Epicor launches green IT initiative to help retailers reduce power and paper consumption.

X2 Computing, one of the UK’s fastest growing providers of mobile computing solutions, has announced the immediate availability of the X24 series, a new range of handheld portable PCs. Costing less than other similarly specified systems, they will deliver improved work flow and enhanced productivity in a wide range of point of service applications including retail, gaming, logistics, field service, healthcare, manufacturing and hospitality.

The X24 series features either a standard 3.5” screen with QWERTY keyboard or the largest in class 4.3” resistive touch screen display which is 20% bigger than other commonly used systems.  The toughened glass screen is also daylight readable and enables quick and easy mobile data collection without having to use a stylus in a wide variety of indoor and outdoor environments.  To further speed up the data entry process, the 4.3” versions also feature an on-screen soft keyboard and keypad as well as a range of options including an integrated magnetic stripe reader, barcode scanner and RFID.

According to Francis Davis, Managing Director of X2 Computing.  “This new handheld portable PC is feature-rich and provides users with a cost effective alternative to traditional solutions.  It will deliver significant cost savings to users in a wide range of market sectors.”

The X24 range of handheld portable PCs is based on the RISC 533MHz processor and operates with the Windows CE 6.0 and Windows Mobile 6 operating systems.  They provide VoIP push to talk radio and a range of connectivity options including 3G/UMTS, HSDPA, WLAN, integrated Bluetooth and IrDA connectivity enabling collected data to be transferred seamlessly for back end processing.  The X24 range is also IP54 rated and ruggedised to meet the most stringent performance requirements in harsh environments.

By having this new technology company can work faster because x2 computing is one of the UK’s fastest growing providers of high performance, rugged mobile computing solutions and technologies with customers in a wide range of market sectors around the world including retail, gaming,field service,industrial,commercial, military and government.

Mobile Computers
Rugged mobile computing for the retail supply chain and in-store applications.
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X2 Computing launches new low cost handheld PC
November 25, 2009

X2 Computing, one of the UK’s fastest growing providers of mobile computing solutions, has announced the immediate availability of the X24 series, a new range of handheld portable PCs. Costing less than other similarly specified systems, they will deliver improved work flow and enhanced productivity in a wide range of point of service applications including retail, gaming, logistics, field service, healthcare, manufacturing and hospitality.The X24 series features either a standard 3.5” screen with QWERTY keyboard or the largest in class 4.3” resistive touch screen display which is 20% bigger than other commonly used systems.  The toughened glass screen is also daylight readable and enables quick and easy mobile data collection without having to use a stylus in a wide variety of indoor and outdoor environments.  To further speed up the data entry process, the 4.3” versions also feature an on-screen soft keyboard and keypad as well as a range of options including an integrated magnetic stripe reader, barcode scanner and RFID.

According to Francis Davis, Managing Director of X2 Computing.  “This new handheld portable PC is feature-rich and provides users with a cost effective alternative to traditional solutions.  It will deliver significant cost savings to users in a wide range of market sectors.”

The X24 range of handheld portable PCs is based on the RISC 533MHz processor and operates with the Windows CE 6.0 and Windows Mobile 6 operating systems.  They provide VoIP push to talk radio and a range of connectivity options including 3G/UMTS, HSDPA, WLAN, integrated Bluetooth and IrDA connectivity enabling collected data to be transferred seamlessly for back end processing.  The X24 range is also IP54 rated and ruggedised to meet the most stringent performance requirements in harsh environments.

About X2 Computing Ltd

X2 Computing is one of the UK’s fastest growing providers of high performance, rugged mobile computing solutions and technologies with customers in a wide range of market sectors around the world including retail, gaming, field service, industrial, commercial, military and government.

Self scanning helps retailers reduce shoplifting.

Shoplifting now a day is practiced anywhere. Losses caused by shoplifting are on the rise. A liter of oil, a jar of mushrooms, a bottle of wine. But also batteries, razors, deodorant, lipsticks: all into the inside pockets of heavy jackets, and all without paying. It’s easy to hide from the cameras, security personnel, and theft-prevention devices at the exit. And even if the thief is truly unlucky and gets nabbed, it’s easy to get off with little more than a bad impression.

Countries with modern retail, which is better organized, suffer fewer losses, thanks to strategic choices and the use of source tagging (anti-theft radio frequency technology). Nonetheless, the data that have emerged from the world barometer of retail theft for 2008 showed an overall shortage of three billion euro; specifically, the phenomenon of inventory differences in Europe cut into revenue by 1.38%, and into operating margins to an even great extent, up to 40%. These numbers also burden the pockets of families (estimated at 164 euro for each Italian family), who unfortunately find themselves sharing in the depreciation. Continuing with this analysis, we see that in 2008 a good 798 million euro were invested in security, and 30% of those funds went for surveillance personnel. But does it really represent an adequate solution?

