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GK is delighted to further enrich its growing Innovation Partners Ecosystem, with the addition of In Store Communication Technology Innovator ReAct Now, now plugged in to the open CLOUD4RETAIL platform.
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, AWS, SAP Cloud and IBM, the extensive expansion and customization options of CLOUD4RETAIL services can be used on a wide range of devices.
Using IoT-based communication technology, ReAct’s “Call To Action” platform allows retailers to improve and streamline communication - it enables a targeted exchange of information between employees as well as lane control and consumer announcements in real-time.
The new partnership allows a seamless integration of ReAct's communication software into GK's CLOUD4RETAIL OmniPOS solution, allowing retail employees to communicate with each other in an easy, stress-free way. For example- informing colleagues that a new checkout needs to be opened, then informing consumers that it has opened by opening consumer gate and providing visual ques such as lane poll light, and acoustic public announcement that the lane has opened.
"Partnering with GK allows us to offer retailers a holistic solution," says Manuel Tessloff, CEO of ReAct. "Our products complement each other beautifully and work seamlessly together to ensure optimal operations, not only in the checkout zone, but throughout the entire store."
“We are delighted to be able to offer our customers, leading retailers in over 65 countries, a simple and easy way to enable communication between staff members, lane control and consumer announcements based on real time events” says Orit Bar-Ad, GK Software Portfolio Director.
ReAct is a software company and innovation leader for digital operations management and IoT communication solutions. We help teams in retail, industry, and health care streamline their communication and, hence, their processes by consistently digitizing communication. From managers to directors, customers to staff: ReAct’s communication solutions are easy to implement and bring real added value to everyday processes across all floor teams in your company.
What you ultimately get is not just a communication software but this: More sales, increased productivity, better shopping experiences, higher customer and employee satisfaction. In other words, a better place to work and shop.
Further information about ReAct: www.react-now.com
At the height of the pandemic – from March 2020 to March 2021 – when dressing rooms were closed and customers turned to online shopping or curbside, 42.4% of U.S. consumers returned unwanted products. And a majority of those products were clothing. With in-store shopping altered, the apparel industry faced a setback as many shoppers were unable to touch, feel and try on clothes before purchasing them.
By 2026, an estimated 80,000 retail stores are expected to close. But this isn't a signal to close up shop just yet, or that apparel stores are a thing of the past. Customers simply expect retailers to make the in-store experience more convenient and memorable. The future of apparel relies on technology innovation, and GK is taking steps to further enrich this innovation with its partners ecosystem, as evidenced by our recent announcement with MySize.
Experiential retail has become a popular way for brands to create memorable engagement in physical stores. Pop-up stores are often a low-risk way to test out new markets or products, while offering shoppers a new way to interact with a brand outside of the online shop.
A heightened focus on service and partnerships with other brands has also taken shape. Earlier this year, Indochino, a brick-and-mortar custom apparel retailer, also opened doors within Nordstrom. Retail Dive notes that, "as a retailer that prides itself on service, the Indochino partnership makes sense for Nordstrom, as it is a highly service-oriented model."
An added benefit of in-store shopping is the interaction with associates and the increased customer service levels they provide. These types of one-on-one interactions can foster a personalized shopping experience as the associate assists with each shopper's unique needs.
What's more, pairing technology innovation with customer service can lead to an even greater experiential shopping journey. For example, our partner MySize is a measurements technology company that captures and calculates a shopper's clothing size with just a mobile device.
Earlier this year, we partnered with MySize to offer consumer size information in store, for the first time, establishing a quick and simple way to improve the customer experience. With measurement accuracy, associates can better assist shoppers and suggest clothing that will fit them. As a result, shoppers can spend more time browsing for additional items instead of feeling frustrated in the dressing room with items that don't fit. This can increase satisfaction, basket size and loyalty, for if a shopper has a quick and easy experience trying on clothes, they'll remember the brand the next time they need to go shopping.
Accurate sizing technology can also help retailers reduce the number of returns. As well, having insights into sizing information can help maintain an accurate inventory that is reflective of their customer needs, reducing out of stocks.
For retailers considering adding new technology features to their existing stack, choosing a partner can be daunting. An open commerce platform – such as our very own CLOUD4RETAIL – can seamlessly integrate with additional third-party vendors as a company grows and scales. What's more, open platforms can integrate unified commerce environments from in-store and online touchpoints to mobile devices.
