The Retail Innovators
Follow us
ISO/IEC 27001 certification for information security
© 2018 - 2024 GK Software SE, Germany
According to preliminary figures, sales rose by 12.3% to EUR 95.74 million (9M 2020 = EUR 85.25 million) year-on-year. EBITDA reached a figure of EUR 19.99 million (excluding one-off effects: EUR 17.24 million). The EBIT figure more than doubled to EUR 14.23 million after nine months (EUR 11.48 million excluding one-off effects).
The cloud business was exceptionally successful. Of twelve new contracts, half are SaaS projects, whose total contract value (minimum order volume over the minimum term of contract) amounts to a figure well into the double-digit million range. Two of the new cloud contracts were concluded with major new customers in the USA. The development of Deutsche Fiskal and in the AIR (Artificial Intelligence for Retail) segment was also very positive. The increasing number of SaaS customers not only reflects the ongoing trend towards use of the cloud, but also increases the visibility of the medium-term forecast.
The one-off effect on the results of the current financial year is attributable to the sale of AWEK microdata GmbH and the resulting proceeds of EUR 2.75 million.
In light of how the current business year has developed so far, the Management Board has confirmed its forecast for 2021 as well as the medium-term forecast to 2023.
Publication of the half-year interim report is scheduled for 25 November 2021.
The GK Go store is using GK CLOUD4RETAIL’s new service GK Go, which orchestrates CLOUD4RETAIL services to enable a consistent, flexible flow with real-time shopper interaction throughout the shopping journey, Shekel Product Aware shelves, which recognize the products taken off the shelves, and Hitachi’s 3D LiDARs, which associates the items to the relevant shopper.
GK’s CLOUD4RETAIL platform enables flexible journeys and a variety of customer touchpoints, even in a scan-less shopping journey. As a result, GK Go can be used autonomously or staffed, in a container or as a full store. For example, in addition to pre-authorized ‘just walkout’ technology, retailers can choose to allow card or cash payment at a payment tower, payment on consumers’ mobile phone and even payment at a staffed checkout.
With this technology, consumers can easily see all relevant information about their basket in the app as they are shopping, including items, price, additional item info, total cost so far, and promotions and coupons that have been redeemed. Furthermore, they can opt in for real-time relevant offers and get a hyper-personalized experience with offers based on their preferences, basket content, shopping history, location in the store and additional attributes using GK AI for Retail.
Orit Bar-Ad, portfolio director, GK: “Consumers want to see information that is relevant to them as they shop, regardless of the channel or format. Scan-less should mean a great experience with fewer tasks for the shopper, whilst retaining flexibility and improving interaction. It should remove friction and should take retailers forward in their interaction with consumers as they shop.”
“This was a leading principle in GK Go — a consumer can take items and just walk out, but they can also see what’s in their basket, how much they are being charged, view promotions deployed, and more, at any point while shopping. As well, they can choose other ways to check out, in addition to being able to just walk out. This is achieved due to our real-time interaction, and the new services being an integral part of our unified commerce platform.”
“Various technologies can be used to provide the item and consumer events used by our new GK Go service,” said Orit Bar-Ad. “We are currently working in partnership with Hitachi Smart Spaces solutions 3D Lidar Sensors and Shekel LTD Product Aware Technology to provide high accuracy, reduced GDPR impact (no images of the consumer), reduced environment and lighting dependency, and outstanding real-time events performance, enabling GK Go to provide a superior shopping experience."
“We are excited to partner with GK and provide Hitachi Smart Spaces solutions in its staff store to enable a seamless, automated shopping experience,” said Christian Dornacher, director, Smart Spaces & Lumada Video Insights at Hitachi Vantara. “As the future of retail includes more touchless experiences, we recognize that protecting customer privacy is crucial. With our Lidar-based technology, we can provide a seamless, non-invasive experience that protects shoppers’ personal information and delights patrons with a truly autonomous grab and go retail environment.”
Rami Bahar, Chief Business Development Officer, Shekel, said: “We are excited and honored to provide our Product Aware technology to the ground-breaking GK Go store. Converting Shekel's world-class load cells into AI-powered IoT sensors enables us to recognize products in a blink and at the highest accuracy, while maintaining lowest cost of ownership and unrivaled reliability."
The GK Go store is also using a Blue Fire gate from Pan Oston and the latest version of electronic shelf labels from Hanshow, its Nebular series, which allow remote updating of prices, dynamic pricing, and more. All of this combines to provide more efficient operations for retailers, especially in autonomous environments, and a better shopping experience for customers.
