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The Eye on Retail Information Systems
November 15, 2006
Volume 12 Issue 1


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A recent report that raised serious scientific questions about how secure the new contactless credit cards are could ultimately depress online sales, as consumers might doubt overall credit card security protections, according to a Friday audiocast panel of retail analysts.



In a move praised by state and national blind organizations, Safeway today announced that it has begun installing equipment to protect the privacy and security of Safeway shoppers with visual impairments. The new devices plug into existing point of sale payment machines and have tactile keys arranged like a standard telephone keypad. They will allow Safeway shoppers who have difficulty reading information on a touchscreen to privately and independently enter their PIN, telephone number, and other confidential information.



NCR Corporation today announced that St. Louis-based Panera Bread Company, the leader in the emerging bakery-cafe category, has certified NCR as a point-of-sale (POS) hardware provider for Panera Bread bakery-cafes.



JDA Software Group, Inc. today announced that Charlotte Russe Holding, Inc., a mall-based specialty apparel and accessories retailer, is implementing several JDA Portfolio solutions to improve in-store execution and service to its customer base of young women in their teens and twenties. Based on the successful pilot of Portfolio POS(TM) (PPOS) software at its first five stores, Charlotte Russe is accelerating its rollout into additional locations including its flagship store. Since the rollout began, the retailer has reported a faster check-out process that its store associates mastered with limited training.



NCR Corporation today announced that it has expanded its two-sided thermal printing technology portfolio to include a receipt printer designed for the hospitality industry.



NCR Corporation today announced that an Arby's franchisee, The Winning Team Inc., has deployed a point-of-sale (POS) solution from NCR in its 34 restaurant locations throughout North Carolina. The sale and installation of the solution was handled by NCR RealPartner Wand Corporation, and includes NCR RealPOS 20 workstations as well as POS and back-office software from Wand.



ACNielsen U.S. and Church & Dwight Co., Inc. jointly announced today a new long-term arrangement designating ACNielsen as a primary provider of marketing information services on a global basis. ACNielsen will provide point of sale and consumer panel information plus a broad range of advanced analytics and related software. In addition, Church & Dwight will have access to a number of other ACNielsen capabilities including the ACNielsen Answers delivery system, and the Spectra Targeting system.



VeriSign, Inc., a leading provider of intelligent infrastructure for the networked world, today announced a deal to enable purchases at Coca-Cola vending machines via mobile phones in Austria. Now, over two million mobilkom austria and ONE wireless customers have access to the mobile payment function at vending machines across Austria.



Metrologic Instruments, Inc. announced today it will introduce its new omnidirectional scanner engineered to provide high-performance bar-code scanning solutions to North American retailers.



Fetching dinner and a movie has become one-stop shopping in various Columbus-area locations. Hungry shoppers can buy a meal, then, with the swipe of a credit card, pick up their entertainment for the evening from touch-screen DVD vending machines being installed at Meijer, Wendy's and White Castle locations and even at Columbus' airport.



The term "pay phone" is about to take on a whole new meaning. MasterCard Worldwide and Dallas-based 7-Eleven said Thursday that they are partnering on a pilot program in the Dallas area that will let about 500 consumers use their mobile phones as payment devices. Just tap the phone against a reader in the store, and off you go.



Some parents in Santa Barbara, Calif. are complaining about a new plan to fingerprint students when they buy their lunch in the cafeteria. The children are supposed to press their index finger onto a scanner before buying food.



Credit cards that don't need to be swiped. Key chain devices that transmit payments. Cell phones that zap money to vending machines.



NCR Corporation has introduced the latest addition to its NCR RealPOS family of point-of-sale (POS) workstations.



Torex Hospitality, the fast growing provider of technology systems to the international hospitality industry, has reached a major milestone in the deployment of its point of sale platform (POS) into one of the UK's leading bar and hospitality operators, Punch Taverns.



