HP claimed that it's "reimagining the retail industry" with its announcement today of the ElitePOS. The new point-of-sale system boasts a sleek, modular design, and HP says it's suitable for a variety of use cases, including:
HP Thinks It Has Reinvented Retail
As you would expect of a machine designed to be used in such environments, HP promises that the ElitePOS is "retail-durable, designed to pass MIL-STD tests, deter minor spills by channeling liquid out the device, and provide efficient cooling with side venting for improved reliability."
HP says the ElitePOS is expected to launch later this month, and will be available direct from the manufacturer, as well as through its "global network of 250,000 partners. Additionally, retail independent software vendors (ISVs) Custom Business Solutions, GK Software, LS Retail, Manhattan Associates, Omnico Group, PCMS, Retail Pro, SilverWare POS and TCPOS plan to support the new solution."
Retailers are focusing their physical presences on offering excellent customer service and curation of products, said panelists at a ULI Colorado event in Denver. The event was held at the Dairy Block, an example of new retail projects that are animating both commercial and public spaces with experimental and experiential places for people to shop, eat, drink, be entertained, and find community.
To gauge when it needs to change and how far to go, HP relies on its market studies and insights. The company gathers feedback from users and retail partners to make design and technology improvements that, hopefully, will be well-perceived in the market.
To achieve this coordinated storytelling in design, HP draws from its experience in working with fashion. A few years ago when HP debuted its products at fashion week, it learned how to place things in retail windows to set the tone.
Along with its TV partners, HP designers also work with retail partners in creating the perfect store displays. One HP employee informed me before my meeting with Wolff that HP has a studio with different types of light to perfectly match the lighting inside retail stores. There, the company calibrates laptop screens to look perfect in store displays under store lighting. And HP designer even work alongside retailers to create product displays that are inspired by high-end fashion boutiques.
HP tried peddling the same point to me when I first pointed out the R&D drop. But, come on -- this isn't a one-time adjustment. Virtually every quarter, percentage and absolute numbers continue to drop, even as revenues climb. I don't believe there was that much inefficiency to pull out of research and development, although I do believe HP thinks this is the case. The problem with such strategies is that you discover their unpleasant consequences only years later -- when you're lagging behind your competitors. By then it's too late. Trending News Yahoo plans to cut 20% of its workers as tech layoffs pile up How will Netflix stop you from sharing your password? Check this before you buy a used phone Facebook's past failures .component--type-recirculation .item:nth-child(5) display: none; #inline-recirc-item--id-db270c98-8c88-11e2-b06b-024c619f5c3d, #right-rail-recirc-item--id-db270c98-8c88-11e2-b06b-024c619f5c3d display: none; #inline-recirc-item--id-db270c98-8c88-11e2-b06b-024c619f5c3d .item:nth-child(5) display: block;
The lab closed decades ago and was razed in recent years to make way for the second phase of the The Village at San Antonio Center office and retail development. A landmark will be placed at 391 San Antonio Road, where one of the lab's facilities once stood.
"This is the location where the first semiconductor company was started," Siegel said. "Now we have Facebook moving into the buildings right there. Silicon Valley has reinvented itself many times since Fred Terman began promoting a community of scholars."
A large sculpture -- fittingly of a silicon molecule -- honoring Shockley's lab serves as the centerpiece of the Mountain View "birthplace" plaza. Land developer The Village paid for the centerpiece as well as sculptures representing two early semiconductor devices and commemorative plaques that will be displayed at the site. When construction is completed, likely by the end of the year, the site will include two office buildings occupied by Facebook, a 167-room hotel, an eight-screen movie theater and 80,000 square feet of restaurants and retail stores.
ANRO Inc. began in 1953 as a secretarial and duplicating service founded by Rose Rossi. Over the years, the company has reinvented itself numerous times and has grown into a well-respected provider of printing and communications services ranging from commercial, wide format and packaging printing to digital communications, direct mail and inventory/fulfillment services.
