Mobile Devices: Ruggedized vs. Consumer

Mobility is everywhere these days.  Here are some things to think about when you are considering mobile. 
There are two basic types of mobile devices to consider:  ruggedized and consumer.  Each has its own benefits and drawbacks depending on where it will be used, what it will be used for and by whom.  The price is the most common point to consider – ruggedized devices will cost more to purchase than consumer devices.  Depending on the criticality of the application, the environment, and who will be using the device the ruggedized unit’s reliability may far outweigh the short term cost to purchase.  Plus, ruggedized devices offer a maintenance plan.

Consumer devices will almost always cost less to purchase and generally have a shorter training period to learn to operate.  It is also possible to leverage shoppers’ devices so the investment in the consumer device will essentially be zero and with low risk.  When using consumer devices the protocol should be such that store personnel do not handle them to prevent accidental drops or other damage.  In some cases, another benefit to consider about consumer devices is that they may use a more cutting edge technology, more so than standardized ruggedized units.

Places to use mobile devices in your store:
Payments, Price Checking, File Maintenance, Frequent Shopper, Advertising, Deli Ordering, Shopping Lists, Line Busting, DSD Receiving, POS management, Picking Orders, Inventory Lookup, Special Ordering, Product Information, and others.

Creekside Co-op Is Open For Business

As of November 7, 2012, CreekSide Co-op Market in Elkins Park, PA opened its doors for business.  The opening of the store was the culmination of community support to bring a grocery store back to   
the center of town.  For 40 years, that center was called Ashbourne Market, a vital and vibrant grocery that drew people from the region as well as the neighborhood.

Ashbourne was sold in 2000 and the city center was never the same.  Since its demise, most of the businesses around it had gone too.  Some have survived, like the Frame Shop, whose owner had been counting the days until something would bring traffic past their front door.  To welcome the co-op, they led an army of volunteer knitters to jacket nearby parking meters with yarn cozies.  Needless to say the store opening was embraced with open arms.

This full service store includes everything you would expect – produce, seafood, meat, dairy, frozen and deli.  There is an extensive selection of local products from a 100-mile radius around the store while other items are prepared on site.  Also, the Market has a prepared foods section called “Ashbourne Favorites” – “bringing back the best of the past and pairing it with the best of the future.”

CreekSide Co-op installed STCR's SMS store system to help manage ordering and receiving of merchandise while handling the Co-op membership.

Price Checkers Enable & Enhance Customers' Experience

Price checkers are a very important piece to a successful supermarket; they have been known to improve customer service and enhance the customer experience.  Implementing price checkers gives

retailers the power of self-service in every aisle or department for their customers.

 This provides help for customers no matter their location in the store.  In general, people do not like to have to ask for help.  If a customer has to ask for a price it becomes a hassle and most of the time this will result in them putting the item back.  Having price checkers available for customers gives the convenience to check prices of items themselves.  This, in turn, allows cashiers to concentrate on checking out customers quickly.

STCR Inc. has done a lot of research and is now selling the new Symbol MK500 price checker.  The MK500 is very compact, easy to install and use for both retailer and customer.  The durability of these machines removes worry about the potential for damage.  If you are interested in purchasing these units, please call a STCR sales representative at (607) 757-0181 or email us at sales@stcr.com.

Be "Findable" and Noticeable to Customers

In today’s world of search engines, research tools, customer reviews, and other media tools it is getting more and more difficult for businesses to get noticed by potential customers.  The following

are a few tips to increase the chances of being noticed and remembered!
 

1.  Nail your brand – You have to know who you are and why you stand out from your competitors before you can try and attract customers.

2.  Connect at the customer’s “pain point” – Understand where customers “feel the pain” and market to them products and services that will help alleviate these pains.

3.   Don’t always be selling – Don’t just contact your customers when you want to sell them something, instead, make sure you are a trusted presence by providing e-mails or newsletters with valuable information more frequently than you sell.

4.  Get physical – Opportunities to advertise are ALL around you, don’t rely on “online” marketing and social media to be the only way of meeting prospective customers.

5.  Become an expert – Speak and write for business groups often.  By getting your name and your   business’ name out there it will help focus your company’s message and makes you an obvious “go to” in your field.

