Retail IT News For VARs 2-2-15: Technologies Your Retail IT Clients Want Or Want To Integrate
By Phillip Britt, contributing writer
In the news, the National Retail Federation (NRF) lists technologies your merchant IT clients want to be more competitive and solutions they want to integrate to be more efficient. Also, brick-and-mortar retailers are leveraging technology to compete with e-commerce. Articles also deal with the ongoing problem of point of sale (POS) malware, and a prediction that multitouch screen kiosks will become a trend in brick-and-mortar stores.
What Your Merchant IT Clients Want From You To Keep Up With The Speed Of Commerce
According to the National Retail Federation , retailers plan to keep up with the speed of commerce in three specific ways: organization, technology, and metrics. Retailers need to clearly communicate their visions, value, and incentives in order to be successful. Next retailers will want to, and need to, update their technology. In addition to updating POS terminals, retailers will want to check their technological infrastructure to make sure when the updates take place, no errors will occur due to migration. Third, retailers can use metrics to articulate vision, create a plan, and come up with a budget for the changes.
Which Technologies Are Brick-And-Mortar Retailers Using To Compete With e-Commerce?
According to Street Fight, brick-and-mortar stores are using technology to compete with online shopping options. Some of these technologies are store loyalty credit cards, smart payment options, in-store beacons, apps, social media, and smart inventory. Loyalty credit cards can offer instant in-store rewards and promotions to drive customers to make purchases in the stores themselves. As Apple Pay and other mobile payment solutions become more popular, POS systems need to be updated to accept them. Apps like InMarket use beacons that team up with Bluetooth to suggest items and deals to in-store customers. Social media also comes into play. Stores can share promotions and coupons on their social outlets that can be used in-store. Companies like Nordstrom are using technology in their fitting rooms with the capability to purchase items quicker plus the option of having a certain size and/or color shipped to the customer for free.
Survey Shows Retailers Want To Unify POS, e-Commerce, Call Centers, And Mobile
According to DemandWare and a survey by the National Retail Federation, retailers want to band together to create a unified commerce platform that would consolidate point of sale, e-commerce, call center, and mobile touch points into one system. According to the aforementioned survey, more than half of the retailers feel that this unification of systems could boost sales and profit margins. Also found in the results of the survey, many feel this could increase IT productivity and efficiency. More than 70 percent of those surveyed have made progress toward integrating these solutions.
POS Hacking: Here To Stay
According to Tech News World, POS terminals are an easy target for hackers’ malware, and that isn’t likely to change any time soon. Since the breach at Target, hackers have been widening their range of targets such as parking garages and airport kiosks.
Multi-Touch Kiosks Predicted To Be An In-Store Trend
According to New Electronics, in-store customer experiences will be redefined by the use of multitouch screen kiosks. These devices can be large enough for several people to use at once. Customers would expect these kiosks to be fully functioning at all times and as simple to use as their smartphones. Additionally, they would expect them to be payment terminals as well, meaning they’d have to have the same capabilities as a POS terminal.
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