Retail Solutions is moving to London,
After more than 15 years at Birmingham’s NEC, London’s ExCel becomes the place to be seen at, providing retailers with greater access to the fast growing retail technology market. And leading vendors specialising in digital display for the retail sector will be demonstrating the latest advancements in this technology.

Databac Group, the specialist provider of identification solutions, is out to demonstrate to retailers how advanced ID technologies can be applied affordably for loyalty, visitor and time and attendance applications. And it will unveil its new Dataimage kiosk visitor station, a freestanding, plug and play reception terminal that allows visitors to check in simply and easily.

Kitted out compete with touch screen, high specification PC and Dataimage visitor software, this elegant terminal can be seen in operation with a rewritable plastic card printer and Data ReWrite cards, developed and manufactured by Databac. This innovative application is said to enable smart looking plastic visitor passes to be branded in full colour, then printed and reprinted for each new visitor up to 500 times. Databac's full range of branded cards and card accessories, currently in use at stores worldwide, will also be on display on Stand C39.

InfoPort, a portable ESL solution from ILID, is set to make its mark at the show. It is the latest addition from the company who boasts the number one slot in the UK league of electronic shelf labelling solution providers. The new development is said to require very little infrastructure and minimal integration. It is particularly suited to smaller retailing applications.

Retailers can also use Cisco’s Digital Media System to provide employees with training and corporate updates before or after business hours. This provides an ideal opportunity to reinforce selling messages and can lead to increased employee productivity, higher job satisfaction levels and a more cohesive corporate culture. NCR is currently implementing its Digital Media System in Europe and is said to seen as a global leader in quick service restaurants.

Pierhouse provides marketing management services to retailers and suppliers and following the acquisition of in-store signage solutions specialist Eastman-POS, it brings new solutions to demonstrate on Stand D16.

The acquisition now enables Pierhouse to offer net.tickIT, browser based and said to be a best of breed sign and ticketing solution for multiples. It incorporates the flexibility to print either in store, at head office or from a combination of both. The web solution provides head office with central control over PoS while enabling stores to locally ticket all their promotional items. By interfacing with central merchandising systems, store-specific signage can be generated cost-effectively in line with store layouts. Eastman-POS has supplied retailers with shelf edge and label promotional ticketing for almost 20 years.

Retail Cam’s Magic Mirror on Stand F27 heralds a new and exciting way of using technology to create a social shopping environment by creating a live video link between shoppers and their friends via the Internet. Magic Mirror means shoppers can get a quick second opinion on how a garment looks, even if they are shopping alone.

A hidden webcam installed behind the Magic Mirror transmits a short segment of live video with the shopper’s selected audience. Through the shopper’s mobile phone, both shopper and ‘remote’ friend can discuss and make purchasing decisions based on the images displayed.

This example of social networking has a direct impact on the consumer’s decision to buy at one of the most critical junctures in the purchasing process, says Retail Cam. As such the Magic Mirror has the capability to enhance the in-store customer’s shopping experience and improve the rate of sales conversion in retail stores.

Following on from the success of last year’s Retail Solutions Store of the Future, Retail Solutions this year is hosting a green feature sponsored by BT Expedite, the retail solutions division of BT. With retailers constantly seeking ways to respond to their customers’ interest in greener products and stores, this feature will demonstrate just how technology available now and in the future can help.

For the first time ever, Retail Solutions is bringing together multiple Retail Week conferences including Supply chain, Retail Technology Forum, Multi-Channel Retail, Business Intelligence, Merchandising and Loss Prevention. The conference boasts an insightful and innovative agenda, with high quality content delivered by prominent UK and international retailers offering insight and discussion on key strategic retail issues. Also planned are a series of practical workshops around PCI – DSS and RFID.