Industry News - April 3rd, 2009
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RETAIL AND TECHNOLOGY NEWS |
Merchant Warehouse Releases POS Application for iPhone and iPod Touch
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Merchant Warehouse announces its first mobile application for the Apple
iPhone and iPod Touch, now available on iTunes and at the Apple App
Store.
MerchantWARE Mobile is a point of sale application that allows
merchants to run credit and debit transactions in real-time. A merchant
only needs to install the application on their device, and have a
merchant account and a connection to WiFi, Edge or a 3G network.
MerchantWARE Mobile is free, has no gateway fees and does not require
an expensive third party license. The solution is ideal for the mobile
workforce where convenience and low costs are a necessity.
In the past, mobile workers such as contractors, insurance agents or
tradeshow vendors would accept payments by check, cash or handwrite the
credit card information and then later process the card back in their
office. These payment options are time consuming, un-secure, and expose
merchants to the risk of bad checks and declined credit cards.
MerchantWARE Mobile addresses these concerns with secure and immediate
processing of transactions.
With security breaches being a top concern for merchants and consumers,
MerchantWARE Mobile is encrypted and sent over a secure SSL connection.
Additionally, all data is stored on Merchant Warehouse's secure
servers, not the merchant's mobile device.
MerchantWARE Mobile features include:
Secure credit card transaction, including sales, refunds and voids
Encrypted and secure SSL connections for safely transmitting customer information
Reporting capabilities including, transaction summaries, totals by card type and date and transaction details
Automatic end of day batch processing to avoid hassles and downgraded transactions
Access to the MerchantWARE Virtual Terminal enabling users to process
transactions through the same merchant account from any web connected
computer.
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1-800-Flowers.com Uses Mobile Marketing with Hyper-Targeted Mobile Advertising
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1-800-Flowers.com will be the first major retailer to launch a campaign
using a full service mobile marketing and mobile advertising platform
from Sybase 365 and Digby. Sybase 365 AvantGo Mobile Advertising
Services SMS Ad Exchange, in conjunction with the Digby mobile commerce
platform, helps retailers and other advertisers to promote and drive
traffic to their virtual stores, where consumers can learn more about
an offer and make a purchase using their mobile device.
"Mobile Marketing has emerged as one of the most effective ways of
reaching a truly targeted audience with compelling and relevant
offers," said Jim McCann, CEO and founder of 1-800-Flowers.com. "The
Sybase 365 Mobile Advertisement platform in conjunction with Digby
empowers users to take advantage of timely offers right from their
phone. This combination represents a great step forward for retailers
evaluating mobile marketing and can provide another way for our
customers to act on their thoughtfulness."
Mobile subscribers, who are already receiving mobile content, can now
be targeted with appropriate and relevant advertisements in the same
SMS message.
Retailers can :
- Deploy hyper-targeted SMS campaigns based on user demographics
- Create customized calls-to-action including click through, click to call and short codes
- Deploy mobile Web storefronts that provide a full commerce experience
- Track campaign metrics including response rates and sales
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Peet’s Coffee & Tea Improves Forecasting, Inventory Management
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Peet's Coffee & Tea, which operates 190 specialty stores
nationwide, cuts waste while still maintaining quality using
RedPrairie's Site Operations. Peet's reduces wasted product through
improved forecasting, inventory management and auto-ordering.
"Peet's has an extremely high standard of quality and freshness for the
products we send to market. These freshness standards contribute to
higher waste in our retail stores," says Tom Cullen, CIO, Peet's.
"Maintaining that superior standard while controlling cost is an
absolute necessity. RedPrairie's solution offered us the ability to
keep our commitment to excellence, while lowering our costs
significantly through waste reduction."
RedPrairie Site Operations offers this ability by managing a variety of
functions associated with food and beverage service with built-in
features to provide flexibility and visibility. Through configurable
workflows and exception-based reporting, the platform forecasts demand
and automates restocking of necessary items at each site.