The COVID-19 pandemic has upended the retail industry, forcing the closure of physical stores and causing uncertainty for the future of the in-store experience. These abrupt shifts have left many retailers scrambling to effectively serve customers through other channels. Digital-first and omnichannel retailers have pivoted more easily, but retailers that prioritized physical stores and face-to-face engagement over omnichannel strategies have struggled to respond.
For retailers, the starting point matters in a crisis. Organizations that can quickly reimagine their omnichannel approach to create a distinctive customer experience will recover faster from the pandemic. Analysis of the financial crisis of 2008 shows that customer experience leaders saw a shallower downturn, rebounded more rapidly, and achieved three times the total shareholder returns in the long run compared with the market average (Exhibit 1).
Extend digital-channel presence and engagement. Shelter-in-place orders have led companies to test new methods of customer engagement. App downloads increased 11 percent from January to April 2020 compared with the same period last year. Many retailers with established mobile apps have cited record downloads, while others sought to make up ground quickly. Around 45 to 50 percent of retailers had plans to prioritize a mobile app or point-of-sale experience this year, and several companies have accelerated their efforts in response to the pandemic.
To adapt to new customer behaviors and preferences, retailers will need to evaluate their current omnichannel offerings and find opportunities to innovate and fill gaps. Any additions should be clearly aligned with emerging customer needs and integrated with existing channels to support a consistent experience.
Beyond managing the SafeX considerations that are currently top of mind, retailers need to dramatically reduce costs and improve operational efficiency in their stores to offset revenues that are increasingly shifting to online channels. Done properly, this effort will help companies enhance customer experience and safety while trimming operating expenses.
Retailers can start by establishing a set of service and experience elements that are nonnegotiable. New safety requirements for both customers and associates will be a core part of these nonnegotiables and could include no-contact payment methods or cleaning and employee-hygiene processes. The workforce will need to be redirected from less-relevant activities to priority areas. Many of the opportunities can be captured quickly by changing store hours, improving scheduling, and altering the mix of full- and part-time employees. Some retailers have started to move certain elements of the experience outside of the store (for example, returns in the parking lot), given limits on customers per square foot in stores. A structured effort focused on addressing new operational needs and implementing leaner practices can yield labor efficiencies of 5 to 15 percent.
For retailers that have closed stores during the pandemic, the reopening process offers an opportunity to establish new models. First and foremost, physical-distancing requirements will likely constrain the number of employees who can be in stores at the same time. These limitations could force retailers to prioritize activities such as opening and closing processes, checkout, restocking, and e-commerce fulfillment. Store reopenings will also offer retailers an opportunity to fundamentally change how core processes are carried out and implement best practices.
Over the past three years, consumers have shifted an increasing share of their purchases to e-commerce, which has led to ever-growing declines in physical store traffic. COVID-19 has accelerated this trend with apparel retailers and department stores, which are projected to see a 10 to 13 percent increase in online penetration after COVID-19. The rising volume of e-commerce transactions will force retailers to reevaluate their network of brick-and-mortar stores and how physical locations can best support the customer experience.
While physical stores are critical to the customer experience, our analysis suggests that the United States has more retail shopping capacity than other countries with sizable retail markets. Retailers should be thoughtful about which stores they choose to reopen and in which sequence.
One North American retailer undertook a comprehensive assessment of sales volumes and customer activity across its own stores (which included several formats), wholesale stores, and e-commerce channels to achieve a cross-channel ecosystem view. The project entailed defining the role of channels, determining which are mutually supporting and which cannibalize others, and identifying where these effects are the strongest. By simulating store closures, the retailer was able to calculate the total economic value of each store, which provided insight into the portion of e-commerce sales that stores contributed as well as the volume of sales redistributed to other physical stores.
The assessment enabled the retailer to identify the optimal location and channel mix for each market. For every store slated to be closed, the retailer was able to calculate the halo effect and recapture rate of that store in sales volume. By taking a holistic view of physical stores and their contribution to omnichannel sales, the retailer boosted sales growth by 10 to 20 percent and improved EBITDA 2ff7e9595c
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