Shekel– Doing Magic with Gravity
Shekel is the forefront of the digital weighing industry for the past four decades. Thanks to a unique combination of cutting-edge technology, sophisticated software, AI models, and advanced algorithms, Shekel Scales products have the proven ability to deliver not only maximum-precision weighing solutions but also product recognition and indicative solutions for a wide range of industries, from retail and medicine to science and security. Shekel strives to help our partners achieve their goals and better serve their customers and improve the lives of millions around the world.
With years of experience and countless success stories, our motivation to maintain Shekel as leaders in the digital weighing industry remained embedded and defined by our basic principle; to always put our customers in the center of everything we do. Our magical blend of years of advanced thought leadership alongside an innovative entrepreneurial mindset is what drives our team to continue and develop differentiating technology, and that is Shekel empowered gravity. Shekel’s patented combination of weighing technology with Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Internet of Things (IoT) technology led to the development of its “Product Aware Technology”. Shekel is committed to continuing to innovate and expand into global markets.
To learn more about Shekel, visit www.shekelbrainweigh.com
Hitachi Vantara, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hitachi, Ltd., guides our customers from what's now to what's next by solving their digital challenges. Working alongside each customer, we apply our unmatched industrial and digital capabilities to their data and applications to benefit both business and society. More than 80% of the Fortune 100 trust Hitachi Vantara to help them develop new revenue streams, unlock competitive advantages, lower costs, enhance customer experiences, and deliver social and environmental value.
Visit us at www.hitachivantara.com
Hanshow delivers digital solutions for retailers to improve efficiency, profitability, and sustainability. From award-winning electronic shelf labels to in-store marketing screens and AI-powered monitoring solutions, Hanshow currently serves over 20,000 stores in more than 50 countries.
Learn more at www.hanshow.com
Frictionless commerce is growing in popularity among shoppers and retailers alike. But is frictionless technology part of an evolution where you can build on existing solutions or a revolution where you must quickly reshape your business processes to keep up with the competition?
To answer this question, Bill Miller, our vice president of sales, joined a webinar discussion, hosted by Conexxus, alongside Toby Awalt, director of product marketing, Mashgin, and IV Dickinson, vice president of digital experience, SageNet, to discuss the future of retail. The conversation, moderated by Kristen Call, Americas IoT Specialist, Intel and hosted by Donna Perkins, Standards Manager, Conexxus is available for on demand viewing.
Retailers shouldn't be trying to 'get ahead' in the technology revolution just to have the latest and greatest. As Bill Miller said, "it's all about me, as the customer." Every decision should be focused on what the customer wants – their preferences and their convenience.
Frictionless technology is the logical next step for retailers who are prioritizing their customer's needs. As Toby Awalt pointed out, customers hate lines. In 2018, Forrester reported that 32% of shoppers will change locations to avoid a line, and 65% were willing to use self-checkout to create a more seamless experience. And what's more, this study was conducted before the pandemic. Now, customers are even more willing to experiment with new technology if it means they'll get their goods quicker, both for their safety and for their convenience.
Retail segments are converging, so the technology typically used in each type of store have becoming increasingly similar. For example, the innovations used in c-stores in recent years are now applicable in hospitality venues and vice versa. For any retail segment, there are a wide variety of ways businesses can incorporate frictionless technology, including:
Frictionless technology has evolved extensively in the last few years – from POS kiosks to Amazon's Just Walk Out technology. Not only is this technology beneficial for differentiating oneself from the competition, but it also leads to other examples of heightened ROI, including:
Furthermore, frictionless technology creates more opportunities for retailers. For example, if less staff is needed at all times, the excess staffing time can be used to extend the operating hours of the store. And, within a fully integrated store, frictionless technology can help retailers with heatmapping, cart analysis, loyalty programs, buyer history and SMS and email marketing.
It's not enough, however, to simply install new technology and then step aside, according to IV Dickinson. Successful innovation requires an in-store digital experience ecosystem that connects managed services (the team tasked with monitoring and maintaining the technology) with professional services (the team designing, testing and installing the technology) and the organization (the dedicated associates who will be using the technology). This ensures that the solutions will work just as well on day 1,000 as they did on the day they were installed. Because, if the technology breaks down, the experience is no longer frictionless.
Despite all these moving parts, Bill Miller reiterated that customers always need one source of truth in the store. All the technology and related teams need to work together to coordinate the shopper experience for customers both within the store and at the forecourt to maximize ROI.
In short: frictionless technology is an ongoing evolution, and brands and retailers that keep innovating – as it makes sense for their customers – will benefit tremendously.
