ORLANDO, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--NCR SYNERGY 2015 – NCR Corporation (NYSE: NCR), the global leader in consumer transaction technologies, today announced NCR Retail ONE, a new commerce hub that unites an open ecosystem of retail applications and data with an omnichannel software platform to provide frictionless shopping experiences for consumers. NCR has also announced that leading retail technology innovators, including Microsoft, Inmar, Freshub, Cisco and Intel, have voiced support for the NCR Retail ONE commerce hub vision and strategy during its launch at NCR Synergy in Orlando this week.
Cloud, on-premise software or hybrid implementations of NCR Retail ONE provide retailers with the choice and flexibility they value. NCR Retail ONE also allows retailers to mix and match innovative applications from NCR, its partners and third parties that can be easily and seamlessly deployed. The open nature of the new ecosystem of applications and the omnichannel platform allows retailers to differentiate their businesses in an increasingly competitive retail environment using existing assets. It also provides an evolutionary path for retailers as they prepare for and seek to capitalize on a future enabled by the Internet of Things (IoT) and Big Data.
While 86 percent of retailers plan to implement a unified commerce system consolidating key data, business rules and functionality1, 40 percent admit that they are struggling to integrate legacy systems across channels2. It is clear that the desire for seamless customer experiences is a priority for retailers, but broad deployment of omnichannel platforms must also provide an evolutionary path for retailers to leverage the potential of the IoT in the future.
With the worldwide IoT market expected to grow 19 percent in 2015, according to IDC, the trend is clear. 60 percent of retailers surveyed by IDC last year said they were actively pursuing IoT technology-based initiatives, and 10.5 percent of the average retail IT budget is currently being allocated to IoT initiatives.
“Increasingly digitally savvy and mobile-enabled consumers expect retailers to offer an integrated online and brick-and-mortar based shopping experience, with services such as wish lists, click (or reserve) and collect, and real-time digital store stock checks, for greater speed, convenience and value," said Miya Knights, Senior Research Analyst, IDC Retail Insights. "This is putting huge pressure on retailers to transform their businesses, which they have traditionally run as a number of standalone channels. But many are finding that current IT investments make it difficult to keep up in terms of enhancing customer awareness, consideration, conversion, and loyalty across the entire shopper journey regardless of how many channels it may touch.”
Knights continued, “NCR is one of the few vendors currently responding to these challenges by offering retailers the means to meet such challenges via tighter omnichannel integration in a phased and pragmatic way that is designed to help them maximize the value of their existing, legacy IT assets, while enabling them to update heavily IT-reliant processes and services that can offer further value and differentiation in highly competitive markets.”
Accelerating the shift from store-centric to consumer-centric experiences, NCR Retail ONE makes the most of today’s retail touchpoints, while enabling the touchpoints of tomorrow. This is achieved by implementing NCR Retail ONE commerce hub using the cloud, on-premise software or a hybrid of both.
“The possibilities created by technology are shaping the future of retail,” said Michael Bayer, President at NCR Retail Solutions. “On the one hand, empowered consumers demand a frictionless shopping experience delivered anywhere, anyhow, anytime. On the other, retailers have the opportunity to engage with and derive value from consumers in entirely new ways. To capitalize on this dynamic, retailers must ensure they are well-positioned to keep pace. NCR Retail ONE commerce hub provides the answer to these challenges, unleashing the potential for retailers and re-defining the shopping experience for consumers.”
Benefits of the new commerce hub include faster time to market and accelerating innovation by breaking down technology silos and enabling true omnicommerce. NCR Retail ONE provides the interconnectivity needed to achieve this, and handle complex volumes of data generated by retail business. It also provides the advanced analytics to ensure that actionable insight can be derived from the huge volumes of data.
At the same time, NCR Retail ONE offers a cost-effective, gradual transition by integrating and leveraging existing hardware and software assets to increase the efficiency of retail operations. Retailers are able to choose applications from a portfolio that is customized to meet their unique business needs and provides the agility and adaptability that they demand. This approach to applications also reduces time to market as retailers deploy new services for their customers.
NCR Retail ONE commerce hub connects to a continuously expanding selection of applications, ranging from point-of-sale (POS) to clienteling to mobile - all developed by NCR, its partners and third parties. Published, standardized and stable interfaces provide a base level of interoperability across any application.
For more detail on NCR Retail ONE commerce hub go to http://www.ncr.com/retail/ncr-retail-one?type=pr_release.
Editor’s Note:
1. NRF, Ecommerce Europe and Ecommerce Foundation Report - Retailers Respond to Connected Consumers with a Unified Commerce Platform
2. 2014 Celerant Technology Group Survey
About NCR Corporation
NCR Corporation (NYSE: NCR) is the global leader in consumer transaction technologies, turning everyday interactions with businesses into exceptional experiences. With its software, hardware, and portfolio of services, NCR enables more than 550 million transactions daily across retail, financial, travel, hospitality, telecom and technology, and small business. NCR solutions run the everyday transactions that make your life easier.
NCR is headquartered in Duluth, Georgia with over 30,000 employees and does business in 180 countries. NCR is a trademark of NCR Corporation in the United States and other countries.
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