6.  Compare yourself to the big brand – Choose your biggest competitor and advertise how your company is different (and better!) than your largest competitor.

7.  Connect to a cause – Pick a cause that is truly important to you and do charity drives, donate, or volunteer for your cause of choice.  Not only does this give you a chance to give back to the community but it also gets your name out there.

Backup and Recovery Plans for POS

By now, hopefully the recovery from the effect of super storm Sandy is almost complete for most people and businesses.  Sandy is yet another reminder of how vulnerable we are to natural disasters.  Past STCR Newsletter articles highlighted the importance of having a backup and recovery plan for your POS system.  With the recent super storm, it is worth it to bring this topic to attention again. 

For starters, it is very important to have a backup routine for your mission critical systems.  POS controllers and servers are such mission critical machines.  Some systems have automated backup routines and some require manual processing.  Either way, the backup routine should be done at minimum on a weekly basis.  Then the backup media should be verified and removed from the store.  This will ensure that the machines and the backup media are not exposed to the same adverse impact.

Secondly, you should have redundant methods of processing electronic payments.  A common method is using dual high-speed lines from different providers.  Another method is to utilize a wireless signal as a backup connection to the Internet.  The phone line is a third option that can be utilized.  Besides these communication methods, we highly recommend having a stand-alone device to process payments in the event that the POS controller or server is not operational.

Lastly, an important device to have is the UPS (Unlimited Power Supply).  Most UPS devices have two sides: one side of plugs with surge protection only and the other side with surge protection and battery backup.  In case of a power outage, it is important to only plug in the mission critical devices to the battery backup side to prolong the battery life.  The purpose of the UPS is really to provide enough power to complete and save works in progress before properly powering down the devices.  Regularly checking the health of the batteries and replacing batteries that are out of useful life is an important and often neglected routine.

These steps are just part of a comprehensive disaster recovery plan that each retailer should have.  One resource to go to is www.ready.gov.  This website provides a wealth of resources and information that you could incorporate to suit your needs and your comfort level of preparedness as well as the recovery process.

Know Your Network

A store’s network is crucial to the success of its daily operation.  The dictionary defines network as “a system containing any combination of computers, computer terminals, printers, audio or visual display devices or telephones interconnected by telecommunication equipment or cables used to transmit or receive information.”  In short, it’s how all of the computer equipment in your store is connected together.

The most common form of network today is Ethernet.  It combines Ethernet cables and devices called hubs, routers, and switches to connect devices to each other.  The cables vary in color but tend to look like over-sized phone jacks.  These wires will connect from the equipment to a port on the back of the hub, switch, or router.  This allows all of the devices plugged into it to “talk” to each other.  You can also chain these devices to each other, so that a computer plugged in to one can communicate with a different computer plugged in to another network device.  This is the basic format of an Ethernet network.

 Most of the common hubs and switches today have indicator lights on the front for each respective port in the back that the cables plug in to.  A green light will commonly indicate the device plugged in to it is on the network, and a blinking light means there is activity on that line.

 It is good practice to label the source of each cable in the back of the hubs, switches and routers.  This way if you are experiencing a problem with one particular component that may be network related, you will know exactly how it’s cabled into the network without having to trace everything.  It can also be half the battle simply knowing what these devices look like and where they are located.

 Take the time to know your network.  It could be the difference in minimizing high impact downtimes due to network cabling or devices issue.

Creating a Rewards Program

As a POS system service and support provider, we often receive requests from our customers on setting up reward programs.  Reward programs can be more effective than other types of promotions because they foster a long-term relationship as compared to coupons or discounts.  A good rewards program creates customer loyalty by offering your customers what they need, thus generating value for your customers to keep coming back.  Here are some tips on getting the most out of your reward programs.

First, you need to decide the objective of the reward program.  Some programs aim to get new customers through referral, others are based on dollars spent or the length of time a customer has been shopping in a store.  For retail stores that rely on high frequency, you may want to lean toward a program that rewards the number of transactions or dollars spent.

Second, you want the reward program to target the right people, your top 10% frequent shoppers.  To know this group, you want to gather information on what they buy, when they buy, how often they buy and what rewards they would value.  Data from your POS system along with the right analysis will show you this information.  Of course, you do not want to neglect attracting new customers either.