If you're interested in learning more about how your store or forecourt can incorporate frictionless technology, reach out to us today. And be sure to follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn to learn more about upcoming webinars and events.
You can also learn more about GK's latest solutions including CLOUD4RETAIL, OmniPOS, TransAction+, GK Drive and AIR Personalization at NRF 2022 in New York City. Schedule a meeting with us at booth 5419 today!
CLOUD4RETAIL is GK's flexible, open commerce platform providing services for the operation of integrated unified commerce environments from in-store and online touchpoints through to mobile devices. The platform is enriched by innovative services such as AI-based dynamic pricing, personalization, fraud detection, and mobile applications. Now available with various cloud providers such as Azure, SAP Cloud and IBM, the extensive expansion and customization options of CLOUD4RETAIL services can be used on a wide range of devices.
MySize is the developer of a unique sensor-based measurement technology and the owner of several patented algorithms that capture and calculate measurements in different ways. The company’s technology is one of a kind in its agility, fitting its algorithm to different markets and verticals. MySize plug-in to GK CLOUD4RETAIL instore touch points, allows assistants to support consumers in real time, fetching the correct size in every item!
Reducing the number of garments consumers would need to try on, and increasing their time to shop for additional items and hence increasing consumer satisfaction, basket size and brand loyalty, whilst reducing returns.
“The partnership with GK allows us to offer consumer size information to staff and consumers at store, for the first time. The simple tooling provided by GK made this integration possible with very low effort and we are already looking at further implementations together across all segments” says Ronen Luzon, MySize CEO.
“We are glad to be able to offer our customers, leading retailers in over 65 countries, such a quick and simple way to improve consumer experience. With MySize measurement information available on assisted touchpoints, and store specific date available for consumer size recommendation, we allow retailers to take customer service at store to a new level” says Orit Bar-Ad, GK Software Portfolio Director and responsible for building the GK development hub Omnibasket.com.
In this series, we sit down with members of the GK Software team to learn more about their experience with the company.
I started my career right out of school, having graduated with a degree in electronics engineering. My first job after college was with a company called ICL Retail Systems, a UK-based company that introduced a revolutionary new POS solution, later acquired by Fujitsu. I spent the first couple of years implementing the solution in the field across Canada, visiting stores and speaking to store associates and managers.
After my time there I joined a company called Triversity. I traveled the world working with retailers and partners that included IBM and SAP to sell that solution and was quite successful. SAP then acquired Triversity and the POS solution became a part of the SAP portfolio.
I rejoined Fujitsu after seven years with SAP/Triversity and eventually became the director responsible for retail sales across Canada, working closely with Fujitsu hardware and software teams as well as their consulting organization.
In 2015, GK Software established a solution extension partner relationship with SAP and opened a North America office. I had a chance to look at the solutions that GK Software was providing to the industry and it was clear to me that it had superior technology to address the evolving need for omnichannel and frictionless customer engagement solutions. Furthermore, many of my previous colleagues worked for GK Software as well as SAP. The chance to help GK Software grow its presence in the Americas was very appealing to me. In 2016, I joined GK Software as a sales director and it felt like coming home again. Since then, the entire GK family has worked to establish GK Software USA as a leader in the industry.
My favorite parts of working for GK Software are the people and the solutions. The level of knowledge that exists at GK Software is staggering. This, combined with the passion of the employees to provide retailers with the highest quality solutions, make working here a pleasure.
I was recently involved in a sale to a large multi-national company with retail operations in the US. The company was very successful, however, the technology that was used in the retail locations was not meeting the demands of its client base, associates or the new realities around omnichannel retail. The SAP Omnichannel Point of Sale by GK solution allowed the company to meet its current demands as well as future requirements. It also provided the ability to completely leverage the investments it had made in SAP and e-commerce. The solution is in pilot, and the feedback has been tremendous - the store associates have commented on the speed and ease of use of the solution.
GK Software has a unique offering in that it is based on a very modern micro-service architecture, and although the solution is very modern it is also proven in the real world with many deployments globally. This has been recognized by leading analyst firms, including Gartner and IHL and Forrester. The GK architecture provides an unprecedented level of flexibility while simplifying the deployment and management of the solution. The other benefit is process orchestration which allows a retailer to leverage services that exist in other solutions and provide a seamless experience to customers and associates, regardless of channel.
The laser focus on innovation is another unique aspect of GK. We have one micro-services-based solution for self-service, BYOD self-service, mobile POS, self-scanning, fuel and hospitality. We are also investing heavily in AI via the GK Software AIR (Artificial Intelligence for Retail) solution, allowing personalization and dynamic pricing among other benefits. Innovation in payments and the ability to leverage retailer investments in payment terminals to provide enhanced consumer services is also unique to GK Software.
