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Retail IT suppliers promote technology that not only improves the customer experience, but also enables better inventory planning, writes Retail Technology editor Miya Knights

While technology components may be used to power human sensory and interactive retail experiences, some are being designed boost inventory and store planning at the same time.

IT companies exhibiting at the National Retail Federation’s ‘Retail Big Show’ this week highlighted innovation new capabilities with existing technologies. Intel, for example, showcased a new spin on the electronic shelf-edge label (ESL) for Metro Group hypermarket Real. 

IT operations investment

The ESLs were installed on end-cap displays at a future store to increase awareness of new diary products with eye-catching animations and instantly change pricing on soon-to-expire items. The shelf labels contain an LCD module that can display price, product information and high-definition (HD) video. The content management system runs on an Intel Core processor-based platform with Intel Active Management Technology (AMT).

“ESL investments may previously have been tied to operational pricing and printing costs,” said Alex Flores, Intel product marketing manager. The supermarket was he added, however, able to take advantage of the visual impact of the dynamic HD technology to run promotions and target wastage. “The retailer has also been strategic in where they deployed it – on the end cap,” he added.

Refreshing interactive vending

Another of Intel’s customers, Pepsi, showcased its interactive vending machine, powered by Intel Core processors, provides users with a new digital experience. Flores told Retail Technology that the interactive system is designed to be retro fitted to older style vending machines, features gesture recognition and is near-field communications (NFC) enabled for smartphone or card payments.

Consumers are able to view current commercials as well as nutritional information about products sold by the machine. They can also send the gift of refreshment to others. The machines are connected to the cloud, enabling PepsiCo to remotely manage inventory levels, schedule deliveries and instantly update digital content and messaging.

Back to the future

No demonstration would be complete without some truly futuristic concepts, and Intel was no exception with its robotic shelf compliance system developed in conjunction with researchers at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU).

The AndyVision robot uses the latest digital image recognition technology to ensure product placement on store shelves fits planogram models. Professor Narasimhan at CMU said it could enable retailers to minimise inventory distortion, defined as the absolute value of the sum of out-of-stocks and overstocks, which can lead to lost sales (out-of-stock) and discounting (overstocks). 

“Most other [on-shelf availability technology] solutions use one type of information,” she added. “But there are so many inputs of information: product text, shape, brand name, store structure. Plus AndyVision outputs are planogram agnostic.” The system also features a touchscreen tablet to fulfil customer-facing roles, such as assistant calling, as it navigates its way around the store.

Narasimhan said the system had been trialled in the university campus store: “It resulted in an uplift in sales of items it showed on its screen.” But she added: “A robot is one possible realisation. You could have it on shopping trolleys that use crowd sourcing or use shelf-level robots with cameras that will be autonomous and carry digital signs designed to interact with mobile images.”