Thirdly, your reward program should offer something that is tangible and a goal that is easy to reach.  You should design your data gathering and reporting methodology to get the information from your POS system so you could offer rewards that are meaningful and obtainable to your top customers.  When done right, the reward will create excitement among your customers.  When they reached the point of redemption, you want to make the redeem process easy.

For any reward program to generate any buzz, you need to reach out to as many customers as possible.  Use multiple avenues to spread the word.

Lastly, check out what your competitors are doing.  Learn from what they did right or wrong and use this knowledge to create a competitive edge.

It is simple for any retailer to offer a reward program.  However, with careful planning and the right execution, you could create a reward program that truly generates customer loyalty and attract new customers to help your business grow.

Data Protection for Your Business

As technology evolves, additional aspects of our daily lives intertwine with electronic devices.  Most people use some form of electronic devices daily and interact with them for just about everything they do.  These electronic interactions leave a “footprint” of the person using or interacting with these devices.  This is why businesses should protect personally identifiable information of the consumers.  These electronic footprints also represent data that could be analyzed to produce valuable information for just about any purpose.  Therefore data protection is vital in this increasing electronic world.

As a business owner, what do you need to know about data protection?  The basic step is to make a backup of your electronic data.  The first question for data backups is what to backup and how often?  With the advance of data storage devices, it may seem that we can back up anything and everything.  That may be true for home and small businesses.  However, as your system collects more data and your business increases, it may not be the best way to simply backup everything.  The following are a few things you should consider.  How do you control the ever increasing data that is being backed up?  You might want to take into consideration what information is valuable for your reports and analytics.  Take some time to come up with parameters and build your data backup and protection strategy around these.  Another thing to consider is how to contain the increasing need for data storage.  The simplest way is to increase the size and the number of storage devices.  When your existing storage space is near capacity, you may not have the time to plan for the best strategy.  Take time to plan your data storage need for the next few years and re-evaluate the need periodically.  This could provide you with a more efficient system that allows for modular growth. 

As your data grows, the managing of the process and data analytics could become more time consuming.  When possible, consider automation for every process with a way to audit these processes to ensure completion.  You also need to consider the method for system recovery in case of failure.  It is a good investment for you to test and verify your data recovery process periodically.  This will not only validate your recovery process but also the backup process to ensure that when a real system failure occurs, you already have a proven solution for a quick and hassle free recovery.

As data volumes continue to climb, you need to periodically re-evaluate your strategies for providing data protection.  New technologies can deliver higher levels of data protection while saving significant administration time and opportunity for human error.  You should not set it and forget it especially if everything is automated.  You still need to verify and evaluate your processes to ensure that when you need the information or restoration that your procedure and data are sound and valid.

Being Healthy Together

You’re a busy small-business owner.  You have sales to close, employees to hire and meetings to attend.  Why should you care about office wellness?  Office wellness is incredibly important.  Companies can save money on health insurance and cut down on employee absences.  Your wellness initiative doesn’t have to be anything like the company programs you remember.  Instead, it can be a relaxed program that transforms an office to be more focused on health without pushing employees.  Here are a few ideas on how to motivate your team to become healthier individuals:

Schedule an all-company meeting:  Before committing to a wellness program gauge your employee’s interest using a survey.  This will give you an idea of how many employees are interested in the program.

Assign a team leader:  By assigning a team leader per department it will help others to team up and take a twenty minute walk during your lunch hours.  This can make a big difference on how you feel.  Instead of talking about work, talk about the reason why you are so motivated to stay in shape.  

Get creative:  Share recipes and or ideas for lunches and dinners. 

Commit to a new company culture:  Just like a personal diet program, an office wellness program is only effective if everyone sticks to it, including management.  By following these steps your wellness and the wellness of the company will be at an all-time high.

Engaged Employees Create Loyal Customers

In any economy, keeping existing customers is essential for a business to maintain and grow its profit.  In this slow-growing economy the competition for customers is even fiercer between competitors.  Some have discovered that the best weapon is highly engaged employees.

Engaged employees go the extra mile to service customers and deliver superior results.  Therefore, they provide the customer with a better shopping experience.  They approach the job with energy that enhances productivity.  They often come up with service improvements that can be used to better serve the customer.  Engaged employees stay with their employers longer, reducing turnover and the associated costs.  These factors combined deliver enormous payoffs to the business. 

