Another year, another NRF Convention and Expo in the books, and as much as mobile and social media were trends this year, there remained a concentration on the foundation of retail, customer service. Customer-centricity was the buzz word and it could be seen everywhere. It was clear the new technologies at the show served to enhance the customer experience. 

Much like many others in the retail industry, our year kicks off with bang at NRF’s 101st Annual Convention & EXPO in New York.  On our last blog post, we touched on the many interactive activities we will have at our booth (2921), and we are truly excited to showcase our technology to the movers and shakers in our line of work.

The true benefit at an event like “Retail’s Big Show” is the exchange of new ideas, something that is inevitable when you gather a large group of innovators.  NRF’s flagship conference has excelled at this type of exchange in recent years, and this year’s show will prove no different. With keynote speeches by President Bill Clinton and Executive Vice President of Advertising, Marketing and Corporate Communications at Ralph Lauren Corporation, David Lauren, the show is guaranteed to provide insight and knowledge about the direction of the industry.

With the exchange of new ideas in mind, we invite anyone attending the show to stop by our booth.  We are truly passionate about enhancing the in-store customer experience through the correct application of technology and would be interested hearing your ideas surrounding customer service. And, with Mark Ryski – author of Conversion: The Last Great Retail Metric – onsite, you know he will share great insight about retail analytics and how it can positively affect profitability.

NRF’s 101^st Annual Convention & Expo is almost upon us. We will be at booth #2921 and we hope to see you there!

27 November 2011: Austin Reed has installed visitor analytics at its newly opened flagship store on London’s busy Regent Street, to help the luxury high street retailer deliver its vision for a customer-led service.

NRF 101^st Annual Convention and EXPO is right around the corner.  Next month, many of the world’s largest retailers and partners will converge on New York to share ideas, make connections and showcase the latest and greatest in retail technology. Of course, Irisys will be there highlighting our thermal checkout line management and people counting solutions.

As retailers seek new ways to drive store traffic, consumers’ opinions about what is and is not considered acceptable customer service is being heard loud and clear. For example, consumers no longer have to be cursed with lengthy checkout lines as more and more retailers adopt technology that creates “smart” stores – giving them a competitive advantage over “yesterday’s” retail experience.

Contrary to what many of us learned from the 1987 movie “Predator” – which was among the first motion pictures to take infrared and thermal imaging technology to the big screen – the benefits of the military technology greatly surpass what we might remember. Even before its onscreen debut, infrared and thermal imaging had been utilized by a variety of industries. Today those industries include retail – which taps TI technology to enhance customer service and drive sales in stores across the globe.

NHS figures show that about nine per cent of patients actually acquire infections during a hospital stay. This costs the Health Service around £1billion annually – money that could be saved by something as simple as regular hand washing.

Recently, our North American President and Sales Director of the World Wide Sensor Business, Chris Precious, was published in Progressive Grocer regarding the importance of checkout lines to attract customers and build lasting customer loyalty.

As many of us know, a well managed front-end can alleviate customer dissatisfaction in retail. This begs the question, why do so many grocers continue to have too few lanes open during the busiest operating hours?

We wrap up our look at predictive checkout management by recapping how Irisys’ technology improves customer experiences, productivity and provides a speedy return on investment. The video also addresses what some of the retailers who utilize Irisys’ solutions in more than 35,000 checkouts worldwide have to say about our Queue Management System.