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Guess Expands PLM Platform to Manage Global Sourcing Operation
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Guess selects Dassault Systemes Enovia Apparel Accelerator for Sourcing
and Production to connect its global sourcing and PLM efforts. Guess
uses the PLM tool to increase lifecycle visibility, improve
collaboration and further demonstrate its brand value through constant
innovation.
With sourcing operations throughout the world, Guess is challenged with
providing information such as color codes and style numbers to its
suppliers in one common language. The company leverages a unified
platform for sourcing and product development and will now expand its
deployment of Enovia V6 as the vehicle to harmonize colors, styles and
fabric information across the enterprise to ensure consistency in the
information provided to its suppliers and retailers, regardless of
geographic location.
"One of Guess' core strengths is our ability to identify fashion
trends, put the concept together, source it very quickly and have it in
the store in time to meet consumer demand," says Mike Relich, CIO of
Guess. "The Enovia apparel sourcing solution enables Guess to be a
responsive and nimble fashion leader by seamlessly managing
collaboration with our suppliers, production facilities, and retail and
wholesale locations."
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Fujitsu Consolidates North American Businesses
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Fujitsu America, which begins operations on April 1, 2009, consolidates
the application services of Fujitsu Consulting, the system platforms of
Fujitsu Computer Systems, and the retailing solutions of Fujitsu
Transaction Solutions under a unified corporate structure designed to
expand offerings and provide North American businesses with a single
resource for their computing technology and IT services needs.
The move consolidates the company's IT strengths under one structure
and offers a simplified engagement model with more access to the
complete suite of integrated Fujitsu offerings. This also will improve
responsiveness to global clients who look to Fujitsu to support their
North American operations.
The consolidation - together with investment in new
infrastructure-based capabilities - helps Fujitsu America to present
full-spectrum IT offerings and to focus on new-business development in
outsourcing and managed services. In addition, the company will work
with clients and partners in key strategies and developments such as
cloud computing, plus other important new growth sectors.
TOP Food & Drug Implements RFID-Driven Program
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TOP Food & Drug implements an innovative program that could serve
as a model for other retailers seeking to move beyond the traditional
way of discount pricing to improve customer retention and store
profitability.
The company has developed a customer relationship program, TOP
Connection, which uses RFID technology to enhance the shopping
experience with targeted marketing promotions and unique value added
services. The RFID-enabled program could also be used to motivate
specific customer behavior, such as driving sales of particular
products, increasing per-trip spending and accelerating the rate of
return trips. Programs like TOP Connection provide grocery chains with
a way to differentiate themselves without compromising lean margins or
creating unsustainable customer expectations.
The TOP Connection program pairs an on-demand customer acquisition and
retention platform, Accelitec interact, deployed as 'software as a
service' (SaaS) provided by Accelitec. The platform includes RFID
readers mounted on top of payment terminals and RFID-enabled key tags
or adhesive tags for cell phones that contain unique customer
identifiers. All customer information is encrypted and held securely on
Accelitec servers. The key tag consists of a plastic card, designed by
Vanguard ID Systems, and a UPM Raflatac HF RFID inlay based on the
Mifare standard.
Accelitec interact is a technology-agnostic platform and is compatible
with the legacy hardware and software used by many grocery retailers.
The platform provides encrypted data exchange, protecting customer
identity and payment information during card reading and transaction
processes.
To participate, customers enroll in the program and set up an on-line
profile, inputting personal data and product, communication and payment
preferences. Customers can choose to provide only basic information or
offer detailed information in return for highly customized offers and
marketing communications. After completing enrollment, customers
receive energized RFID key tags which are tied to their profiles.
Within 100 days of the TOP Connection rollout in September 2008, more
than 60 percent of TOP Food & Drug customers had signed up for the
program.
"The TOP Connection program has given TOP Food & Drug a unique way
to provide our guests with benefits," says Emily Mallahan, director of
TOP development for Haggen. "Our prices are already great, and everyone
who shops with us can enjoy those prices. Then, if you choose to become
a TOP Connection member, you obtain benefits that no one else in the
grocery industry offers. We've had an incredible response rate from our
guests because they see the value and services we can offer when they
tell us more about themselves."
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