So how do successful businesses foster engaged employees?  Environments that foster highly engaged employees include: a strong sense of purpose, ample autonomy, opportunity for growth and a sense of affiliation.  To achieve these company leaders must regularly solicit feedback from customers and use them to change business processes in ways that both empower employees and increase customer advocacy.

To create desired employee behavior many companies use performance matrices for employee evaluation.  These matrices often measure the time in which certain tasks are completed.  These types of matrices often do not take into consideration the customer promotion that an employee tries to accomplish.  Rather, focus on behaviors that promote customer advocacy within guidelines that is in line with the business’ objectives.  With this, a company can create a culture of engaged and empowered employees. 

PayPal Partners with Discover

PayPal has lined up the biggest partnership to date for its in-store payment campaign with credit card company Discover.  The deal will ultimately bring PayPal payments to seven million merchant locations in the U.S.  Under the partnership, PayPal will utilize Discover’s credit card network to enable PayPal users to make payments at retail stores starting in April of 2013.

Discover is integrating PayPal’s payment system into its software, which will be uploaded to point-of-sale terminals that support Discover Card payments.  PayPal’s branding and rules will be presented to consumers who choose to pay in store with PayPal.  PayPal currently has more than 50 million U.S. customers who will be able to take advantage of in-store payments.

At launch next year, PayPal users will be able to pay with a PayPal Access Card, which connects to a PayPal account and can be funded from a bank account or credit card.  Users will be able to use the card in conjunction with a PayPal mobile wallet app, which will deliver e-receipts, offers and other services. 

PayPal has said that this year is still a testing and experimenting year for in-store payments and the real work will begin next year.  But with deals like the one with Discover, it’s really showing that it wants to go big and really compete in the market for mobile and in-store payments.  Getting acceptance at seven million locations is going to really help PayPal because they can soon tout how many locations they are in.  That’s important for consumers, who will want a mobile payment system that is widely accepted in the areas they shop. 

How to Prevent Showrooming

Showrooming is a term used for when consumers browse items at a brick-and-mortar store and then compare prices online.  With the ever increasing usage of smart phones, consumers are utilizing comparison shopping apps to search for the best price.  Unless brick-and-mortar retailers can compete with online prices for the same product, they will lose the sale.  This trend of savvy consumers’ use of traditional retailers as their showroom to touch and feel a product is only going to increase.  So how does a brick-and-mortar store prevent itself from becoming the showroom for their customers?

First, a brick-and-mortar store has to be competitive on pricing.  If the price from an online retailer is a lot lower for the same product, most consumers will choose to buy from an online retailer.  Although price is arguably the most important factor whether a consumer purchases an item from a store retailer over an online store, other factors can persuade a consumer to make the purchase from a store. 

One example is merchandising.  The location and decoration of a display can create an atmosphere of buying that online retailers cannot do.  Signage, product information and lighting can have a great impact.  Another thing that online retailers cannot offer is the touch, feel and taste of a product.  Sampling of products allows consumers to try a product before they buy it.  Having associates not only offer the product, but talk about the product with the customer, is a great way to create a buying decision.  Sampling also takes away consumers’ fear of buying something new for the first time and not knowing if they will like it.  Lastly, good face-to-face customer service is something online retailers cannot offer.  Friendly associates who are helpful to shoppers create customer loyalty in the store.  Online retailers compete mostly on price only.  When done right, human touch is one advantage that brick-and-mortar stores have over any digital store.

New IBM SurePOS™ 700

Retailers need smarter store solutions.  The award-winning, energy-efficient SurePOS™ 700 is IBM’s most powerful point-of-sale system, delivering maximum performance, service-ability, energy efficiency and adaptability to drive today’s smarter store solutions.  When combined with industry-leading IBM software, system and data integration and management the latest SurePOS 700 models take IBM Smarter Store Solutions to new levels of power in transforming the point of sale to a cross-channel point of service.  Innovative, retail-optimized technology makes the SurePOS 700 more valuable to retailers than ever before.  With next generation Intel Core i3 processing as an option, scalable memory choices up to 8 GB, and hard disk or solid state drives options, the SurePOS 700 packs 10 percent to 50 percent more performance power, faster processing and extra storage capacity to drive the most demanding consumer service and enterprise applications.  High speed networking enables consumers and employees to rapidly access cross-channel offerings.  Support for dual video displays with superior graphics helps deliver an engaging, interactive customer experience.

