to squeeze the most from a photo kiosk:
Consider a lounge. When used properly, a photo kiosk can be a powerful tool at getting people to stick around in your establishment — especially if you make it comfortable for them to do so. If you have the space, consider setting up multiple machines in a lounge-type setting, with comfortable chairs and work surfaces. Bonus points for ambition if you serve coffee and snacks. Who wouldn't want to hang around such a place, tweaking their photos of the kids?
Optimize traffic flow. If a lounge isn't an option, make sure the people who will be standing up to use your machine can do so in a comfortable fashion. In other words, don't position the machine so that the user is standing in the way of traffic, constantly getting bumped with shopping carts. Consider angling it so that the user is off the beaten path, but the screen is still largely visible from most angles. Again, a work surface next to the machine — a place to set down a purse, for instance — will encourage the user to get comfortable and spend more time.
Advertise the machine elsewhere in the store. Once a given piece of technology has been in place for more than a few weeks, it starts to become visual wallpaper — customers see it there, but they don't notice it anymore. Over time, that photo kiosk near the front of the store becomes a fixture in the customer's mind, and they need gentle encouragement to remember to use it. Try placing marketing messages in germane locations throughout the store (electronics, batteries, film, magazines). Offer a promotion to get people back to the kiosk — a free USB drive to every 1,000th user, for instance.
Pay attention to what your customers are buying. Any photo kiosk will provide management with detailed logs of what it being purchased, and when. Watch this data, and make marketing moves accordingly. Nobody buying photo CDs? Sounds like it may be time to advertise them a bit more throughout the store. Enlargements selling unusually well? Come up with a combo offer that gives X number of low-performing items for every Y enlargements purchased. Create customer habits where none currently exist, and reinforce the habits you want to maintain.
Monday, 10 December 2007
HONOLULU · In order to accelerate and automate fund raising efforts for the new Pearl Harbor Memorial Museum & Visitor Center, the Arizona Memorial Museum Association, and its Pearl Harbor Memorial Fund, have installed several digital signs at the museum's entrance. The new displays consist of an interactive donor display, an interactive memorial display, digital signage displays and a donation kiosk to allow self-service donations via credit and debit cards.
A third display delivers marketing and museum information, as well as special greetings and messages to museum visitors.
"It was nice to be able to put up special messages for Veterans Day, Thanksgiving and of course, December 7th," said Laurie Moore, director of development at the Pearl Harbor Memorial Fund (PHMF). "We were able to schedule the messages ahead of time and they automatically started and stopped exactly when we wanted them to."
The digital signage software allows for scheduled content of various media types including Flash, Web pages, PowerPoint, video and customized tickers, among other features.
The interactive donor display consists of a 40-inch NEC LCD display combined with a 15-inch NEC touchscreen. They are powered by a custom application developed by PDS that runs on a PC in a nearby data closet. The Donor Kiosk includes a 40-inch NEC LCD screen above a touchscreen kiosk that includes a credit card swipe and receipt printer. The screens are mounted neatly to the concrete structure using Peerless mounts.
Monday, 10 December 2007
LAS VEGAS - Partywirks has announced its self-service party-booking kiosk, the PartyPoint.
The kiosk lets consumers browse and book parties and group events while in high-traffic areas such as lobbies, waiting areas, etc. PartyPoint runs the Partywirks Online Reservation System, designed specifically to let consumers book parties and events. At that same time, consumers can purchase additional party add-ons, and the kiosk system can accept credit/debit card payment information.
The PartyPoint system includes SeePoint VantagePoint Light kiosk system. The ADA compliant free-standing hardware includes a touchscreen and kiosk keyboard. The PartyPoint solution also is available with the SeePoint CounterPoint desktop kiosk unit.
"The benefits of the new PartyPoint solution are to save consumers' time by offering a 24/7 self-serve option, and to expand business operators' competitive advantage by saving on the cost of labor normally directed at booking events manually," said Paul Kriete, Partywirks' director of marketing.
Monday, 10 December 2007
Computerworld: Kiosks dispensing digital books at Dymocks stores across Australia and New Zealand are being developed by Advance Retail Technologies. Last month, Dymocks expanded its online offering to include more than 120,000 digital books, which customers can download either at home or using the in-store kiosks and a Dymocks-branded USB stick.
