"Speed is impacting greatly what is going on in retail stores," said Dan Butler, NRF's vice president of retail operations. "In the future, retailers are going to be paying for speed."
A swift look around the Jacob Javits Convention Center in New York saw attendees interacting and doting on the latest up and coming products, Butler said.
"There is a satisfaction that is coming to these latest products," he said. "They are getting refined and are going to the next level. Plus, we are also seeing a pattern of newness to products as consumers are making demands for that."
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The NRF show floor was bigger and more diverse than ever before, as 18,500 attendees and 600 exhibitors attended the event. Hundreds of companies showed off their latest digital signage, kiosk and retail technology products and services.
AirDefense, a wireless LAN security company for retailers, showcased its retail security services which are used by more than 700 customers, many in the federal government. On Monday, the company put its services to use by monitoring those companies using wireless services at their booths. AirDefense discovered less than 10 percent of the 458 access points in use were using 'bullet proof' encryption such as WPA2. In fact, nearly 60 percent of access points were using wired equivalent privacy, the weakest protocol for wireless-data encryption, which can be compromised in minutes.
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18,500 attendees and 600 exhibitors attended the National Retail Federation's annual Show & Expo. |
"It is evident that the majority of companies exhibiting are not taking wireless security seriously or there would be a much higher percentage of 'bullet proof' encryption practices in place protecting APs," said Richard Rushing, chief security officer of AirDefense.
AirMedia Group Inc., the operator of the largest digital media network inChinadedicated to air travel advertising, and DT Research Inc., a developer of information appliances for vertical markets, announced the deployment of the WebDT Signage System in theBeijingCapitalInternationalAirport. Advertisers can purchase advertising time slots from AirMedia and their advertisements will be shown to airport passengers and visitors in high-definition LCD screens through DT Research's WebDT Signage System.
Harris Corp. showcased its InfoCaster creation station content development tools and InfoCaster player content playback devices provide technology and services to broadcasters in over 150 countries. Harris digital signage solutions support HDTV video and graphics technology, as well as media asset management, automation, scheduling, and traffic and billing systems used daily to manage many of the world's advertiser-supported broadcast operations.
IBM's Digital Movie Kiosk, touted as the ATM for movies, is the culmination of a partnership with Ireland-based Portomedia. The kiosk allows consumers to rent or purchase DVD-quality movies, which are downloaded in under a minute to a small USB device called the Movie Key. The kiosk itself can be loaded with anywhere from 500 to 1,000 movies and can be refreshed with new content from a remote location.
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IBM's Digital Movie Kiosk allows consumers to rent or purchase DVD-quality movies. |
"It's essentially a Blockbuster in a box," said Cathal Deavy, Portomedia's director of marketing.
LG Electronics hinted at a new product with a demonstration of its Tripleview technology. The Tripleview digital sign changes images depending on where the person is standing. LG officials said they hope to start rolling out the product in department stores by the third quarter of 2008.
MediaCart, maker of computerized retail and grocery shopping cart systems, announced its partnership with Microsoft and Wakefern Food Corp. to pilot MediaCart's next-generation computerized shopping carts for potential rollout to all ShopRite stores. Microsoft's Atlas Division will provide video ads on the MediaCart grocery cart screen, providing advertisers with the opportunity to reach shoppers at the point of purchase, and providing ShopRite customers with a more personalized shopping experience.
The Microsoft booth was home to a giant-format "no-touchscreen" from Solaris Labs– just point at the screen to interact with it. That same screen was also displayed at the NEC booth. Microsoft also had its Surface tabletop computer on display. Demonstrations included assisted selling (place a product on the table, and marketing content swirls around it) and loyalty (drop a loyalty card anywhere on the table, and a customized menu of choices appears next to it).
Pay By Touch and St. Clair Interactive touted its loyalty and gift card kiosks. The kiosks generate personalized cards automatically with built-in activation, payment and settlement capabilities. The kiosks are deployed in five retail locations and have had great success, said Chris Peter, St. Clair's project manager. At just two of its mall locations, the kiosks made $16,000 from 400 gift card purchases in just six weeks.
VeriFone announced the MX800 Series Price Checker, a multifunctional customer interaction kiosk that can deliver multimedia promotions, double as a gift card registry or loyalty program enrollment kiosk or enable a variety of other customer-facing applications. The MX800 Series Price Checker will be available in the second quarter of 2008.
Wincor Nixdorf, a supplier of total IT solutions for the retail and banking industries, introduced its TP.net software solution to the United States. The software helps retailers meet operational challenges with a single product suite that provides seamless connectivity for multi-store management, customer loyalty, intelligent rules-based pricing and promotions, and advanced checkout concepts.
Wincor is currently discussing trials of its TP.net solution with multiple leading U.S. retailers, said Frank Rant, a Wincor regional sales director.
TP.net has a user base approaching 50,000 in 26 countries. The U.S. introduction offers American retailers an alternative to legacy or Java-based systems already on the market.
"We wanted to bring this software over to the U.S. as a proven product," Rant said.
Wireless Ronin Technologies displayed itsVehicleInformationCenter, using RoninCast digital signage software, during the NRF show. The VIC program, utilizing 50-inch touchscreen monitors, is designed to provide an interactive experience allowing users to navigate through Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge products and services. The goal is to bring prospective buyers closer to a purchase decision by allowing them to learn more about the key features of selected vehicles, specify a model of interest and select packages, options, colors and Mopar Accessories to build and price their model of choice. Consumers can also conduct side-by-side comparisons of their selected models.