Wincor Nixdorf, one of the world's leading suppliers of IT solutions for the retail and banking retail industries, today announced that it has formed a strategic partnership with Cybera Inc., a fast-growing provider of private network solutions for multi-location businesses. With this agreement, the two companies will work together to deliver reliable, innovative and high-performance store solutions that enable North American QSRs and fast casual restaurants to deliver faster, more accurate customer service while managing their business and employees more effectively.



Hypercom Corporation today announced the availability of the new P4100 PIN Pad, the first PIN entry device that includes a choice of contactless, EMV smart card or magnetic stripe payments, a touchscreen display, and a vendor-agnostic architecture enabling integration with Hypercom, VeriFone or Ingenico card payment terminals as well as leading electronic cash register systems. These features allow retailers to quickly add PIN-based and contactless payments and signature capture to their legacy systems without upgrading their entire terminal or ECR infrastructure. Hypercom is also offering a WiFi option for use with wireless and IP-enabled payment terminals.



Compris Technologies Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of NCR Corporation, and ViVOtech today announced they have launched contactless payment solutions for the drive-thru, diner's table and front counter.



Expanding its line of innovative technology for the hospitality industry, Radiant Systems, Inc. announces an agreement with payment systems leader VeriFone Holdings, Inc. to offer VeriFone's ON THE SPOT mobile electronic payment systems with Radiant's Aloha Point-of-Sale (POS) systems to restaurant operators in North America. The fully integrated payment solution will allow operators to improve the customer experience, enhance efficiency and increase card holder data secutity across key service points, including table, carside and delivery.



Hypercom Corporation today announced the immediate global availability of the Optimum M4100 Blade, the first truly mobile credit/debit terminal that is designed to comply with current global security standards and the smallest product of its kind. The palm-sized, high-speed 32-bit, wireless signature capture device is designed for mobile merchants and other organizations that need secure anytime, anywhere portable and/or non-wired payment and authentication capabilities. It is equipped with both Wi-Fi and GPRS wireless communication technology, is PCI PED and EMV Level 1 & 2-certified for worldwide use, and extends the use of electronic payments to restaurant tables, delivery services and a wide range of new settings.



NextChoice, the Smart Self-service(TM) company, unveiled today the industry's first intelligent self-service platform that unifies customer ordering and payment with the collection and management of customer transaction data and preferences into one fully integrated, centralized solution for one restaurant to thousands of stores. For the first time, restaurants can deploy self-service solutions that will have an immediate impact on top-line revenue growth and bottom-line operational expenses while allowing for the development of one-to-one customer relationships.



Datacard Group, the world leader in secure ID and card personalization solutions, today demonstrated a suite of new technologies designed for card printing, personalization, attaching and packaging at CARTES 2006. These new systems, which include the Datacard CPST MJ7500(TM) card personalization system and a family of Datacard Ga-Vehren Attacher systems can operate separately or inline. As an inline solution, the systems are the only available on the market today that combine personalization and packaging processes to simultaneously personalize cards and forms in a single pass.



Gemalto, a world leader in digital security, today introduces its MagIC3 range of Point-Of-Sale (POS) terminals that incorporate the MagIC Open&Sec technology running on Linux(TM). This open platform allows users to securely access a broad set of new applications. MagIC3 is powered by two high-performance 32-bit microprocessors to significantly increase transaction speed in a secure environment, where tremendous processing capacity is required. In addition, it features Universal Serial Bus (USB) devices to enable plugging in of all the peripherals available in the market as well as Ethernet connection, thus propelling MagIC3 into the Internet world.



Hypercom Corporation announced today that it has released a new EMV/PCI approved unattended bankcard reader module for use in the rapidly growing self-service kiosk market. The new Optimum H2210 is a manual hybrid card reader accepting both magnetic stripe and smart cards and offering key size, integration and flexibility advantages over competitive units. It complements Hypercom's growing portfolio of unattended payment products, including the Optimum H2200 motorized chip & PIN card reader released last year.



