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NRF Show to feature new self-service options for retailers

All eyes in the retail world will focus on the NRF's Big Show Jan. 12-15. A few new products from the kiosk industry are expected to attract their share of attention.

January 8, 2003

There will be a lot of competition for "buzz" at the National Retail Federation's Annual Conference and Expo, Jan. 12-15 in New York's Javits Convention Center, where thousands of executives will be in the market for ways to keep up with the evolving world of retail.

More than 300 exhibitors are pinning their hopes on getting the attention of buyers at the show, the largest annual gathering of retail execs. This is the 92nd edition. 

For kiosk industry companies, retail is by far the most important and currently the most lucrative of vertical markets. And it's no surprise that several companies with self-service products and kiosks will be on hand in New York.

For Symbol Technologies (NYSE: SBL), the show represents an opportunity to unveil a new kiosk that could go a long way toward changing the in-store experience for consumers. John Britts, senior manager, product marketing, retail solutions, said the MK2000 MicroKiosk will be shown to a mass audience for the first time.

Britts said the MK2000 takes the basic price checker device upscale. "There's a large gap between a price check and a full-service kiosk. Retailers are looking for tools and devices for aisle ways to assist consumers while making a buying decision."

Symbol's MK2000 MicroKiosk

The device features a 6.4-inch VGA display and an optional touch screen. With a depth of just four inches, it can be mounted on aisle ways or any number of locations.

The idea is to create a personal place to scan a device to find price and content information, he said. Price checkers, popular in mass merchandise scores like Wal-mart, read bar codes and indicate prices, but provide no other information.

Symbol will target the grocery and mass merchandise stores, but the MK2000 extends its potential market upstream. Britts said customers in those stores aren't so focused on price alone, but want additional information, such as specifications and warranties, about products to make a buying decision.

Britts said the product will be available in the second quarter of this year, and has been beta-tested in a number of grocery outlets. The price of the MK2000 will be between $2,000 and $2,600, depending on the configurations for connectivity and memory.

Symbol has grouped several products and services into its "Customer First" strategy, Britts explained. "The idea is the consumer is mobile, and it fits into our mobile pitch, and improves the customer experience."

Symbol will introduce other products at the NRF, including a hands-free omnidirectional scanner, a new handheld computer and a mobile printer.

Intermec Entre

Scott Medford, vice president, global alliance business development for Intermec Technologies Corp., said he's just learning about kiosks, but his product aligns perfectly with the kiosk industry's emphasis on self-service devices.

As Medford is preparing his company's presence at the show, he's ordered up some giant plasma screens to help showcase a new product he thinks will be a hit with do-it-yourself and garment retail stores.

It's a mobile device that is capable of doing everything from checking inventory to becoming a moving cashier station. As Medford explains it, the device is similar to a hospital cart and is powered by battery, eliminating the need to plug the device into an electrical outlet. A wireless connection allows the device to communicate with a network and the Internet.

Medford didn't have pricing information available on the new mobile cart.

"We've re-organized our company and shifted to vertical markets," Medford said of Intermec, part of the Unova Inc. (NYSE: UNA) industrial technologies conglomerate.

"It's a more product-oriented approach, to ask what the market will require. We want to study what they really want."

He said the new device could be equipped with a printer, and enable employees to create signage while walking the cart through a store aisle way.

In addition, an application Medford thinks will be a hit is to equip the cart with a Tablet PC. The new Tablet PCs could allow employees or customers to interact with the device using a digital ink pen, allowing users to write messages in their own handwriting.

He said it's so easy for anyone to use, he expects it to be popular with retailers. "It will enable the market to take off so John Q. Public can walk up to it and use it."

Symbol and Intermec, of course, won't be the only Kiosk-related companies exhibiting at the show. In fact, according to the NRF Web site, 34 of the 300-plus firms expected to exhibit listed kiosks among their areas of expertise.