It is important to understand that surveillance staff cannot search customers or inspect the bagged merchandise after they pass through the checkout (both things that officials from the criminal investigation department can do). In fact, the law is full of cases in which shop owners or security guards inspected the clientele, only to later be denounced and indicted, accused of encroachment upon public duties or even kidnapping. Added to this is the possibility of creating situations that border on infringing the protection of privacy, in which customers might begin to feel that shopping is no longer a pleasant experience, but a very stressful one.

So, what are the options? “The real turning point starts with innovative solutions,” explains Luigi Frison, Marketing Manager for Datalogic Mobile EBS, “used inside the store itself. A concrete example is self scanning, which allows for reduced waiting times at the checkout and a direct interaction with the consumer, but also ensures that the retailer has a better understanding of and greater control over its customers.”

Joya immediately comes to mind – it’s the pod from Datalogic that offers a pleasant shopping experience that is completely independent.  “The advantages of Joya in terms of building customer loyalty and optimizing time spent inside the store are well known,” continues Frison, “but the reasoning goes far beyond that.  The customer can only access the pod by swiping his/her store ‘fidelity card’, a gesture that allows the retailer to obtain information about purchasing habits, but also about the ‘correctness’ of how the independent shopping is conducted. We mustn’t forget,” the marketing manager continues, “that with Joya, every customer can read the products until the final receipt is printed. However, in addition to this kind of ‘electronic storage’ of information, the checkout clerk also provides support and monitoring at the register, and the customer must first give the Joya pod to the cashier before receiving a receipt. Result: personal knowledge of individual customers is deeper, and the purchases are checked twice. All of this is done with full respect for privacy, since by using Joya, consumers give permission to the retailer to interact directly with them, providing information that is pertinent to how each of them shops,” Frison explains. “Each customer becomes an effective member of the ‘shopping community’. In that context, the security of the information (directly from the source) allows the retailer to identify the most loyal and the most honest shoppers, and possibly also to research some options to reward their loyalty.”

Self scanning is a very big help for retailers to reduce shoplifting because the investment in self scanning solutions is also extensively amortized  both in the short term and the long term, with a three-fold benefit: monitoring of items selected from the moment the customer enters the store until the receipt is recorded, without resorting to any invasive surveillance procedures; automatic creation of a sort of database of “friendly customers” (and conversely of those at risk); and the ability for retailers to study consumers personally in order to better direct successful marketing strategies.
“This is a concrete monitoring solution for reducing losses caused by differences in inventory,” concludes Frison, “with the knowledge that you are helping to build a safe and pleasant shopping environment, giving consumers and retailers a service that offers innovative added value.”

HMV makes sound investment in kiosk technology

HMV, the specialist retailer of music, DVD/video, computer games and related products, has introduced self-service kiosks into its stores to improve the overall customer experience in a deal with YESpay, a global payments services company, and its partner Neo Products UK Ltd, a specialist in touchscreen kiosks.

Customers will be able to use the kiosks to locate stock, view sample clips as well as ordering content for home delivery. They can also download MP3 tracks for immediate take away on a media or a storage device.

Following a successful trial, the retailer is planning to rollout trasnactions kiosks throughout its entire store network. YESpay’s EMBOSS Chip & PIN payment service integrates with the self-service kiosks, enabling faster, easier and more secure payments. Dave Elston, Ecommerce Manager at HMV, said: “The technology accepts all UK credit and debit cards, allowing prompt payment and delivery of goods securely. With customer demands increasing and people wanting to buy music in new ways it’s important to ensure that with new shopping methods, payments are met securely.”

Elston continued: “This technology will allow us to offer customers a means of ordering and paying for products that were either not available in store or by offering easy payment for audio downloads. Eventually the aim is to roll-out further to all stores, gradually increasing the quantity of kiosks in any given store. We saw over 27,000 product searches conducted over the Christmas period, which we believe have contributed towards physical product sales in stores.”

Instore to unite shops with faster broadband link

Value retail group Instore is upgrading the broadband connections to its stores in a 12-month project following the renewal of a telecoms deal with Vodat International.

According to the http://www.retail-week.com The group’s 335 shops, which trade under the Instore and Poundstretcher fascias, had been linked by 512Kb-per-second broadband.

Over the next year the group – which last week revealed plans to delist from the stock exchange – will upgrade to up to 20Mb-per-second connections to cope with the increasing number of applications it is running over its wide area network.

