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Wincor World 2004 closes with record: 7,700 visitors from 50 countries

Visitors used Wincor World to find out more about the latest solutions for the retail and banking industries.

March 14, 2004

By the time the silver-suited mime descended from the 8-foot tall Wincor-Nixdorf logo for the last time, 7,700 people from 50 countries had visited the annual technology showcase in Paderborn, Germany, known as Wincor World.

Filling the mammoth Welle Exhibition Center, the attendance represented an increase of about 10 percent over last year's event. Officials from Wincor Nixdorf and the 60 partners who also exhibited said they were highly satisfied with the way the exhibition went.

Not only was attendance up, but so was the level of expertise evident in discussions with visitors. Organizers were especially pleased to see an increase of around 40 percent in the proportion of foreign visitors who came from over 50 countries and used Wincor World to find out more about the latest developments and solutions to the banking and retail industries.

The lecture events and the Retail Innovation Conference opened by Minister Harald Schartau really drew the crowds. The RIC alone, held under the joint auspices of the European Retail Institute and the North-Rhine-Westphalian Ministry of Trade and Labor, was attended by 430 top-managers from the retail sector.

Store Vision: Tomorrow's Retail Today

Store Vision is Wincor Nixdorf's product and solution strategy for store organization at retail companies. It is geared to current and future challenges in international retailing, such as globalization, new competitors and changing customer habits.

Wincor Nixdorf helps create end-to-end store processes and supports efficient, vertical integration of stores in supply-and-demand chain processes. The aim is to assist retailers in successfully shaping their business, using the right technology platform and responding quickly to new requirements with IT solutions and consulting. Products and solutions focused on cutting costs and offering consumers better service.

• Metro Future Store Initiative.As a gold partner in the Metro Future Store Initiative, Wincor Nixdorf has made a major contribution to the success of the Extra Future Store in Rheinberg. The work of the Metro Future Store Initiative was presented fully at an information stand.
  
• RFID Future Lab.In conjuction with Texas Instruments, the first RFID applications are being tested by retailers and manufacturers in productive use. RFID is the most far-reaching innovation in retailing since introduction of the barcode 25 years ago. Wincor Nixdorf aims to push ahead with in cooperation with "New dimension in retailing" development of this future technology for its products and solutions. With the RFID Future Lab, the company demonstrated potential applications and effects in the store, from incoming goods to the check-out.

Store Automation

Popular in Europe, the BEETE/iSCAN will soon make its way to the United States to compete in self check-out.

Automation of store processes is an important challenge when it comes to reducing cost and complexity. Intensifying competition, internationalization in retailing and the huge pressure on costs are forcing retailers to make their store processes more efficient and automate work routines where sensible. Automation solutions for stores is a key strategic focus for Wincor Nixdorf.

• ProMobile/Store - Mobile Solutions for Retail. Store and enterprise solutions; integration of merchandise management systems; cross-platform/vendor software solution.
• RHEPRO S.A reverse vending system for single containers - Integration in the store IT. 
• BEETLE /iSCREEN - advanced paper. Intelligent advertising management for retailing in cooperation with Online GmbH.
• Store Cash Management. Automation of cash processes. 
• XPLACE. Optimized exploitation of customer potential through interactive co-marketing at the POS. 
• QBIX - QPD and CQuence. In-store communications solutions in collaboration with QBIX. 
• ESL - Electronic Shelf Labeling. Flexible shelf-price labeling system. 
• BEETLE/Kiosk. Flexibly configurable and space-saving multimedia kiosk terminal for wall mounting

POS Solutions

Apart from the ongoing development of the traditional staffed POS, Wincor Nixdorf's aim is to forge ahead with creating new and innovative solutions as a complement or alternative to it. It regards systematic further development of the POS as one of its core tasks. Examples include full-service POS, self check-out, mobile self scanning, and personal sales assistants.

• Attended POS Terminal for Self-Service Retail.POS workstation with integrated scales, dual display, swipe & park, cash module.
• BEETLE /iSCAN. Self-service at the point of sale.
• PSA- The Personal Sales Assistant at the shopping cart. The mobile, customer-friendly consulting and POS concept in cooperation with Multichannel Retail Ltd.