Research has shown that the number of POS ( point of sale ) terminals running Linux in North America has increased 80% since 2002. For hospitality providers, there's good reason to go with Linux. As an operating system, Linux is more cost effective, flexible, and allows for greater freedom of choice in software than more mainstream operating systems. Savings can also be found in regards to licensing, installation, administrative and support costs. Linux offers all this without sacrificing functionality. The challenge however, has been finding a flexible point of sale system that can actually run on Linux.





Dari Mart Stores Inc., has begun using Pinnacle's Enterprise Performance Management (EPM), a browser-based business intelligence suite that works as an analytical tool that retailers can use to access, interpret and distribute store data both quickly and accurately from store level to corporate office.



Do you want fries with that? Never mind, we already know. A Pittsburgh startup, HyperActive Technologies Inc., is testing technology at area fast-food restaurants designed to give kitchen workers a good indication of what customers want before the hungry souls even get close enough to place an order. The system, known as "HyperActive Bob," is in place in several restaurants around Pittsburgh in a primitive form: It tells employees when they are about to get busy, even how much food to put on the grill.



Fujitsu Transaction Solutions Inc. and TELentice Global Inc. have signed a partnership agreement under which Fujitsu will provide sales and marketing support for the TELentice software suite in retail installations requiring intelligent digital networks that deliver targeted in-store communication.



With the holiday shopping season fast approaching, retailers around the world are looking for ways to improve profits and gain advantage in the marketplace. Six of the top 10 specialty retailers rely on Ariba, Inc., the leading spend management solutions provider, to help them do just this. On Tuesday, November 14, Ariba will host an interactive webcast during which Hallmark Cards, Inc., the leading provider of personal expression products, will discuss its spend management vision and share strategies for leveraging technology-based sourcing and procurement solutions to drive bottom-line results. The live session will take place from 11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. ET.



Shopping carts may soon get a whole lot smarter. If technology being tested by at least two Metro Detroit grocers becomes commonplace, technology-enabled carts could soon tell store managers when shoppers are lining up at the checkout counters, when too many carts are in the parking lot or when a throng of custmers have gathered near the meat counter.





Retailers have for years argued that their online and offline operations should be seen as one. A recent survey suggested that the persuasion was working and that some retailers may regret it.



Meijer today announced that it will re-launch its photo website to offer free storage, faster upload speeds, more creative products, and a much improved user interface for ordering both prints and an expanded creative product line. Meijer's partnership with online image vendor LifePics allows customers an enhanced online photo shopping experience.



When Amazon.com launched Web sites for Germany and the UK in 1998, it became the first major online retailer to embrace Web globalization. Today, Amazon is one of hundreds of retailers that have localized their Web sites for new markets and new audiences. And they're only just getting started. Over the next ten years, thousands of retailers will embrace Web globalization. Retailers that are well on their way include Dell, eBay, IKEA, and Starbucks.



Avon Products Inc., which has spent much of the past year restructuring the company to become more competitive, is retooling its global business-to-business Internet platform.



Since Nordstrom's Designer Collections retail site launched in February, shoppers have had to place orders by phone. Starting this weekend, they can buy online through a shopping cart integrated with Nordstrom.com, Nordstrom Direct president Jamie Nordstrom tells Internet Retailer.



Callaway Golf Company today launched Shop.CallawayGolf.com, an innovative alliance between Callaway Golf and its vast network of authorized U.S. retailers that provides a new level of service, security and convenience to online consumers. This breakthrough online shopping experience links consumers and superior golf retailers by permitting the consumer to place an order through Callaway Golf's website and have it fulfilled by a local participating retailer. The new site also will be accessible via the Company's main website, www.CallawayGolf.com.



Just about a year after launching a pair of web sites and catalogs to carve out a space in the housewares and home furnishings market, The Home Depot Inc. is closing down the separate initiatives and consolidating the e-commerce portion into HomeDepot.com.



Gap Inc. launched its online shoe venture Piperlime.com on Wednesday, and while the business is too small to help overall sales now, the buzz around the new undertaking and the potential for future growth could help the lagging retailer, analysts said.



