New record for booked space +++ Solutions and products for tomorrow’s retail +++ Excellent networking +++ Comprehensive side events providing impulses and updates for retail technology
After the end of the pandemic – which has prompted a tremendous digitalisation push in retail and massively impacted many areas such as omnichannel, check-out, payment and logistics – new developments like AI are now moving technology usage even more centrestage. “Pain points” for the industry include inflation and high energy costs, labour shortages as well as increasing cyberattacks. These and other hot topics will be addressed by what is so far the biggest EuroCIS to date; late February will see more than 440 companies from over 40 countries present their solutions and products here on approx. 14,400 square metres, thereby helping retail to shape and secure a future-proof tomorrow. With its broad ranges this leading trade fair for retail technology in Europe is an ideal platform to find information on the latest developments and trends. Click here for the list of exhibitors: www.eurocis.com/2410.
See the following Hot Topics of the retail industry for which the EuroCIS exhibitors will be presenting solutions and products specifically tailored to retail:
Customer Centricity
Many retail companies seek to establish ever closer contacts with their end users to provide them with personalised and customised digital customer services. Shoppers’ smartphones play a prominent role in this context. Buzzwords here are the digital shopping assistant, personalised online offers based on the shopper’s individual customer profile, the delivery of digitalised personalised coupons, digital customer cards etc. As a matter of principle, the decisive factor for many retailers is that digital services are “thought out” with the shoppers in mind.
AI & Machine Learning
The use of AI and Machine Learning is one of the key technology challenges of the coming years for many retailers. AI already plays an important role especially in data analysis, now assisting retailers in sales forecasts, range management and pricing. In future, retailers will bank even more on AI-based applications where such technologies as image recognition and sensors will be used. In the wake of expanding digital pricing, Dynamic Pricing which has been standard in e-commerce for a long time, will increase in importance.
Payment
The COVID pandemic has brought lasting changes to consumers’ payment behaviour and boosted contactless payment methods. More and more payments are made by Apple Pay, Google Wallets & Co using smartphones. In coming years, the touchpoints, where shoppers pay in offline stores, will move further away from the classic check-out environment. Scan & Go solutions allow payment by Smartphone App, mobile check-out solutions permit shoppers to pay the shop assistants in store by tablet or smartphone. Payment channels from the online and offline world will increasingly fuse so that online payment methods can also be used offline.
Connected Retail
The merger of online and offline retail, often also referred to as omnichannel, is booming. Click & Collect Services have become the norm for many consumers, and other services like Click & Reserve are also gaining ground. Many retailers have also connected their online and offline loyalty systems thereby providing their shoppers with a 360° view of the purchases they have made. In future, it will be as vital as ever for every retailer to seamlessly connect digital and OTC sales channels.
Seamless Store
Since AmazonGo was launched, varied automated store concepts have developed where the offline shopping process is largely digitalised. Especially food and convenience retailers will increasingly invest in the further development of such “cashless” formats over the coming years. Various facets will emerge here ranging from Scan & Go and Tap & Go to the use of sensors and image recognition. The implementation of a seamless store strategy often requires comprehensive investment in technology infrastructure. Here, great importance is also attached to cloud-based applications since these make for a flexible and quickly scalable implementation of innovative applications.
Smart Energy Management
Smart energy management is getting more and more important for retailers, especially in view of rising energy costs. Be it lighting, refrigeration, ventilation, heating or building management in retail – these functionalities all contribute to energy consumption which must be reduced. This, however, requires a sophisticated strategy and corresponding tools allowing you to monitor energy consumption. Only then can matching measures to reduce energy consumption and save operating costs be put into practice.
Up to date thanks to the EuroCIS Specials
Thanks to top speakers and exciting use cases the three stages specialised in Technology, Connected Retail and Start-Ups will provide insights galore for your own business. The fourth edition of the popular Start-Up Hub will additionally allow visitors to make professional contact with promising newcomers. Especially impressive approaches will be recognised with two high-calibre awards – by EHI – the retail technology awards europe (reta) and the Science Award. What’s more, Guided Innovation Tours will again introduce visitors to high potentials and innovations. For more information on the programme visit: www.eurocis.com/de/Programm
About EuroCIS
The target group of EuroCIS are users and decision-makers in retail and wholesale, from the hospitality, food service and system catering sectors, the leisure industry as well as financial services and banks. Providers of IT, e-commerce and payment as well as security services can also learn about and source the latest retail technologies here. On offer are detailed solutions for Merchandise & Supply Chain Management, POS Soft and Hardware, HR, Robotics, Security & Loss Prevention, Cash Management and Pricing, to name but a few.
EuroCIS 2024 will be open to trade visitors from Tuesday, 27 February, to Thursday, 29 February 2024, daily from 10.00 am to 6.00 pm. Admission tickets are only available online at www.eurocis.com/2130. 1-day tickets cost € 28, 2-day tickets € 39 and the season ticket costs € 50. For more information go to: www.eurocis-tradefair.com. For current news and information on retail technology trends go to www.euroshop-tradefair.com/en/Media-News/EuroShop-mag/Technology.