Open Payment Initiative

Wincor Nixdorf presented its Open Payment Initiative together with leading vendors of terminal-based payment solutions. The aim of this initiative is to standardize the interface between POS application and payment solution. That gives retail companies investment security and reduces the cost of integrating solutions for handling cashless payment transactions in IT landscapes.

Supply & Demand

Efficient business processes between the head office and the store are a major success factor in retailing. Customer orientation and cost optimization play an important role in this. In the fields of SAP merchandise management, category management and fraud detection, Wincor Nixdorf presented consulting solutions to enable efficient and cost-optimized workflows. Operational, planning and controlling processes are supported.

Focal areas are the integration of mobile device with SAP, customer-oriented control of assortments and IT support of the auditing workstation.

Software for the Store

Wincor Nixdorf is positioning its software portfolio for international retailing with the "Retail Store Application Suite." It showcased its POS software products CALYPSO, POSition and Trading Post on established POS operating systems such as Linux or Microsoft Windows, as well as its know-how and concepts for customizing and special customer projects based on standard technologies.

Presentation of these core competencies were complemented by its own add-on store solutions, such as self check-out solutions or standardized concepts for integrating its own or other vendors' software addons to support sales and merchandise management processes. In cooperation with Multichannel Retail Ltd., Wincor Nixdorf used the Trading Post Framework to illustrate the interplay of its POS application Trading Post with further IT modules for stores, such as mobile devices or customer interaction terminals.

Products for the Store

In the POS product show, Wincor Nixdorf presented the BEETLE family as a platform for store systems, along with all the relevant peripherals: printers, cash drawers, scanners, keyboards and displays.

The company has taken a position on technological topics such as Pentium 4, powered USB, wireless LAN and print technologies for POS systems. Other focal areas were fiscal solutions and the service and management functionality of retail systems.

• BEETLE /XS. Wincor Nixdorf's smallest POS system.
• BEETLE /S. Dual display with a POS system.
• BEETLE/M. Its most successful POS system is distinguished by compactness and a wide range of functions.
• BEETLE /M-II. Pentium 4 technology in the BEETLE.
• BEELTE /XL-II. Service and management functionality.
• BEETLE /iPOS. Powered USB interfaces in the BEETLE /iPOS.
• BEETLE /iPOS. Pentium 4 technology in the BEETLE /iPOS.
• POS Printers. Dot matrix, thermal and inkjet technology.
• MF Competence Center. Fiscal systems with an electronic journal.
• Barcode Scanners. The new scanner product portfolio.
• Wireless Communication/Networking. Solutions and products for retailing.

Service Stations International

Wincor's pay-at-the-pump solution is one aspect of the company's overall vision for convenience stores.

Service Stations International has been successfully developing IT solutions for the service station and convenience store industry for some two decades. The close cooperation with the leading divisions in the industry, Retail and Banking, and Wincor Nixdorf's know-how were the platform for future-oriented solutions. At the show was an integrated portfolio of products, solutions and services that meets current market demands and can be adapted dynamically to the requirements of tomorrow. The one-stop solution: i-SERVICE STATION.

Lottery Solutions

The products from Wincor Nixdorf Lottery Solutions are the result of visions, experience and know-how. The units are based on an internationally unique modular design and offering custom configuration and expansion.

• Xion /Mtop. The individually configurable lottery terminal that offers every option for the multimedia future.
• Xicheck. Unites winnings checking and electronic advertising in a self-service device.
• iPOS. The compact basic lottery terminal without a playslip scanner.
• Certo. The attractive self-service terminal for more infotainment at lottery outlets.
• Xion /PAT. The fully fledged self-service terminal with an integrated playslip scanner.
• BEETLEview. The IT management solution for lottery terminals.

Hospitality

Wincor's fast-food ordering kiosk will test in Chicago-area McDonald's.

Wincor Nixdorf showed recent trends in hospitality, event catering, pubs and bars, canteens and fast food. The applications are demonstrated on the BEETLE/ iPOS, a system that addresses the special requirements of hospitality - for example, an integrated waiter keylock or splash-protected housing. Wincor Nixdorf was clearly trying to satisfy market expectations, such as leading-edge technology, more rational processes and creative thinking with new products, such as interfaces to beverage dispensing control systems.

Information for this for the story was provided by Wincor Nixdorf.