Growing consumer confidence in the Internet is helping to make this year another strong online holiday shopping season, according to eMarketer's latest report, Online Holiday Shopping Preview.



Cumberland Farms, Inc., a privately held convenience store retailer with more than 900 locations, has selected the Oracle(R) E-Business Suite to help improve financial reporting and establish a platform for growth across its retail, fuel distribution and property management businesses. Cumberland Farms will use Oracle applications to provide management with greater insight to results of operations, internal controls, and synergies across these core business operations.



For the Google Generation, it's come down to this: Thanksgiving dinner at home, ordered online.





Reflexis Systems, Inc., a pioneer and leader in Retail Execution Management, announced today that Food Lion LLC. has begun using its RetailAction Manager(TM) application to manage tasks and execute retail strategy consistently in its more than 1,200 supermarkets in 11 Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic states. The solution will enable Food Lion, a subsidiary of the Delhaize Group in Belgium and the second one to come on board the Reflexis client list, to streamline workload, manage task accomplishment, monitor ongoing promotional efforts, and ensure profitable store execution compliance wherever it does business. Food Lion is well known in the industry for breaking new ground by developing retail concepts that have propelled the company forward in the fields of pricing, convenience, and customer service.



Day Software a leading provider of global content management and content infrastructure software, today announced that Day and its premier customer McDonald's are recipients of the Shared Insights 2006 Portal Excellence Award.



StorePerform(TM) Technologies, Inc., a leader in store execution management software, today announced the release of Workbench Essentials(TM), a version of the company's widely used suite of store execution management software, specifically designed for small format and small chain retailers. Workbench Essentials is a high-performance, web-based software application that dramatically improves retailers' ability to design, execute, and monitor processes and programs that are executed in stores.



Junction Solutions, the premier provider of food and beverage focused enterprise software and services based on the Microsoft platform, today announced that Musco Family Olive, the largest supplier of table olives in America, has chosen JunctionF/B(TM) and Microsoft Dynamics(TM) AX enterprise software to improve control and streamline processes over food processing and financial operations.



RedPrairie Corporation, a world's leading consumer driven optimization company, announced today that it is offering in-house hosting services for its DLx Transportation Management Solution (TMS). The hosting option enables companies to deploy the transportation management solution more quickly, with lower up-front capital expense and reduced IT personnel needs to support the application. The on-demand hosted solution option places tier-one TMS capabilities within reach of midsize and smaller companies, in addition to offering an alternative, cost-effective solution for larger companies. The RedPrairie TMS suite is now offered in three purchasing options, including traditional license, hosted license and software as a service (SaaS).





Radio frequency identification (RFID) technology may not only be useful for streamlining inventory and supply chains: it could also make shoppers swarm. A new study suggests that supermarkets could increase their revenues by using information gleaned from RFID tags to make shoppers behave like an impulse-buying collective.



IBM today announced it will license its acclaimed "Clipped Tag" technology to Marnlen RFiD, who will begin production of the tags and offer availability immediately. The Clipped Tag, developed at IBM's Watson Research Center, allows consumers to tear off the majority of an RFID tag's antenna, reducing the tag's read range to just a few inches, ensuring consumer privacy while maintaining the benefits of the technology, such as product authentication or recalls.





CombineNet announced today that longtime customer Procter & Gamble has extended its license for CombineNet's Advanced Sourcing Application Platform through 2008. Since 2002, Procter & Gamble has used CombineNet's advanced sourcing technologies and services to source its materials and services, steadily increasing the number of sourcing events and spend categories processed through CombineNet's technology annually.



Buying from China is nothing new for greeting card and gift maker Hallmark. But tracking the increasing number of container shipments from China to the U.S. has become more difficult and more important in recent years. To address this issue, the Kansas City-based company's logistics organization has invested in technology that allows a clear view of everything it's got on the Pacific.



