Intel powers the ultimate shopping experience

posted by Michael Brito on February 09, 2009

This is a re-post of an article written on Intel's intranet. The article was written by Jenny Yoder.

Imagine stopping by a home improvement store to pick out new floor tile. After you settle on a tile color, you can view a list of the supplies you'll need to install it--grout in all the available colors, tile cleaners--on a nearby self-service kiosk, gather your items, then exit through the self-service check out.

While some buyers prefer to work with a sales associate and talk through all their choices, other shoppers, such as Gen Y buyers, are more tech savvy and self-sufficient.

In today's economic environment, it is even more critical for retailers to compete for each consumer dollar by providing shopping experiences matched to each buyer's unique preferences. Retailers will also compete by utilizing digital signage that changes on the fly to provide advertisements targeted to each demographic.

Intel's cool point-of-sale (POS) and kiosk equipment designs recently garnered attention at the National Retail Federation (NRF) Convention in New York. The designs, based on Intel® embedded processors, inspired both retailers and retail equipment manufacturers, and may help accelerate and broaden the use of Intel© architecture (IA). Although Intel isn't new to the retail market, customer needs change over time.

The Intel embedded team engaged with frog design to research and develop a POS kiosk design that would invite retail equipment manufacturers, retail organizations, and consumers to experience first-hand how shopping might evolve. And, the embedded team identified the opportunity to promote Intel® Centrino® 2 with vPro™ technology as a way for retailers to save energy costs and remotely manage their storefront solutions.

Buyer preferences changing

The team worked directly with retail organizations and consumers to research and define solutions that would showcase the "ultimate shopping experience." Retail equipment manufacturers and retailers want to decrease energy and maintenance costs, and consumers want more of the online shopping experience within the brick and mortar environment of physical stores.

While it may take several years before the newest design concepts are rolled out broadly to retailers, NCR, for example, already utilizes Intel® vPro™ technology in a point-of-sale product to decrease energy costs, while enabling remote manageability.

Retailing pressure points

Retailers are also embracing green initiatives designed to reduce energy consumption and waste. Recent case studies have shown that newer 45-nanometer Intel processors designed for mobile market segments can reduce energy consumption by up to 70 percent--significant for an industry that keeps POS equipment active 24 hours a day.

Remote equipment management to ensure constant uptime, increased security, and the ability to send updates over the internet to remote retail sites, is also increasingly critical for retailers. These capabilities are supported through Intel vPro technology, and enable the IT back-room to manage networks and trouble shoot any issues remotely, saving on costly in-person repair trips.

Embedded growth

Innovative retail solutions accelerate the embedded transformation with IA, and contribute to growing Intel revenue by enabling new embedded devices.

In Brief

• New kiosk designs based on Intel® embedded processors bring the on-line shopping experience to consumers in brick and mortar stores.
• Intel showcased cool retail point-of-sale designs at the January National Retail Federation Convention.
• Retail equipment manufacturers want to decrease energy and maintenance costs, while enhancing each shopper's experience. 
• Innovative retail solutions accelerate the embedded transformation with IA, and contribute to growing Intel revenue by enabling new embedded devices. 

Why spend dollars on developing a proof-of-concept design?

In today's economic environment, understanding and exceeding customer expectations is critical. Designing and showcasing a potential product invites people to both visualize and experience a new way of accomplishing a task, and goes beyond a cognitive idea in gaining emotional attachment. A proof-of-concept begins as an idea, and can be designed to establish an organization as a thought leader while capturing future revenue potential. You can watch Ed Hill, from the Intel team, demo the POS in this Fast Company video: "Intel's Cash Register Concept".

Here are some related links that you might find interesting:

• Touchscreen Cash Register is the Future of Upsell
  
• Intel Cash Register Knows Who You Are, What You Want
• Intel Targets Retailers With Store Display Concept
• Intel's Next-Gen Retail Kiosk Knows What You Want
• Intel vPro, Core 2 Duo Processors Coming to a Store Near You
• NCR Featuring advanced Intel® vPro™ technology, the NCR RealPOS 70XRT
• Learn more about frog design
• World-wide press coverage

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