Increased efficiency and reliability means fast ROI and more profit.  Checkout lanes that can be put into service in a matter of seconds help lower employee costs and satisfy shoppers who, too often, abandon their purchases rather than wait in line.  The IBM SurePOS 700, with easy-to-wake deep sleep, enables stores to provide customer service on demand, saving up to 47 percent in energy and optimizing staff time.  IBM Light-Path Management visual indicators on the front panel of the SurePOS signal potential system failures and allow easy diagnosis and correction before problems occur, keeping business moving.  Remote monitoring of environmental variables enables proactive servicing and maintenance.  Retail-hardening helps insure systems provide reliable service in the most harsh and rigorous store locations.  The open standards platform reduces the complexity of system integration with new and legacy systems, and the virtually tool-free design helps lower service costs.

The IBM SurePOS 700 offers a new low profile, distributed cover that increases opportunities for store placement while promoting energy efficiency and easy maintenance.  Built to accommodate performance enhancements that might result in overheating, discreet air vents on the bezel allow front-to-back airflow and eliminate the need for side vents, providing flexibility in placing the system under counters or tight spaces in the store.  Models are also available in distributed and integrated configurations with traditional covers.  Virtually tool-free, secure and easy front access to internal components maximizes uptime and usability.  Additionally a service lifecycle of up to seven years and highly scalable technology that integrates with legacy systems helps retailers get maximum use of their SurePOS 700 now and into the future. 

Who Has the Keys to Your Business?

Who has access to your business systems and what do they have access to?

This is hopefully an easy question to answer.  If not, then you have an exposure in your company that needs to be addressed quickly.  Controlling the specific authorized access to all end users of the systems that run a business is an important principle that needs constant maintenance and monitoring.

Access control is defined as a system which enables an authority to control access to areas and resources in a given physical facility or computer-based information system.  This conveys two important points: first, systems need to be physically secured and second, they need to be electronically secured.  Simple measures such as locking the office door and only providing authorized people with a key is a good start.  The next step is implementing a simple plan and responsible persons to manage and maintain all end user credentials and authorizations to meet some basic goals:

1) Develop role-based access levels - what roles need to perform what system tasks.

2) Create unique credentials for each user assigned to a role - no log in sharing!

3) Encourage users to use best practices for password protection: 

Always use strong passwords. For more information, search "strong passwords" on the Internet.

If passwords must be written down on a piece of paper, store the paper in a secure place and destroy it when it is no longer needed.

Never share passwords with anyone!  Use different passwords for all user accounts.

 

Change passwords immediately if they may have been compromised.

Be careful about where passwords are saved on computers.  Some dialog boxes, such as those for remote access and other telephone connections, present an option to save or remember a password.  Selecting this option poses a potential security threat.

4) Remove credentials for any employees leaving employ immediately.

5) Review user access roles routinely and keep updated appropriately.

Instituting and following these best practices will help secure your business systems, minimizing exposure to issues related to unauthorized access.  Be proactive and make sure you have these measures in place before you wish you had.  Remember these are the keys to your business.

Three Strategies for Loyalty

In today’s economy, retailers face a type of change that is uncommon.  We are at the verge of a historic moment of financial, technological and social changes that are reshaping the entire industry.  The challenges are daunting but the opportunities are tantalizing.  However, the key to success is not always clear.  While there is no guaranteed method to success, here are three key strategies that will help retailers gain a competitive edge.

The first strategy is giving reward.  Give your customers a thank you.  In exchange, you could gain insights into what they value as consumers.  This is also known as a "hard benefit."

The second strategy is to give recognition. In addition to issuing a loyalty card and giving loyalty discounts, you recognize your valued customers with gestures that go beyond the dollars and cents.  This could be complimentary upgrades, preferred booking status or front-of-the-line access to special events.  This is known as a "soft benefit."  Today's "best customers" have a higher expectation of recognition, and they have come to expect to be acknowledged for their continued loyalty.