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Monday, 10 December 2007
The Hindu Business Line: India-based NETHOTZONE has joined hands with U.S. company Ahem! Management Solutions to set up kiosks providing free Internet facility in 155 cities and towns in India.
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Monday, 10 December 2007
Easier Travel: The use of the Icelandair self-service kiosks in Keflavik, Iceland, has increased rapidly. A third of passengers use one of the 18 self-service kiosks to check in. These kiosks were introduced just over a year and a half ago and allow Icelandair passengers to check into all Icelandair destinations and to select seats on the plane.
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Friday, 07 December 2007
 ICPADS is the Advanced Digital Signage Division of ICP America, the premier Industrial PC Solution provider. ICPADS provides a complete Digital Signage Solution. ICPADS` product line consists of stand-alone or networked media products, which are compact, rugged and very cost effective. Our All-in-One Signage PC provides users with a 15", 17" or 19" LCD & PC solution.
ICPADS utilizes more than 30 years of Industrial PC experience, which has resulted in a ruggedized solution capable of long life cycles, small foot prints, and easy to use software solutions in all of our signage products. In addition to our standard products ICPADS also offers custom configurations, as well as customer product trainings, 24 hour support and project protection.
Friday, 07 December 2007
contentSutra.com: Smile Interactive plans to set up around 97,000 e-commerce kiosks in the next three years in India, starting with 900 in the first phase. These kiosks, at petrol pumps, malls and grocery stores, will allow consumers to download music, book tickets and buy products online.
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Friday, 07 December 2007
Phoenix Business Journal: Redbox has signed a deal with Walgreens to bring 160 automated rental kiosks to the Phoenix, Ariz., area. The agreement with Walgreens comes on the heels of successful partnerships in the Chicago and Houston areas. Redbox now is moving into Walgreens after previously focusing only on McDonald's restaurants and selected grocery stores.
Friday, 07 December 2007
Bloomberg.com: McDonald's Corp.'s $1 menu offers more than burgers, chicken nuggets and fries. Diners now can rent DVDs from automated kiosks for a buck, $3 cheaper than at Blockbuster stores. Blockbuster, the largest video chain, and Netflix, the biggest U.S. mail-order movie service, are losing sales to discount kiosks in an overall market that hasn't grown since 2001, said Adams Media Research. Adams estimates Blockbuster has 39.2 percent of the U.S. rental market, including franchised outlets.
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Read also, Blockbuster challenges redbox in DVD-rental kiosk market
Friday, 07 December 2007
Dayton (Ohio) Business Journal: NCR Corp. is looking to evolve in its core markets of finance and retail as well as break into new markets to grow the company post Teradata spin-off. Bill Nuti, chairman and chief executive officer, along with four other top executives gave a presentation to investors and analysts at the New York Stock Exchange Thursday detailing the company's new focus for growth. "I believe this is the right time for the company, subsequent from our spin-off of Teradata, to have more focuses," Nuti said. "We have the right vision to exploit and attract these new opportunities."
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Thursday, 06 December 2007
LEICESTER, Leicestershire (UK) · Transitions Optical, a leader in Photochromics technology, recently won the Point-Of-Purchase Advertising International Silver Award for its Transitions Optical kiosk.
The aim of the project involved Working Solutions Ltd. working alongside Sector Design to introduce potential customers to the benefits of the Transitions technology at, and just before the point of purchase, in Optical Express and Pearle opticians stores located throughout the U.K. and the Netherlands. The system allows potential customers to discover the benefits of Transitions lenses.
The kiosks used the Acquire Digital Signage and Kiosk system to manage the playback and interactive system, including presenting the interactive content in multiple languages and collecting valuable usage information used in proving ROI. To ensure that the system was customer-friendly, Sector Design created a kiosk housing that took aspects of the stores, using modern materials, and also managed to encompass features such as height-adjustable screen and camera to create a unit that complemented any opticians' store, while being a point of interest to promote the Transitions material.
Working closely with Transitions, the team at Working Solutions took the concepts and developed the interactive system that leads the customer through the process of understanding the benefits, and even provides a simulation of the lenses in different light conditions so that customers can see the effects for themselves. The content also was designed to be used as a sales tool by staff members at the stores.