JDA Software Group, Inc. today announced that Northern Tool & Equipment Co., a Burnsville, Minn.-based retailer of hardware for do-it-yourselfers, professional tradesmen and contractors, has lowered inventory carrying costs and increased product turns using JDA Portfolio applications. By implementing Portfolio Advanced Replenishment by E3 solution, the retailer has balanced inventory levels in its distribution centers and stores to ensure high service levels across its retail, catalog and online channels. Building upon this success, Northern Tool will next implement several Portfolio Space Management by Intactix applications to further drive profits and realize greater efficiencies at the store shelf.



i2 Technologies, Inc. today announced that Burt's Bees, Inc., a natural personal care products manufacturer, selected i2's factory planning solutions in the second quarter of 2006 to optimize the company's manufacturing planning capabilities and enhance production efficiency.



Intervolve, Inc., the pioneer in providing on demand supply chain software using web and mobile technologies, today announced that R.H. Barringer Distributing Co., Inc. has successfully deployed both DistributionSuite and Route Accounting System software across its entire beverage distribution operations. Barringer looked to Intervolve to dramatically improve efficiencies in its warehouse, sales, and delivery functions; provide a seamless, easy-to-manage solution; and gain company-wide acceptance of new on demand technologies that give it a competitive advantage.



South American pharmacy chain Farmatodo C.A. has deployed Oracle Retail Merchandising applications to support the company's expansion goals, Oracle announced today. Farmatodo is using the Oracle Retail Merchandising System, including Oracle Retail Price Management and Oracle Retail Warehouse Management, to improve customer service and increase sales and performance across its 121 locations in Venezuela. As Farmatodo adds new locations throughout South America, the Oracle Retail applications enable the company to bring new stores online quickly and provide a consistent, high level of customer service at each location.



Checkpoint Systems, a global leader in product identification and shrink management solutions, has been selected by METRO Cash & Carry to launch a global shrink management and source-protection program in Europe, Asia and Africa. The strategic agreement, which includes worldwide store installation of NDRF (New Digital Radio Frequency) technology and source tagging, will help METRO Cash & Carry to minimize shrinkage and reduce operational costs by using only one supplier, Checkpoint Systems, and implement source tagging, with the ultimate aim of improving their customers' shopping experience.





Buffets, Inc. and Ryan's Restaurant Group, Inc. today announced that they have completed the previously announced merger of a subsidiary of Buffets and Ryan's. Ryan's shareholders will receive $16.25 in cash for each common share they own.



Shoppers with tastes, or sizes, that fall outside the mainstream may have more trouble finding what they want in stores as retailers attempt to shift low-volume items to Internet sales.



Chicago-area police yesterday arrested 12 owners, managers and employees at seven nationally franchised motels on charges of stealing credit card numbers from registered guests.



Shoppers taking back a too-small sweater or a duplicate gift will not be the only ones standing in return lines on the day after Christmas. According to the National Retail Federation's inaugural Return Fraud Survey, completed by retail executives, criminals commonly take advantage of companies' return policies to receive cash for stolen merchandise, launder money or return an item after it has been used.



Wal-Mart Stores, the world's largest retailer, wants its 60,000 suppliers to find more efficient packaging methods and to reduce the amount of packaging used, starting in 2008, while making the remaining wrapping and shipping materials environmentally friendlier. Matt Kistler, vice president of packaging and innovation at the Sam's Club division of the company, says the move should spur packaging changes in the industry and believes the plan could save some $14 billion in packaging costs throughout the company's supply chain.



The decorations are out, lists have been made and consumers are hitting the stores ready to tackle their holiday shopping. While receiving a gift is always fun, long lines and crowded stores can make finding the perfect items for the people on your holiday list a little more stressful. The National Retail Federation (NRF) has assembled a list of ten tips guaranteed to take the headache out of your holiday shopping.



Shoppers thought that the best holiday television advertisements last year came from Target, Wal-Mart and Sears, according to a survey conducted for the Retail Advertising and Marketing Association (RAMA) by BIGresearch. Companies rounding out last year's top ten favorite holiday TV ads included Budweiser, Kohl's, Coca-Cola, Best Buy, JCPenney, Kmart and Toys "R" Us.