The third strategy is what most major retailers are working to gain - relevance.  As traditional means of communication are increasingly replaced by mediums like social media and mobile, connecting with the consumer has become a challenging task.  Today’s consumers are bombarded by competing messages in every form possible from market competitors.  The challenge is to reach out to consumers with information that pertains to their needs.

These three strategies may seem simple and many retailers are already implementing them.  Again, the key to success is to “listen” to your customers and measure their satisfaction beyond the “hard benefits”.  This could be achieved with a well-designed customer feedback system and the incorporation of mobile and social media to create a customized shopping experience for each consumer.  This will allow each consumer to create what’s important to them and allow the retailers to fulfill their needs and beyond.

Foster a Positive Work Environment

Have you ever been in a situation where you felt like your work was going unnoticed?  If so you are with the majority of employees.  This can lead to a state of melancholy and lower production costing the company time and money.  This problem can in part be rectified with a little gratitude and positive feedback.  If you put more emphasis on leading by positivity and gratitude you can improve work output, employee attitude, and confidence.

Below are five ways you can foster a more positive work environment.

Combine gratitude and feedback. Try providing employees with specific feedback.  This can be a great teaching tool as well as a motivator and will build trust with your employees.

Be specific and authentic. When you give feedback make sure that it is genuine and true.  Try thanking the employee for staying late when asked or getting that special project completed on time.

Give routine compliments. The more you give positive feedback the better.  Employees are always open to receiving a “job well done” or “thanks for all your hard work”.  However, be careful not to overdue the compliments as you run the risk of sounding insincere.

Make gratitude either intimate or public (but not casual). Sometimes it is not enough to just give the causal “thank you”.  Try talking to an employee one on one or in front of the team as a whole.  This not only will give the employee great feedback but will show the team that you care.

Leave notes. A hand written note can go a long way with employees and bosses alike.  E-mails and text messages can be used but are not as intimate.

It is essential to also point out where an employee may need to improve.  If you are going to do this make sure there are some real positives highlighted as well.

GS1 Databar Update

The Joint Industry Coupon Committee, JICC, which includes representatives from Grocery Manufacturers Association, Food Marketing Institute, National Grocers Association, National Association of Chain Drug Stores and GS1 US, adopted the "expanded stacked" version of the DataBar, to replace the UPC-A bar code on coupons in 2007.
 
Since 2008, coupons have included both the DataBar and the traditional UPC-A bar code, an interim format intended to ease the transition to DataBar-only coupons.
 
Recently the percentages of GS1 only coupons have risen steadily overtaking the number of dual bar coded coupons. In a recent Sunday newspaper insert 36 of the 54 coupons contained only the GS1 formatted barcode. With this increase your store needs to support this new format or manually enter the coupon amounts.  Being unable to accept these coupons will slow the lines, open the chance for fraud, as well as the chance for increasing errors.  This changeover was originally scheduled for January of 2010 and then rescheduled for January 2011 when several of the parties involved were unable to make the first deadline.  Unofficially the start would have been last July 2011, which also came and went.  Now the number of GS1 only coupons indicates the change is occurring.  Make sure your store can scan these coupons and make use of the technologies that have been developed. Call or email STCR Sales today for assistance in finding if your system is ready!

For a more detailed breakdown of the GS1 barcode format take a look at the STCR Newsletter archives at this link:

http://support.stcr.com/Newsletter/Mar_11_Newsletter.htm#GS1

Good Interview Questions

It’s said that a business is only as good as its people and small business owners recognize how good employees help to make their business successful.  The interview is one of the most important steps in finding good people for your business and asking the right questions will help a small business owner pick the best candidates.

Some questions to ask when interviewing a potential employee:

Give an example of a time you had to make a quick decision or adapt quickly.  In small business responsibilities are shared and the need to make quick decisions and respond quickly to situations is vital to the success of the business.

Give an example of a time when you exceeded expectations.  This question not only allows the candidate to brag about their accomplishments but also allows you to see their approach to problems and thought processes.

How have you demonstrated initiative and a willingness to work in the past?  When you ask this you are really asking the candidate if they can take action whether you are there or not.  Small businesses need people who can step in smoothly and flawlessly in your absence – sometimes this can mean staying late or doing things that aren’t in the job description.