My number one focus is my wonderful family. My fantastic wife and three children are very active and we love to explore nature and travel extensively. Personally, I love to mountain bike, kayak, and play hockey and volleyball. I also enjoy hobbies like home renovation and photography.
Both customers have signed long-term SaaS contracts and will be introducing CLOUD4RETAIL. The total contract value (minimum order volume over the minimum term of contract) amounts to a figure well into the double-digit million range, relating overall to some 10,000 installations and the provision and operation of the necessary background systems.
The nature of the SaaS business means that these new clients will have very little influence on the result of the current fiscal year. However, they underline the ongoing shift in demand towards cloud solutions and considerably improve the visibility of the medium-term forecast. The Management Board therefore stands by its forecasts for 2021 and the medium term.
The acceleration of digital transformation paired with evolving customer expectations has led retailers to blend their store formats, improving service and fostering loyalty.
Hy-Vee is an example of a retailer that is no stranger to in-store innovation – and GK Software is helping the company achieve its goal of a seamless customer journey.
According to Supermarket News, Hy-Vee once again has "pushed the envelope of what a supermarket can be" with its newly launched prototype store in Grimes, Iowa. The store hosts amenities that include a:
Beyond supermarkets and grocery stores, convenience store retailers are also feeling the pressure to add additional services to compete – including prepared foods, frictionless checkout and fuel.
Fuel offerings in particular can be especially challenging, as they are siloed between the forecourt and in-store payments, and must be EMV compliant. Yet unified service here is critical, as convenience stores sell approximately 80% of the motor fuels purchased in the U.S.
Similar to innovating within its supermarkets, Hy-Vee has recognized the need for innovation in its convenience stores. We were recently thrilled to announce the company has completed a full deployment of the GK OmniPOS, TransAction+ Payments and GK Drive forecourt solutions in all its convenience stores.
The deployment enables Hy-Vee to deliver the same flexible and scalable services to its customers at the pump and in the store. Hy-Vee uses the integrated platform to support a variety of customer touchpoints, including traditional point of sale, self-checkout, fuel, payments, curbside pickup and more.
According to Luke Tingley, chief innovation officer and senior vice president at Hy-Vee, "We're always looking for ways to provide convenient, cutting-edge customer service on the forefront of such a competitive and evolving retail landscape. Our goal is to implement a flexible and agile platform in store and at the pump to make our locations the most convenient destination for customers."
Today's customers expect convenience at every turn, so it's up to retailers to implement technology that creates a cohesive, seamless journey at all touchpoints. For example, any interaction at the pump should also be tied to the in-store experience, and vice versa.
Read more about how Hy-Vee is building loyalty with our flexible and scalable services at the pump and in the store.
GK Software, a global leader in omnichannel retail, today announced that Hy-Vee, an employee-owned grocery and convenience retailer operating more than 280 stores in eight Midwestern states, has completed a full deployment of the GK OmniPOS, TransAction+ Payments and GK Drive forecourt solutions in all its convenience stores. The deployment enables Hy-Vee to deliver the same flexible and scalable services to its customers at the pump and in the store.
Evolving customer expectations are putting significant pressure on convenience retailers to emphasize services such as prepared foods, frictionless checkout and fuel as retail segments converge and digital transformation accelerates. However, fuel operations are often still siloed, especially between the forecourt and in-store payments. Hy-Vee has established itself as a leader in omnichannel integration of solutions that bring ease to payments, mobile and personalization services to customers. With the GK OmniPOS, TransAction+ Payments and GK Drive solutions, Hy-Vee is able to use an integrated platform to support a variety of customer touchpoints, including traditional point of sale, self-checkout, fuel, payments, curbside pickup and more.
In addition to improving end-to-end enterprise integration, the GK solutions offer retailers:
"We’re always looking for ways to provide convenient, cutting-edge customer service on the forefront of such a competitive and evolving retail landscape,” said Luke Tingley, chief information officer and senior vice president at Hy-Vee. “Our goal is to implement a flexible and agile platform in store and at the pump to make our locations the most convenient destination for customers.”
“In today’s age of converging retail formats, customers expect convenience around every turn. Any interaction at the pump should also be tied to the in-store experience, and vice versa to create a frictionless shopper journey,” said Michael Jaszczyk, CEO, GK Software USA. “By rounding out the OmniPOS solution suite with TransAction+ Payments and GK Drive, Hy-Vee is able to create a cohesive, seamless journey for shoppers at every touchpoint, furthering convenience and loyalty with customers.”