Answering to Canadian customers' growing demand for selection and value, Wal-Mart Canada today announced the official launch of its expanded "supercentre" format - a Canadian first. The first three Wal-Mart Supercentres, located in the Ontario communities of Stouffville, London and Ancaster, open officially tomorrow.



One in five consumers plans to purchase branded gift cards (a gift card with an American Express, Discover, MasterCard, or Visa brand logo) this holiday season, according a recent poll of household spending habits. The poll, conducted by BK Research, found that branded gift cards were chosen more often as an item on a consumer's shopping list than a branded toy (18%), an iPod(TM) or mp3 player (14%), a computer or laptop (12%) and a game console (7%)(a). The poll was commissioned by the Network Branded Prepaid Card Association (NBPCA), a non-profit, inter-industry trade association created in 2005 to advance the success of network branded prepaid cards.



Sporting goods retailer Dick's Sporting Goods Inc. said it agreed to acquire Golf Galaxy Inc. for about $225 million in cash to strengthen its position in the golf equipment and apparel market.





HighJump Software, a 3M company, has completed its acquisition of Global Beverage Group Inc. (GBG), a provider of delivery management solutions for the direct-store-delivery of consumer packaged goods.



PAR Technology Corporation today announced that it has acquired substantially all of the assets of SIVA Corporation. SIVA Corporation provides software solutions built on a service-oriented architecture that improves the management of money, materials, people and overall guest experience for multi-unit restaurant chains. The SIVA portfolio will become a part of the fast-growing PAR solutions product family and will serve as the foundation of the next generation product line. The purchase price is approximately $6.6 million in cash and PAR stock. The agreement provides for additional contingent purchase price payments based on certain sales based milestones and other conditions.



MasterCard Worldwide will introduce in the first quarter of 2007 a new service to help banks and other card issuers detect and stop PIN-based debit card fraud in real time.



In a surprising development, Microsoft (MSFT) on Nov. 2 entered into a broad partnership with longtime rival Novell (NOVL) and agreed to provide some support to Linux, the open-source operating system that competes with its own Windows operating system. Linux, which is developed by a community of software developers who share their code, has long been viewed as one of the most serious threats to the lucrative Windows franchise.



HyperActive Technologies, Inc. will unveil two new products at FS/TEC 2006 (the International Foodservice Technology Exposition), according to Joseph Porfeli, CEO of HyperActive Technologies.



Microsoft Corp. has embraced Novell Inc.'s open-source software platform, forming a technological truce between two longtime antagonists who want to make it easier for the still-dominant Windows operating system and the increasingly popular Linux system to work together.



Hypercom Corporation has been named one of the top 50 companies in the 2006 FinTech 100 annual ranking of top technology providers to the worldwide financial services industry, according to American Banker and Financial Insights. Hypercom ranks #49 and is the only provider of card payment terminals and technology to be recognized for three consecutive years.



New Generation Computing (NGC) today announced that Fred Isenberg, vice president of sales, will lead an educational session at the 2006 Tech Conference produced by Apparel Magazine and hosted by the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City, November 8 and 9. NGC, a wholly owned subsidiary of American Software Inc. is the market leader in product lifecycle management, global sourcing and enterprise resource planning (ERP) software for the apparel and sewn products industries.



Ultimate Technology has announced the addition of technology asset disposal to their extensive portfolio of retail technology life cycle services. Properly disposing of retired technology assets is a critical phase of a product's life cycle and can significantly impact technology life-cycle costs and therefore total cost of ownership. Technology asset disposition, if not handled properly, can also represent significant expense, data risk and potential civil and criminal liabilities to a corporation, and its individual officers and managers, regardless of who is negligent when something happens.



In a move signaling its desire to maintain and further expand its growing domination of customer-facing, automated self-service solutions for major QSR, fast casual restaurant, exhibition, theme park, and retail brands, EMN8 Inc. today announced the hiring of Stephen M. Donly to serve as the company's chief executive officer and president. He was also named to the company's Board of Directors.



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