News

Showroom technology helps retailers sell big-ticket items

January 15, 2004

PITTSBURGH, Pa. -- Innovative Retail Systems LLC has launched its front-office and retail-showroom solution, 360° Retail, targeted to retailers who sell high-priced goods in showrooms. The 360° Retail solution, featuring a kiosk, aims to deliver improved sales performance and better information about customers and business metrics.

The 360° Retail solution, consisting of the 360° Retail Kiosk and the 360° Retail Portal, combines leading technology from Sun Microsystems, award-winning kiosk technology from Apunix, and portal and open-source technology from CommNav, according to a news release.

Innovative Retail Systems has leveraged proven, open-systems technologies to enable big-ticket retailers to create a 360-degree selling experience. Customers can apply for credit in the showroom using a touchscreen kiosk application integrated with the retailer's credit-processing system.

The kiosk targets product advertising and promotions to the customer, as well. Sales staff can access real-time information via a user-friendly and secure portal to improve the selling process.

"Aggressive promotions are a significant part of our marketing strategy. The credit kiosks are adding real value to those programs we run, and we have seen important increases in the average sales tickets we write," said Basil Hawanchak, vice president of Levin Furniture, a $110-million furniture retailer. Levin Furniture has deployed sales-productivity portal applications integrated with 22 self-service kiosks spread across 11 showrooms.

"Our productivity portal is helping us to manage the detailed information from our sales process. Each of our sales associates uses the portal everyday and that improves our communication with the sales force and makes the management of the selling process more proactive."

Ninety-eight percent of Levin customers applying for credit now use the 360° Retail Kiosk. Open and activated credit accounts have seen increases as much as 100 percent, and Levin Furniture's average ticket size continues to increase, according to the news release.

Innovative Retail Systems offers the 360° Retail solution with core components and allows retailers to choose from add-on portal and kiosk software applications. Such applications include Sales Wizard, to help sales staff better manage and assess its selling performance; Showroom Traffic Analyzer, which compares foot traffic to sales; and Virtual Showroom, a kiosk application for quick and easy access to a retailer's entire inventory.