New Research Shows In-store Technology Critical for Retail Growth, Improving Customer Relationships

PALO ALTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Seventy percent of retailers are empowering their employees with technology-enabled touch points to help their businesses to differentiate and evolve, according to a recent RSR Research report cosponsored by HP (NYSE: HPQ).⁽¹⁾

“The 21st Century Store: The Search for Relevance.”

By arming their staff with a range of technologies that provide relevant and timely information – such as digital signage, self-service kiosks, mobile devices and advanced point-of-sale (POS) systems – retailers can increase productivity and boost multichannel selling opportunities.

Other key findings in the June 2011 survey of nearly 100 retail executives from around the world include:

• Retailers see valuable support in self-service kiosks (43 percent) and cross-channel customer and inventory synchronization technologies through real-time updates (70 percent).
• Seventy-eight percent of retailers listed their modern POS systems as an important factor in the customer experience. Offering in-store rewards or coupons also is seen as critical (75 percent).
• Fifty-seven percent of retailers believe delivering information to store-owned phones, tablets and PDAs has a lot of potential value. In 2010, only 21 percent perceived these solutions as valuable. ⁽²⁾

“Customers have raised the bar, and successful retailers realize that the traditional means of educating employees and interacting with customers is no longer enough,” said Ray Carlin, vice president, Retail Solutions Global Business Unit, HP. “We provide a flexible store platform to help retailers deliver multichannel selling opportunities and a more engaging shopping experience.”

HP’s in-store solutions include the HP LD4200tm 42-inch Widescreen LCD Interactive Digital Signage Display, HP SignagePlayer mp8000 and HP Self-Service Kiosks. With these new technologies, retailers have the ability to run real-time promotions, share information more efficiently and locate and ship merchandise from other parts of the company to replenish out-of-stock merchandise.

The research report is available for download at “The 21st Century Store: The Search for Relevance.”

More information on HP’s retail solutions is available at www.hp.com/go/hpretail. Join the discussions on Twitter @HP_Retail and in the HP Retail Technology and Solutions LinkedIn group.

About HP

HP creates new possibilities for technology to have a meaningful impact on people, businesses, governments and society. The world’s largest technology company, HP brings together a portfolio that spans printing, personal computing, software, services and IT infrastructure at the convergence of the cloud and connectivity, creating seamless, secure, context-aware experiences for a connected world. More information about HP is available at http://www.hp.com.

(1) “The 21st Century Store: The Search for Relevance,” RSR Research, June 2011.

(2) “The Customer Centric Store: How Retailers Engage Tech-enabled Customers,” RSR Research, June 2011.

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