Futuretail: The Retail Technology Weblog

New paper blocks RFID

Possibly an interesting application for privacy for contactless cards: a new paper (warning: Google translation from Japanese) that blocks RFID signals using a very thin layer of metal. I don't think this would be terribly useful to block the signals from tags on products (except maybe in shopping bags), but I could very easily see it in a wallet or purse to ensure privacy of your RFID-chipped loyalty and ID cards.

RS2005 Update: Notes from Gartner/RIS

No BIG suprises at the 15th Annual Retail Technology Study presentation today, but a few interesting notes:

• only 18% of respondents valued "a focus on revenue generation" as a skill for CIOs. This is abyssmal; WAY too much focus on a shrinking bottom line and little on increasing the top.
• out of the top 10 technologies for 2005, less than 5% difference between all ten, so the "usual suspects" become even more usual
• finally, retailers are realizing ROI from that bugaboo of infrastructure investments: faster network connections: 47% anticipate ROI in a year from faster bandwidth investments, and 16% more anticipate ROI within two years
• 22% have either deployed or have deployment underway in wireless POS.
• Self-checkout is still not spreading outside grocery; Jeff referenced Home Depot, but other that that... nothing. No surprise; it's not the panacea the vendors keep pitching.
• 6% of retailers claim to be "up to date" with their RFID technology investment. That's funny... unless Wal-Mart got to vote a bunch of times, which 6% could that possibly be? The joys of self-reporting.
• Education and training are big opportunities in the store. With all those kiosks and open POS systems (read that as "screens") in the store, there are all kinds of new opportunities for electronically delivered training, and the flexible interfaces of next-gen POS lends itself VERY well to performance improvement theories.
• 13% of retailers claim to be segmenting customers by "need." More crack-smoking here: they may possibly have a centralized model for that, but virtually no one is executing on the segmentation.
• One thing Jeff kept repeating was "if RFID works..." My comment: it's not an issue of the technology works or not; it's whether or not retailers can create a compelling applications using the technology. Keep in mind, Wal-Mart's RFID trials are still several orders of magnitude more inaccurate than current "middle of the pack" manual processes.

Some things that (once again) weren't really covered:

• offshoring vs. packaged apps
• granularity of "kiosk" and "wireless device" categories
• NOTHING on customer-owned technologies like PDA and cell phone

Live from Retail Systems!

Well, I'm trying something new. In addition to posting blog entries from the show floor, I'll be posting Audioblog entries as well. You can listen to the intro below, and let me know what you think.

Netflix 1, Wal-Mart 1/2

Having offered the same basic service (with less selection but lower prices), Wal-Mart has apparently decided that the Netflix DVD rental offering is stronger than its in-house efforts. What's really interesting is that this is the first substantive multi-channel "co-brand" on the Wal-Mart site. Big picture, it sets the stage for a WM acquisition of Netflix, in my opinion. Wal-Mart is clearly making a services play with DVD rental, and it won't let that service operate outside its brand umbrella for too long. Look out Blockbuster....

Digital advertising screens communicating with Bluetooth

OK, so the real question here is... what constitutes "opting in?" If your Bluetooth enabled phone is set to "discoverable mode," when you pass by these plasma display screens at Heathrow airport, you will receive a message asking if you'd like to download the video content to your phone. One of the big drawbacks of the system is that currently, the content you download is a Volvo ad... not something I would want cluttering up the scarce memory inside my cell phone. A similar project, where infrared technology was used to beam a coupon for a Nintendo Pokemon game, apparently resulted in 10% of the coupon recipients redeeming the coupon. An impressive stat, no doubt, but perhaps if the video clip of the new Volvo included a $1000 off coupon, it might make me want to download it.

Radically cool display solves "want fries with that?" question

This is way too cool to be an academic project, right? I mean, this has to be something from a truly innovative high-tech company's lab... but alas, it was a graduate student who built this incredibly cool application that combines an over-table digital projector with a pressure sensitive surface on the table to make the area around a diner's plate fully interactive. Click here to watch the system in action (Warning: QuickTime video).

A biometric alternative to RFID: vein scanning

Retailers considering technologies to allow customers to identify themselves (note that I did not say to identify customers...) should take a look at new technology from Fujitsu that uses the unique pattern of veins in every human being as a way to identify an individual when they pass their hand over a scanner. This is already wildly cool from an access control perspective, but think of all the applications we are considering customer-owned RFID tags for. If identifying myself simply requires passing my hand over a scanner (as opposed to keying in my telephone number then pressing my finger on a fingerprint device), there are countless applications to create an experience with customers without embedding an RFID chip surgically (ewwww......)

Tenth Amendment battle heats up

OK, for any of you who don't know it, the tenth amendment to the Constitution delegates all powers "not delegated to the US by the Consitution" to the states. So what happens when the feds legislate the use of RFID in ID cards while California bans the use of RFID in ID cards? It's bad enough that I can't use a piece of federal ID like a passport to buy California Pinot Noir... what happens when they make me surrender it when I land at LAX?

RFID-chipped cell phone "shopping" in Japan

This is interesting, mostly because it combines the receiving/display power of a consumer-owned device (the cell phone) with an RFID-tag that allows a retailer to easily identify the consumer - when the consumer wants to be identified, that is. Basically, a company in Japan has launched a service that allows consumers with RFID-chipped phones to wave their phone at a reader in their favorite stores, thus alerting the retailer that the consumer is interested and to send them more information. The challenge (among others) would be that while "universal loyalty" functionality is great for consumers, it ain't so good for retailers. Of course, we're still waiting for RFID-chipped phones here in the US, let alone ones with some degree of integration into the phone itself. Sigh.

WiMax banner day: now coming to a Space Needle near you

As if Sprintel wasn't big enough WiMax news for one day... a WiMax setup was installed on the Space Needle, offering 6 MBit/second speed for $800 per month. Since that's four times faster and only slightly more expensive than a landline T1 (plus, it's... ahem... wireless!), it will be quite appealing for businesses that don't want to deal with local telco installation... such as (drum roll...) retailers in malls.