Article

Wincor-World Update

April 9, 2006 by

PADERBORN, Germany - Many attendees of the annual Wincor World trade event stayed at a 16th century hunting lodge that made it easy to forget the modern world just outside its imposing stone walls.

The deer grazing on the bucolic lawn, the huge metal keys used to gain admittance after hours, the ghostly carriage driver rumored to haunt the chilly hallways - all made this editor feel as if a time machine had deposited her into the German countryside of 300 years ago.

Shahbazi, the 29-year-old wunderkind of Info Touch Technologies, speaks at Kioskcom.

It also made the technology on display at Wincor World appear even more cutting edge in comparison - which may have been just the effect event organizers intended to convey. Smart thinking.

As usual, Wincor filled the exhibit space with some of the latest applications from the worlds of banking and retail. More than 7,500 attendees from all corners of the globe were on hand to see them. The event, which always resembles a mini-United Nations, had an even more international feel this year.

Andreas Bruck, Wincor's head of corporate communications, said IT managers from nearly 60 countries attended Wincor World, up from 50 in 2004, with heavy representations from Eastern Europe, Asia and Latin America.

Bruck also noted an increased interest from industries such as industrial manufacturing, lotteries and postal services. "Visitors are looking at technologies and solutions on a cross-industry basis, and also learning from each other," he said.

On the retail side, Karl-Heinz Stiller, the company's chief executive, said in his address that retailers currently fall into three categories: premium, discount and "the soggy center." He predicted that the center will disappear as stores increasingly stake their reputations on either low prices or strong customer service.

Wincor hopes to gain market share in the premium category, with a line-up of high-tech products such as "smart" shopping carts, electronic shelf labels and sophisticated self-scan systems - all of which were on display at Wincor World.

Here, from this editor's perspective, were some of the most interesting products seen at last week's show:

Smile and say `print': Wincor's entry into the digital photo printing space, with partner O.E.M. GmbH, certainly shows a design edge over the big boxes currently deployed by Kodak and others in retail sites such as drugstores. Housed in Wincor's sleek Beetle or Certo kiosk, it boasts a user-friendly 15-inch touchscreen and prints color photos fast - up to 300 an hour.

Happy shoppers: David Dobson of Microsoft and Todd Matsler of Intel, two partners along with Wincor and other technology heavyweights involved in the Future Store initiative, presented promising results gathered by the retail chain Metro Group since it began offering customer services based on RFID and other forward-thinking technologies at a supermarket near Dusseldorf.

Shahbazi, the 29-year-old wunderkind of Info Touch Technologies, speaks at Kioskcom.

According to Metro Group research, the number of customers saying they were "highly satisfied" with their shopping experience grew from 34 percent to 54 percent. The number of shoppers visiting the store more than two times a month increased 50 percent, and the percentage of new customers rose from 2 percent to 50 percent.

Empowering the customer - and employees: Using the latest technology gives retailers an opportunity to differentiate themselves in a way not based on location or price, Dobson said.

Matsler said customers feel "empowered" when they control their interactions with retailers using tools like personal shopping assistants, handheld devices that let them scan items as they shop. Similar devices can give store employees access to the latest data "anytime, anywhere as they do their jobs," he added.

No more `aisle of no return': Wincor showed a number of interesting applications with its portable store assistant, which can be carried by customers or affixed to a shopping cart. One of this editor's favorites involved creating a shopping list via a store's Web site before leaving the house. The list is then ready to be downloaded to a PSA when the customer arrives at the store.

Lists and other information, such as product promotions or store maps, are sent to the PSA using wireless communications via a store's LAN. Imagine never again seeking out a store employee for directions or wandering down aisle after aisle looking for products, or viewing a promotion for a special price on a DVD player after scanning a couple of movies.

In theory, customers could avoid checkout lanes entirely by proceeding directly to a payment terminal, downloading a list of the merchandise they scanned during their visit and paying with cash or a debit card.

Scanning school: One of the slickest features at the self-scan unit on display at the show was a video display that showed, in crisp color, how to use the unit. A Wincor representative said an optional motion sensor could trigger the video to begin when a prospective user was nearby. Showing folks how simple it is could, in theory, entice those who have hesitated to try it because of fear of failure.

Hardware agnostic: When asked why the payment terminal was mounted on the exterior of the scanning unit rather than being integrated into the fascia, a Wincor rep said it was because the company realized that many retailers are locked into long-term deals with vendors. So Wincor designed a mounting apparatus that can hold all of the most popular point-of-sale terminals.

Tale of two terminals: An intriguing configuration involved a small-footprint scanning tower combined with a separate payment tower. With the two terminal approach, a customer could scan items, then take his receipt elsewhere to pay, which should result in shorter queues.

Super shelves: Though RFID technology thus far has mostly been used behind the scenes in warehouses and storage rooms, Wincor showed a cool customer-facing application. When items equipped with RFID tags were plucked from shelves, a two-for-one deal or similar promotion was instantly displayed on nearby digital signage. Both digital messages and electronic shelf tags could be easily updated via a central server.

Va-va-voom vending: Wincor's line of reverse vending systems, called ReVendo, includes a unit that accepts crates of empties along with individual bottles and cans. During a demonstration, the uncannily efficient machine sucked in the disparate items, sent them to be crushed and then deposited in the appropriate containers.

Wincor's XML-based software facilitates connecting the reverse vending units to POS systems, easing customer compensation for returns and simplifying the reconciliation process at the end of the day.

A simple software tweak also allows retailers to control which items they will accept for returns.

[Editor's note: Info Touch Technologies became Tio Networks in April 2006.]