Can Your Cash Register Do This?

By John Roach, Editor, Retail Solutions Online

When today's high-tech POS innovations become ubiquitous — and ideas that boost sales and customer satisfaction generally do — the idea of a "cash register" may become as dated as a VCR. (Will the expression "Ch-ching!" fade away too?) Retail POS technology's 21st-century makeover offers the promise of customized sales pitches, interactive upsell opportunities, speedy cell phone payments, remote system management, and substantial energy cost savings for retailers. And that's just the start: Wait until consumers get their hands on it.

What will this next-generation POS system look like? Intel, the world's largest semiconductor manufacturer, unveiled its vision at NRF with a proof-of-concept system: an eye-catching 6 ½-foot-tall, 6-foot-long kiosk with 26-inch LCD touch screens. Consumers can operate the multi-purpose device individually or alongside a sales associate. When not in use, it can also be a stand-alone displaying digital messages.

The kiosk's futuristic good looks make it a consumer magnet — but its appearance is only a small part of its overall appeal. With the swipe of an RFID-enabled loyalty card, consumers can view their purchasing history, related sales promotions, product details, and customer reviews on one of the system's touch screens. It will even direct customers to a product's exact location in the store, further merging consumers' growing need for data with the hands-on benefits of in-store, touch-and-feel shopping.

However, Intel's concept hardly signals the death of the salesman. Upselling and cross-selling opportunities abound when the kiosk is used as a POS system, with the salesperson on one side and the customer on the other. As the salesperson uses the touch screen to drag products into an on-screen cart, in-store offers appear, as do related product suggestions and inventory status. With a little suggestive selling and a simple drag-and-drop, the salesperson can move any of the customer's additional selections into the cart.

When it comes to payment, credit cards may join cash registers as relics of the last century. Near Field Communication (NFC) wireless technology allows the customer to simply wave his cell phone past the Intel system's reader to check out, and the receipt will be sent to the phone. "We're talking about future selling concepts, so we wanted to incorporate things like RFID, NFC, and e-receipt into the POS system, because those technologies will be delivered in the near future," Ed Hill, marketing manager, Intel's Embedded Computing Division, recently told me.

Intel looked out for retailers in other ways when designing the system. For example, it uses Intel's Core2 Duo mobile processor, which the company claims will reduce power consumption by 70% compared to legacy processors, lowering retailers' energy bills. Also, Intel's vPro technology allows administrators to manage a retailer's entire fleet of systems remotely, which reduces the need for on-site maintenance and allows the systems to be turned off overnight to increase energy savings. Finally, the system's modular design facilitates easy upgrades to next-generation computer platforms, enabling retailers to easily adopt and implement new technologies.

While Intel's kiosk is just a concept today, it nonetheless holds real-world promise for retailers. The company is currently talking to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), retailers, and software providers about making the idea — or at least aspects of it — a reality. "I foresee the OEMs and retailers determining how to take the concept and deploy it in a retail setting," Hill told me. "If that's as an all-in-one solution, great. Retailers and OEMs may take bits and pieces and incorporate them into some other design. That's the idea behind this concept: to show what's possible and let the experts take it from there."

Have a comment about this article? Let me know. Contact me at jroach@vertmarkets.com.

Image courtesy of Intel. For more information, click here.