GlobalShop: Day 1 news roundup

by James Bickers — Editor, Networld Alliance

March 17, 2008

CHICAGO — Today was opening day for GlobalShop 2008, the 16th installment of the trade show devoted to store design, visual merchandising and in-store…

RFID a boon for retailers, bane for privacy advocates

March 16, 2008

Associated Press: The problem with RFID, critics say, is that the microchipping of products might have unintended consequences. With tags in so many objects…

AOL launches paperless coupon program

March 12, 2008

DULLES, Va. — AOL has launched Shortcuts, its free service for paperless online coupons. The first retail partner to endorse the program is The Kroger Co., the…

Freedom Shopping unveils RFID checkout solution

March 12, 2008

HICKORY, N.C. — Freedom Shopping Inc. announced the availability of an OEM offering that plugs into existing cash registers and point-of-sale terminals to…

Kroger testing wireless coupons

March 9, 2008

Advertising Age: Five top package-goods manufacturers are using mobile phones in an effort to revive the art of coupon redemption. Procter & Gamble…

Fotozines revive novelty concept

Theme park favorites making their way into malls, cinemas.

StreamGuys unveils IP-based ad insertion for in-store audio

March 5, 2008

LAS VEGAS — At this year's Digital Signage Expo, Barix AG of Switzerland, StreamGuys Inc. of Northern California and MOH Technologies AG, a partner of Barix…

Convergence of digital signage, kiosks requires common strategy

March 2, 2008

The growing popularity of digital signage and the strong footprint already established by kiosks makes it impossible for businesses to ignore the two coming…

Grabbing shoppers by the nose

by James Bickers — Editor, Networld Alliance

Intentional use of scents can profoundly impact the customer experience.

Singapore grocer testing RFID cart this year

February 26, 2008

ZDNet Asia: Singapore supermarket chain Cold Storage says it will be the first in Asia to implement "technology-enabled" shopping carts by the end of this…

IBM, Microsoft to collaborate on plug-and-play POS

February 25, 2008

REDMOND, Wash. — Microsoft Corp. announced that it is working with IBM to deliver a Windows Embedded-based "plug-and-play" solution to help make it faster and…

Wal-Mart, Target facing lawsuit over RFID use

February 25, 2008

CNET: Behind the scenes, Wal-Mart and Target use radio-frequency identification tracking systems to keep their shelves stocked, but that method could face new…

EU may require deactivation of RFID tags at the POS

February 24, 2008

Reuters: RFID tags embedded in items ranging from pets to retail products will have to be deactivated at the point of sale to protect purchasers' privacy…

New RFID system for apparel retailers includes 'magic mirror'

February 19, 2008

DUSSELDORF, Germany — TAGSYS, a provider of item-level RFID infrastructure, announced a new suite of RFID products aimed at apparel retailers.

Starbucks to offer both free and paid Wi-Fi

February 13, 2008

Display & Design Ideas: Starbucks Corp. and AT&T announced plans to deliver AT&T Wi-FiSM service at more than 7,000 company-operated Starbucks…

Borders concept store includes digital services

February 13, 2008

USA Today: Borders' new concept store, located in its home town of Ann Arbor, Mich., features a digital center where customers can download music or books…

New Nokia store designed for interactive retailing

February 12, 2008

Design Week: A new Nokia concept store is built around an interactive customer experience, with functioning handsets for customers to play with and a…

Software-as-a-service for in-store digital signage

February 11, 2008

The distribution model is one of the most important aspects to investigate when selecting digital signage software.

Clarity UC solution lets sales associates go mobile

February 11, 2008

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Clarity Consulting Inc. demonstrated a new Unified Communications (UC) retail solution today at Microsoft's Office System Developer…

Healthnotes program shown to increase shopper satisfaction, drive sales

February 6, 2008

PORTLAND, Ore. — Healthnotes announced results of an in-store test conducted by an independent firm showing that the company's "Fresh Ideas" program drives…