Poundstretcher senior network analyst Jonty McNea said that the introduction of a single retail system from warehouse to point of sale next year will increase bandwidth requirements. Poundstretcher will move to real-time stock files, replacing its batch stock information update processes.

Applications it is running include e-learning, store music and IPCCTV in many stores.

An additional circuit is being introduced as a backup in event of a central failure, to make sure card transactions are not affected.

The retailer’s plans to delist come as pre-tax losses narrowed in its first half to £3.7m from £7m the previous year.

Total sales increased 2.9% to £139.8m in the 26 weeks to August 29. Like-for like sales rose 1.3%, which it said reflected the favourable weather during the first quarter and strong performances from its textiles and FMCG offers.

New online start-up to mimic eBay

A new website set up by a former clothing manufacturer and retailer claims to have ambitions to be the “biggest rival” to eBay.

This site offers shoppers the chance to buy and sell products, as well as haggle and swap goods.

It has been set up by Yorkshire entrepreneur Dino Kania, who founded clothing manufacturer Bracken Marketing and prior to that worked for Greenwoods Menswear and jeweller Abbeycrest.

Kania, who spent five years establishing the venture, said it is setting out to be a rival to US giants eBay and Amazon.

The site, launched last week, sells everything from jewelery and electrical to houses, land on the moon and a share in a gold mine. It already offers thousands of products.

Kania plans to launch the site in the US next year and then wants to roll it out to 84 other countries.

The site allows shoppers to name their price on goods or swap items for other goods or services. One customer, for example, swapped some organic vegetables for a massage.

Initially, there are two main areas – one to buy and sell, and another called the Megastore. In the Megastore, retailers and brands sell goods, mostly end-of-lines or overstock.

Argos Pushes Range via Mobile Videos

Argos customers can now receive product videos to their mobile phones after its supplier Wow! Stuff created the service to promote its Science Museum range.

In Argos’s Christmas Gift Guide, which was released in stores last week, eight Science Museum products have a TXT4VID logo against them, showing that customers who text one of the product’s names to a short code will receive a video showing the product in action.

Wow! Stuff and TXT4VID founder Richard North thinks that it should be possible to at least double sales of a product from a catalog page using the service. In the past, his company has achieved 300% to 500% increases in sales by running product videos in stores, including on internet-enabled touchscreens.

TXT4VID said that Argos customers should receive a link to the 20-second video within about 10 seconds of sending the text. Customers must have a video- and WAP-enabled phone in order to download the video, and they will incur data charges at the standard rate. However, TXT4VID stressed that it is not making a profit on the service.

The idea of Argos which is sending videos to customers is great!

Foyles Joins Battle for e-book Market Share

Bookseller Foyles has launched an e-book store as the battle for share of the digital books market hots up.

The retailer is backing the launch with a e-reader promotion, offering what it claims to be the cheapest available device.

From tomorrow october 30,2009, Foyles’ online store will carry 57,000 e-book titles and the retailer will sell the BeBook Mini device at a £20 discount for £159. The bookseller will also retail Sony’s Touch Edition and Pocket Edition e-readers.

Foyles chief executive Sam Husain said: “Our ethos has always been ‘Foyles for books’ and now we can add to this ‘however you want to read them’. We are excited by the opportunities to expand the life of the book.”

Lexmark launches new solutions-ready, touch screen laser printer

Lexmark International, Inc. has launched a single-function monochrome A4 laser printer with a touch screen, providing businesses the ability to tap into a powerful solutions platform and work more efficiently.

Personally i like this touch screen laser printer because of the features. The Lexmark T656dne monochrome laser printer enables customers to expand the usefulness of their device to meet specific needs within their business by utilizing Lexmark’s Embedded Solutions Framework (eSF). Lexmark provides value-added capabilities as a standard offering by leveraging its eSF platform, which enables customizable or industry-specific solutions to streamline paper-based processes, increasing productivity and reducing page volumes.

This touch screen laser printer is a very much help to the companies because it enables solutions capabilities for large work groups, providing access to preloaded and customizable applications at the simple touch of an icon. Also in using this laser printer, users will find several applications available from the 7 inch, color touch screen:
* Forms and Favourites, which reduces waste associated with pre-printed forms
* Eco-Settings, which helps increase energy savings and reduce wasted pages and toner
* Showroom, which demonstrates the possibilities of using the touch screen as a communications medium
* Change Background, allowing businesses to display a company logo or personalize the background image
* Change Language, which can be enabled during setup, allows users in multilingual environments to easily change the display language

The price and where to find touch screen laser printer:
The Lexmark W850 Series monochrome laser printers are available at prices starting from £2,129 Ex-VAT (SRP). The products are available through Lexmark’s channel partners and online at www.lexmark.co.uk