Another active day at NRF with attendees and exhibitors enjoyingthe restored mood of retailers. Mobile and security dominate theretailing and payments discussions.
Merchants are expressing concern over the complexity of mobilepayments and are looking at options to help with the core businessof retailing – selling more and selling more often using mobiletechnology. Given the uncertainties over access to NFC chipcapabilities, vendors are showing 2D barcode couponing and paymentmechanisms.
A segment that’s also finding traction is in-store mobility.Tablets with and without payment capability, most of them hardenedversions for commercial environments, were in abundance. Thatinterest is driven by the CIO’s first visit to the Apple Storewhere the benefits of mobile-armed sales staff are obvious.
The opportunity to eliminate the checkout lane footprint,especially in high rent locations, is further driving interest.Turning square feet of non-revenue producing real estate into spacefor merchandise has its attractions.