Thursday, 06 December 2007
USA Today: For years, Jim Pancero put up with rolling bags, carts, strollers and other travelers blocking his way as he moved slowly in the lines at check-in counters at the Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson airport. Pancero, a Minneapolis business traveler who often goes to Atlanta, is breathing a little more easily since Delta Air Lines opened its new $26 million ticketing lobby earlier this year. An ingenious alchemy of architecture, queue management, interior design, software and logistics, the new lobby has minimized use of traditional ticket counters. In their place, Delta has clustered 106 self-service kiosks and redeployed its workers.
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Wednesday, 05 December 2007
Sandusky (Ohio) Register: Many election boards in Ohio have not handled that responsibility well. It's time for the Ohio General Assembly to mandate that all 88 counties use optical-scan voting technology and end the irresponsible experimentation with touchscreen voting machines. Erie County's election board has been wise in choosing its voting system. Erie County uses optical-scan voting machines. That means voters mark their choices on paper ballots, which are then counted by electronic ballot scanning machines. The system is fast and provides for a quick count of election results.
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Wednesday, 05 December 2007
USA Today: Continental Airlines passengers in Houston will be able to board flights using just a cell phone or personal-digital assistant instead of a regular boarding pass in a three-month test program launched recently at Bush Intercontinental Airport. The program could expand to airlines and airports nationwide. If a passenger's cell phone or mobile device loses power, the passenger can get a paper boarding pass from a kiosk or a Continental agent.
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Tuesday, 04 December 2007
Express India: Passengers soon may get a respite from standing in long queues for railway tickets with Northern Railways planning to introduce e-ticketing through ATM kiosks at all major railway stations. Railways will set up 305 ATMs across their train routes.
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Tuesday, 04 December 2007
The Denver Post: Travelers looking for the fast lane at Denver International Airport can start at the Hyatt Regency Tech Center. The Denver Tech Center hotel has installed a kiosk from Clear, a New York-based company that provides an airport-security fast-pass program. Customers pay an annual $99 fee to Clear to go through a special security lane at 11 airports nationwide. The concierge-type service lane is expected to be in operation at DIA in January and promises to help Clear members get through a special security line faster than a basic security line.
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Monday, 03 December 2007
Blockbuster video stores are located on almost every street corner or shopping center in the United States. Blockbuster has 4,800 stores in the 50 states. But the movie-rental powerhouse recently has seen strong competition from other retailers, most notably DVD kiosk companies such as redbox and DVDPlay.
Now, Blockbuster is moving out of its traditional brick-and-mortar stores and moving into its competition's territory · kiosks.
The company is testing the Blockbuster Express kiosks at select Papa John's and Family Dollar locations in the Lexington, Ky., area. Plans are to roll out a handful of test kiosks at rural locations in another state, said Randy Hargrove, a Blockbuster spokesman. Officials say they are firmly committed to the traditional store model, but the company wants to explore different ways of getting videos to its customers.
"It's our job to find ways to bring entertainment to consumers, the way they want it," Hargrove said. "Kiosks provide us with a new way of doing that."
The Blockbuster Express will hold about 250 new-release and popular movies and cost $1 a day. This differs from Blockbuster's in-store practices of charging customers $4 a movie for two days.
Papa John's, based in Louisville, Ky., has partnered with Blockbuster before on promotions for the movies "King Kong," "Superman Returns" and "Spiderman 3."
"Pizza and entertainment go hand in hand," said Chris Sternberg, Papa John's vice president of public relations.
Despite a large number of delivery orders, many Papa John's locations average a 20-40 percent carryout rate, Sternberg said. Papa John's hopes these kiosks will help drive more carryout orders, since customers will be able to pick up a movie only at the store.
Blockbuster plans don't stop at kiosks. The company wants to help customers connect their iPods and BlackBerries to their favorite movies and games in a service the company hopes will drive traffic back to its stores. Blockbuster chief executive officer Jim Keyes said in a November interview the company is talking to both hardware and software makers about turning the video-rental chain into a destination for loading digital-media players with movies and games via kiosks.
Hargrove said Blockbuster plans to explore these new methods and transition into a diverse and exciting place for consumers.
"We will give (consumers) media however they want it," he said. "By store, by mail, by vending machine and eventually by digital delivery."
Redbox provides stiff competition
Blockbuster's foray into the kiosk space comes on the heels of redbox announcing it has surpassed Blockbuster in number of U.S. locations. Redbox CEO Greg Kaplan said redbox started 2007 with 1,950 kiosks and will end the year with an additional 4,500.
