What Retail's Biggest Tech Show has for Hotels & Restaurants

The National Retail Federation’s Annual BIG Show offered hospitality operators an array of the latest in next generation offerings in mobile solutions, mobile payments, PCI security and cloud-based technologies. Mobile payments were top-of-mind, with many vendors rolling out improved solutions to take the POS truly “out of pocket.”

A strong merchant base in Austin and Salt Lake City is allowing Isis Mobile Wallet to expand as consumers can use the mobile wallet at many favorite locations to pay and redeem offers. In addition to many retail establishments, Jamba Juice is among the first national merchants to join with Isis in advancing mobile commerce. Isis, the mobile commerce joint venture created by AT&T Mobility, T-Mobile USA and Verizon Wireless, has announced the first of its local merchant partners across Austin, Texas and Salt Lake City, Utah. Read more in “Jamba Juice Joins Other Restaurants Accepting Isis Mobile Wallet.”

Also in mobile payments, “NCR Teams with PayPal to Accelerate Adoption of Mobile Payments.” NCR's hospitality footprint is coupled with more than 117 million PayPal customers to offer rich mobile and digital payment experience. NCR Corporation and PayPal, Inc., an eBay company, announced an agreement to integrate NCR’s innovative mobile solutions for hospitality and retail with PayPal’s leading digital payment technology. The combination provides restaurants and retailers an easy, powerful way to offer consumers a rich mobile and digital payment experience when buying the goods and services they want.
 

VeriFone not only focused on mobile payments, but also embracing the latest in cloud technologies, “VeriFone Showcases Latest in Mobile Payment and Cloud Services.” VeriFone Systems, Inc. has revealed how its comprehensive suite of payments solutions is helping leading retailers interact with, impact and impress their customers. Innovations showcased at the recent NRF Big Show included: A new, size-adaptable payment acceptance solution for tablets—the first to work with iPad mini; New versions of PAYware Mobile for iPhone 5 and the new iPod touch, plus new cloud-based services for bridging today with tomorrow’s innovations and managing ever-growing payments complexity.

 

Other mobility issues were also being addressed, with such announcements as “Benbria Intros Mobile Customer Engagement Solution.”  BlazeLoop helps operators to close the loop with guests to increase satisfaction. At NRF 2013, Benbria introduced BlazeLoop, its Mobile Customer Engagement solution that helps retailers to increase in-store sales conversion rates by capturing and acting on customer input at the decisive moment in the shopping experience.
 

Epson has launched next-gen tech that raises bar for mobile, web-based POS. Epson America, Inc. introduced its OmniLink smart solutions at the recent NRF (National Retail Federation) 102^nd Annual Convention & EXPO. “Epson Announces OmniLink Printers with BI” details how OmniLink is a new family of intelligent products that combines industry-leading POS printers with built-in intelligence to deliver flexible, mobile web-based printing, cloud-based services, peripheral connectivity and PC computing power—all in one small footprint. Epson’s OmniLink family represents a new class of intelligent solutions that allows retailers to take advantage of new POS applications and configuration flexibility without sacrificing their existing technology investment.
 

MokiMobility has released MokiManage2013, “MokiMobility Offers Turnkey Solution for iPad Kiosks.” MokiManage is the first and only full suite to market for configuring, deploying and managing tablet kiosk, mobile app and digital signage technologies – enabling businesses to manage device settings with ease, as well as the ability to monitor performance, connectivity and analytics in real-time all from one central location.
 

Payment security and the impending arrival of EMV in the United States was also impacting new releases at the NRF BIG Show. Revel Systems has announced it has become the first iPad point-of-sale (POS) system to provide EMV compatibility (device that allows the new standard of “chip and PIN” cards to allow processing on a point-of-sale system) in the United States in anticipation of upcoming deadlines for EMV certification and PCI compliance that could potentially cost business owners thousands of dollars in fees and fines. Read the full release, “Revel iPad POS First to Release EMV Processing in U.S.” With credit card fraud on the rise and standards set to change over the next few years, Revel Systems is focusing on boosting security and global interoperability with integrated circuit (IC) cards and increasing the flexibility and customization that Revel’s customers have come to expect for their retail, restaurant and grocery store iPad POS systems.
 

Ingenico has announced teaming with Microsoft to deliver enterprise-class devices based on the new Windows Embedded 8 Handheld platform. As a global secure payment solutions provider, Ingenico joins other prominent enterprise device OEMs working closely with Microsoft in these innovative efforts. Ingenico will collaborate closely with Microsoft to bring fully integrated handheld electronic payment solutions and innovations to the retail industry. By leveraging Windows Embedded 8 Handheld, which is based on Windows Phone 8, Ingenico will provide its secure payment technology expertise to develop the future of retail payment acceptance with personal, seamless and differentiated consumer experiences.
 

Hospitality operators are always seeking solutions to help run more efficient, intelligent operations. ParTech, Inc. (PAR) demonstrated its retail solutions at the National Retail Federation (NRF) Convention & Expo, Jan. 14-15 at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City. PAR was showcasing the PAR EverServ® 7000 POS terminal and the PAR EverServ® SureCheck to simplify checklists and improve food safety in their stores. Read about ParTech’s intros at the show in, “New Management Solution Saves in Labor Costs.”