BlueStar Retail & Payment News

Solution Spotlight

Introducing Solutions For 2024

Embark on an exploration of the 2024 trends shaping retail and hospitality. Discover the latest solutions from Custom, Elo, and Ergonomic Solutions changing the way our local shops and cafes operate. The new technology on show can help your customers in a variety of ways for example increasing their sales without extra personnel with applications like outdoor drive-through kiosks and seamless indoor ordering.

Retail & Technology Trends

Richard is joined by Zebra’s Retail Strategy Director Mark Thomson for this analysis of the latest technology and trends for retail. The podcast starts with a look at the challenges facing retailers today, such as inflationary pressure, labour availability, consumer behavioural shifts, omnichannel complexity, sustainability and war and political uncertainty. We examine how these Pillars of Dismay are causing retailers to respond to the resulting pressure. This leads the conversation on to what new technology solutions are emerging to address these challenges. We take a look at some of the product releases introduced at the NRF Retail’s Big Show and how these emerging technologies address these, and other issues impacting today’s retailers.

Event Summary

What's New NRF & Euroshop,

Worldline at EuroCIS

Richard Austin

2024 started with the usual flurry of trade shows, with manufacturers touting their latest wares at exhibitions including NRF and EuroCIS in January and February.

I visited NRF from 14^th – 16^th January and as always this was a huge event (it’s not called Retail’s Big Show for nothing) with lots of activity surrounding the show as well as on the exhibition floor. Let’s just say that there was no shortage of things to do of an evening.

Again, this year NRF was on two floors, with the upstairs primarily dedicated to the larger, more established manufacturers and the downstairs showcasing ISVs, startups and even a new hospitality focused section of the underground floor. Self-service, self- and assisted checkout were ubiquitous in both areas. Retailers are increasingly required to offer a range of checkout options based on growing and diverse demand from their shoppers. I was particularly taken with some of the innovative assisted selling trolleys with built in tablets and using AI technology to bridge the gap between online and in-store shopping, allowing product recommendations and promotions to happen as you shop. Zebra’s new PS30 Personal Shopper also addresses this, along with the challenges of needing to remove the technology from the trolley before leaving it in a supermarket car park.

In fact, AI was everywhere at the show, powering solutions for everything from call centres to decision making to facial recognition to analytics and even helping retailers to make the right choice of music to play in their stores.

Much of this technology contributes to the frictionless experience retailers are looking to deliver to their customers. Another great example of how frictionless technology can be deployed in retail comes from some of the new payment solutions launched by ELO at NRF, enabling retailers’ staff to bring the point of sale, along with guided selling opportunities, concluding the transaction on the same device with payment.

Although not quite as big as NRF or its big sister EuroShop, this year’s EuroCIS (27^th-29^th February) took advantage of the extra day in February to showcase a wide range of retail technology innovations and new releases. Custom’s stand featured some of their latest products, including the brand-new Silk II Android and Aragon Windows POS terminals.

One of the highlights of Ergonomic Solutions’ stand at EuroCIS was their new outdoor kiosk, which, combined with ELO’s new 27” outdoor open frame monitor makes self-service a reality without actually having to enter the shop or restaurant.

ISV partnerships were an important part of ELO’s stand, featuring solutions for self-service, including a live coffee ordering solution (I may have slightly outstayed my welcome here every day of the show), endless aisle and payments.

BlueStar joined up with ISV partner Worldline on Zebra’s booth to demonstrate how a Softpos application on Zebra hardware sold through resellers can benefit retailers, restaurants and even logistics companies by allowing payments to be taken anywhere where you have a compatible NFC and Android enabled device. Also on the Zebra stand, Numitri used camera technology in self-checkout devices to verify important security aspects of a transaction such as the age of the shopper and to confirm that the image of the product being scanned matches its actual appearance.

All in all, a very busy start to the year which sets things up well for forthcoming events such as the Retail Technology Shows in London and Stockholm over the next couple of months.

Retail Realities: Navigating Online Threats & Enhancing In-Store Experiences

Richard is joined by Laura Testa Europe Sales Manager and Will Dickinson Territory Manager from Custom to look at the threat posed by online retailers to traditional retailers. We discuss how online has become a threat to physical retail and which factors have played a role in this, including shifting demographics and rising costs, plus what the impact of this has been on physical retailers. We also look at some of the downsides of a pure online approach to retail, including security questions, and even environmental issues. We examine ways in which physical retailers can respond to the threat from online, including personalisation, AI and streamlining processes to enhance the customer’s instore experience.

Nordic Event Summary

What's Cooking?

Morten Kruse

Towards the end of 2023, discussions arose about the POS initiatives to embark upon in early 2024. Seizing the opportunity presented by manufacturers launching innovative solutions at the year's premier POS event, NRF, seemed like a delectable idea. The concept of unveiling these local tidings in a vibrant format, paired with a delightful networking activity that morphed into a communal cooking experience, materialized. Thus, "What's Cooking" became a reality, generously supported by manufacturers, sparking the commencement of a Nordic roadshow.

The inaugural event unfolded here in Denmark, not without its culinary challenges along the way, all expertly resolved. Set against the picturesque backdrop of a charming estate just outside Aarhus, we commenced with a welcoming sip of coffee. Subsequently, presentations and hands-on sessions featuring MicroTouch who talked about the new MACH series latest OS versions and with optical bonding, perfect fit for POS and self-service applications. Custom was showing the new concept called Connect, easy configurable self-service stands and the new Aragon POS terminal. Epson talked about MPOS solution showing the TM-m30II-SL, very cool printer setup with integration for tablets. Zebra talked about the technology span of their product portfolio, where tablets with NFC on the front for Softpos applications is an interesting solution with big potential. As the aroma of coffee made way for bubbles and snacks, the evening's progression was masterfully orchestrated by the French chef Bruno. Ensuring the dishes we endeavored to cook were flavorful, the atmosphere buzzed with lively conversations and high spirits. New connections were forged, existing ones fortified, paving the way for numerous opportunities for closer collaboration in the future.

After relishing in rich espresso and savoring Creme Brulee, we expressed gratitude for a delightful afternoon and evening. Next stop: Stockholm - an exciting gastronomic adventure awaits!

Industry Insights

Embracing Warehouse Automation 

Emma Edwards