"Redbox's growth potential is unlimited as we continue to expand in major grocery chains and select McDonald's restaurants, and continue to explore alternative retail partners such as drug stores and mass merchandisers," Kaplan said.
Despite redbox's lead in locations, Blockbuster has a commanding lead in the number of actual DVD rentals, company officials say. Each Blockbuster location carries an average of 5,000 different titles compared to redbox's limited selection · redbox kiosks carry about 500 DVDs. Neither Blockbuster nor redbox would give exact rental numbers, but redbox did acknowledge it does not have as many daily rentals as Blockbuster. Kaplan says redbox is the fourth-largest renter of DVDs in the United States.
As for Blockbuster's entry into redbox's territory, Kaplan said redbox's services are unmatched.
"Redbox executes extraordinarily well," he said. "Redbox has become very good at designing and deploying a user-friendly kiosk and related software, distributing millions of new-release DVDs to these kiosks each week and, finally, maintaining the kiosks so they are always up and running.
"The redbox service is unrivaled by any services currently available or on the horizon."
Over the past few years, redbox has averaged 300 percent growth per year. Kaplan said he believes it can sustain that rate.
"We expect this growth to continue at a rapid pace through 2007 and beyond as redbox expands its leadership position and becomes a household name in communities nationwide," he said.
Monday, 03 December 2007
YORK, Pa. · Analytical Design Solutions Inc., developers of KioWare kiosk software, has announced a new product to the KioWare line. KioWare Server ASP is designed to support enterprise and Application Service Provider installations, giving clients or resellers the ability to host the software. KioWare Server ASP provides an additional site data layer that enables kiosks to be organized at a higher level than the project level currently in the regular KioWare Server. This gives resellers and ASPs the ability to make each site layer a different customer, allowing for complete separation of data and user access, and controlling what the site client is able to do and see within KioWare Server ASP.
Additionally, the following new features in KioWare Server 4.0 also are available in KioWare Server ASP:
- Flexible user accounts, roles and permissions that control user abilities at a functional level.
- Client content updating procedures that include application files, KioWare updates and OS updates. To support cellular networks, content transfer now checks for file truncation and corruption errors.
- Ability to provide ad hoc grouping of kiosks. Groups can contain other groups, projects or individual kiosks.
- Addition of ad hoc data structures useful for storing custom data about each kiosk, which can be imported from a spreadsheet.
- Added infrastructure to support 3rd party add-ins. The first add-in will be released in December: a kiosk mapping add-in that enables all your kiosks and their status to be overlaid onto a digital map.
- A new API that enables 3rd parties to develop a custom KioWare Server interface as well as plug-ins to the standard interface.
Monday, 03 December 2007
TCPalm.com: The holiday rush for mailing heavy packages and standing in lines at post offices across the United States has arrived. But U.S. Postal Service officials say the wait times could decrease if more customers used the self-service machines at many post offices.
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Monday, 03 December 2007
(Portland, Ore.) Business Journal: Long a mainstay in natural food markets, Healthnotes Inc. kiosks now can be found in mainstream grocery stores and pharmacies all over the country. The Portland company's roots go back to helping natural food retailers and pharmacies teach customers about natural supplements, vitamins and herbs. But the purveyor of educational touchscreen kiosks has expanded its focus to meats, produce and wine.
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Monday, 03 December 2007
Chicago Tribune: The computers handling United Airlines check-ins and reservations crashed companywide for several hours Friday, causing long lines at check-in counters as agents filled out tickets and baggage tags by hand.
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Monday, 03 December 2007
LAS VEGAS - The Association of Volleyball Professionals has launched an interactive marketing campaign, called the "Cuervo Cabana," for one of its main sponsors. Jose Cuervo, the AVP's largest sponsor, is in its second year of a three-year marketing agreement with the AVP.
The AVP contracted with SeePoint Technology, to provide mobile marketing kiosks for its outdoor locations. The AVP travels to 18 locations throughout the summer, including seven beaches.
The units allowed the AVP to display historical and modern-day volleyball highlights to lure-in visitors. The visitors then use the interactive kiosks to register for various events and provide consumer information. Combining digital signage with kiosk interactivity implements a powerful tool for lead generation, mobile marketing and customer information, AVP officials said.
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