Why should I hire you?  This offers the candidate a chance to discuss talents you might not have thought to ask about and also to show how persuasive they can be.  Small businesses are faced with many situations where they are competing for resources, business, money, or more and the ability to persuade others is a boon to any business.

IBM® SurePOS™ 300 Series Model 350

The IBM® SurePOS™ 300 Series Model 350 is for retailers who need small, versatile point-of-sale systems with advanced technology to drive high-demand store solutions, with the lowest possible risk and cost. Built with unique features such as the Intel™ Celeron™ T3100 mobile processor and solid-state drive options, the new SurePOS™ 300 packs 60% more performance power without additional energy consumption.

The Next-generation technology of the Intel™ Celeron™ T3100 mobile processor enables better high-demand customer service solutions. Solid-state drive options (one or two) offer opportunity to increase reliability and improve performance. The NVRAM option enables 4690 OS V6.31 Enhanced terminal support.

The energy-efficient deep-sleep lanes are ready to use in seconds. Mobile, earth-friendly technology and an 80 PLUS Gold efficient power supply promotes greener business while recyclable packaging helps reduce waste.

By being the smallest IBM POS™ it saves valuable selling space while providing remarkable versatility and flexible choices for placement to compliment the store image and customer experience.

Reprinted from the IBM Web.

Customer Experience

Retailers are constantly competing for customers and customer loyalty. There are many different ways to attract and retain customers. The obvious way is price. Price matters, but so does product availability, brand loyalty and advertising. The factor that contributes most to a successful sale is the customer’s shopping experience. When a shopper has a great experience, loyalty is created. Study has shown that customers will accept less selection, travel a longer distance and even pay more to have a better shopping experience. Here are five ideas that will help a retailer to create a successful shopping experience.

1.  The first step is to understand the shoppers’ expectations so you could have a plan to exceed their expectations. This may sound obvious but there is no one-size-fits-all. Retailers must meet and exceed individual shopper’s expectation without creating distraction. For example, you want to let the shoppers know that help is available. However, constantly asking them if they need assistance may create the opposite effect.
2. Increase pre-sale experience. Before a retailer could offer a better shopping experience to their customers, they have to draw customers to the store. Advertising, brand messages, store locations and exterior signage are among the important pre-sale experiences that help shape consumer expectations prior to in-store sale. Inside the store, features like merchandising strategies, interior signage, tags, employee dress code and checkout process further contribute to a successful shopping experience.
3. The most powerful factor that could shape the consumer’s experience is the store’s staff. Of all the factors, what the employees do, how they dress, what they say, how they say it and when they say it have the greatest impact on the shopping experience. It is the human touch that makes the greatest difference. Consequently, retails must not only evaluate employee’s current contributions but discover how to increase their motivation, reinforce positive behavior that contributes to shopping experience and discourage behavior that doesn’t.
4. Define the experience. The essence of defining the shopper experience lies in taking steps that will increase the trust that consumers feel for the store and the relationship the store establishes with their shoppers. The theme must have substance and be credible and demonstrable. Some of the tangible services include carry-out service, personal shopper, house accounts and home delivery.
5. After defining and identifying the above elements, the retailer must ensure that each element is in alignment with the desired shopping experience. You must ask “How does this element contribute to the customer’s expectation and experience?” A single inconsistency can be serious enough to undermine the consumer trust and credibility.

To design and deliver a successful consumer experience thoughtful assessment of customer needs is required. A thorough evaluation of the current environment and a clear vision make a significant difference in the subsequent performance of the retailer and in the clarity of the message that each sign, advertisement and employee communicates to the customer.

Digital Coupons

In a study by GfK Knowledge Networks, a full service research firm, shows that digital coupon users shop more frequently and spend significantly more during each trip than the average consumer

The study looked at the shopping behavior of over 200,000 households that use digital coupons. Thee households were identified as having redeemed coupons from Coupons.com or one of the many websites in the Coupons.com digital coupon network.

The study showed the following:

• Digital coupon users make 22 percent more shopping trips per year.
• Digital coupon users spend 23 percent more per shopping trip.
• Digital coupon users spend 49 percent more per year.
• Digital coupon users make 48 percent more trips to stock up.

More than 55.7 million American consumers are now using online coupons, representing 25 percent of the U.S. population.