The pandemic upended the routines of many, including changing the way we travel, both for work and leisure. Despite these major shifts, consumers are still making a habit of visiting c-stores regularly. In fact, 65% shop at a c-store once a week or more, according to Convenience Store News’ 2021 Realities of the Aisle Study.
As consumer habits continue to evolve, the c-store remains an important source of fuel, snacks, on-the-go items and last-minute groceries. We dug into the latest consumer trends and behaviors reported by Convenience Store News and identified how c-store retailers can adapt their in-store offerings to meet these new shopping habits.
With ongoing inflation and high consumer prices, consumers are sensitive to prices when determining where to shop. Convenience Store News’ study found that 54% of shoppers say price is the number one factor for a positive shopping experience.
Yet for larger retailers that have many stores, ensuring their prices are competitive yet profitable can be difficult to do manually.
An AI-driven dynamic pricing solution enables retailers to react to internal and external factors to quickly and effectively establish optimized prices. Automated processes are key to making real-time, in-store pricing updates.
For example, as lunchtime approaches and breakfast items are still on the counter, setting a lower price can motivate a sale. Or if a specific beverage doesn’t sell as frequently as it usually does, dynamic pricing can signal the need for a promotion to compete against other c-stores.
The Convenience Store News report also found that a quarter of shoppers note that a loyalty program can influence their visit to a convenience store. Retailers can respond to this shopping preference by offering loyalty programs that provide benefits, including coupons and targeted promotions to ensure shoppers return. This might look like a rewards-based loyalty program that offers the purchase of a ninth breakfast sandwich for free.
With a loyalty program, retailers can access data with insights on shopper behaviors to further provide a personalized experience. As well, retailers gain a better understanding of top-selling inventory, which helps them manage assortment and ensure those items are always in stock. In fact, 45% of consumers cite having the specific products they want as a critical factor to shopping with a retailer.
It’s not only essential to personalize a customer experience with targeted promotions and a relevant recommended product assortment, but it’s also beneficial to use aggregated customer insights to tailor these offers. For example, the most consumers shop is between 4-7 p.m. At this time, consumers are more likely to be filling up on fuel or alcoholic beverages, rather than a morning commuter looking for coffee – and retailers should adjust their offers accordingly.
Instead of the overall experience, more c-store shoppers today are placing an emphasis on the convenience that these stores provide. Converging retail formats – such as grocerants – have heightened the importance of convenience and the speed of service a retailer gives. For instance, more and more shoppers are finding they can buy the same products at convenience stores with more speed and efficiency, as opposed to waiting in long checkout lines at supermarkets to get their groceries.
Mobile devices can also help c-store retailers capitalize on the speed in which orders are processed, from pre-ordering, to checkout to contactless payments. And consumers are open to these shopping methods, with Convenience Store News finding that 15% of consumers seek out contactless shopping, and 14% want to be able to use a mobile app.
From mobile POS, customer loyalty, store merchandise management, dynamic pricing, AI-enabled personalization and so much more, GK Software’s CLOUD4RETAIL platform offers a full range of technology that keeps convenience store retailers in control of the shopper experience.
We’ll be at NACS October 5-8, at booth 6889. If you’re attending, feel free to visit us, or reach out to learn more about our solutions.
GK Software today announced it has partnered with Flexa, the leading pure-digital payments network, to enable merchants using TransAction+, GK’s leading payment processing application, to seamlessly accept dozens of different digital currencies in a fast and completely fraud-proof way.
Today’s customers are demanding retailers accept digital currencies as a method of payment, with 57% of consumers saying they would choose where to shop based in part on whether they have the right mix of digital payment options. That’s why GK Software has joined forces with Flexa to help merchants meet this rise in demand and adapt quickly to the future of payments.
Merchants already integrated on TransAction+ will be able to easily accept digital currency payments using the Flexa network. Together, the collaboration will allow merchants to:
“Digital currency is growing in popularity, which is why the most advanced retailers are offering digital payments for their shoppers,” said Todd Barstow, VP of Payments Solutions, GK Software USA. “Our unique partnership with Flexa will allow merchants using TransAction+ to easily accept cryptocurrency payments, enriching the shopping experience and driving customer loyalty as we embark on this exciting new chapter in the world of payments.”
“As the fastest, most fraud-proof payments network in the world, Flexa is committed to helping merchants give their customers the freedom to pay how they want,” said Trevor Filter, co-founder, Flexa. “Merchants who connect to Flexa through our integration with GK Software will benefit from unlocking contactless digital currency as a payment option in an innovative and cost-effective way.”
The Retail Innovators