According to Ronen Luzon, CEO of MySize, "The partnership with GK allows us to offer consumer size information to staff and consumers at the 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."
We're not the first to tell you that March 2020 was a pivotal month. It was a catalyst for changes in consumer behavior and technology adoption across retail's many verticals. But what isn't so clear is which consumer behaviors from the past two years have turned into long-term habits – and which technologies retailers now require in order to meet their needs.
At the onset of the pandemic, ensuring shoppers could receive products safely was at the forefront of everyone's mind. Click-and-collect services like curbside pickup and BOPIS began to gain popularity as these technologies served as a way for shoppers to visit stores without having to be inside them for long periods of time. In fact, U.S. shoppers spent more than $72 billion via click and collect in 2020, a 106.9% growth rate over 2019.
The rise of BOPIS further accelerated the need for omnichannel and fulfillment solutions, as shoppers began their journey online and ended it at a physical store. For retailers that didn't have advanced fulfillment options, click and collect served as a flexible, standalone solution – requiring only a smartphone-enabled app and a QR code. What's more, retailers are able to add integrations and features over time, making management of the solution easier as a business grows and evolves.
The increased familiarity with mobile shopping has made it easier than ever for customers to order ahead. As mentioned above, services like BOPIS save customers valuable time, whether that's browsing aisles for items or having to wait in a long checkout line.
The option to order ahead on their phone also adds another level of convenience. Every vertical is adopting its own method of this offering, from quick-service restaurants and major brands like McDonald's to convenience stores. Providing multiple ordering outlets beyond the drive-thru helps brands serve guests as their expectations continue to shift.
What's more, adding features and capabilities on mobile helps strengthen and provide long-term loyalty and provides personalized shopping experiences.
Similar to the ease mobile order ahead provides, 90% of consumers use unattended retail as much – or more – during the pandemic. The top reasons include speed, convenience and the ability to social distance. This includes use of an in-store kiosk, or the concept of BYOD – bring your own device – through which customers can shop on their phones.
Both are self-service options in which a shopper doesn't have to interact with an associate face to face. This reduces length of lines while still providing an engaging and personalized experience. As a result, in-store associates can focus their time and effort on more critical tasks.
As mobile usage has increased, the desire for contactless payments has also grown. It has become increasingly popular in retail environments in which people don't want to wait in line and want to reduce physical touchpoints. In 2020, more than half of Americans used contactless payments, a number that's likely increased as the process has become more familiar to shoppers.
When implementing contactless payments, retailers must ensure they have a flexible, configurable solution that allows for secure payment processing. What's more, it needs to be able to handle new forms of payments – including digital currency.
During 2021, a number of major partnerships and announcements occurred in the industry, helping to stay competitive – including Rite Aid partnering with Uber Eats, Amazon implementing buy now, pay later, and grocers like Kroger implementing ghost kitchens as a way to offer customers fresh, prepared meals.
2022 will surely bring its unique sets of opportunities and challenges for retailers. But with the right roster of technology, retailers can be better prepared to innovate and meet consumers' new demands. Are you prepared?
GK today announced that its CLOUD4RETAIL OmniPOS 5.19 and T+ Enterprise and Central EJ, Returns and Loyalty solutions are now available on Amazon Web Services, Inc. (AWS), running on cloud native services that include Amazon Elastic Kuberntes Service (Amazon EKS) and Amazon Relational Database Service (Amazon RDS). By providing support on the native AWS infrastructure, GK's omnichannel commerce and payment solutions give retailers purpose-built offerings that provide value across the entire spectrum of retail IT operations.
Retailers are seeking cloud solutions that accelerate innovation, optimize operations and delight customers. The availability of GK's cloud solutions on AWS empowers retailers to create exceptional experiences with an agile, high-performance infrastructure. This collaboration makes it easy and seamless for retailers running on the cloud to take advantage of AWS solutions, which are containerized and delivered using AWS native services.
GK CLOUD4RETAIL OmniPOS 5.19 is an enhanced POS solution that provides an enterprise-class, unified platform for every retail format. Its flexible, open commerce platform powers the modern retail experience, from touchless mobile payments to table-service support, as well as integrated payment processing. T+ Enterprise and Central EJ, Returns and Loyalty solutions allow retailers to analyze and process transactions from any source across the enterprise, including all software and data, in real time. GK's solution is currently being used at almost 500,000 retail and payment installations across approximately 100,000 stores in more than 60 countries.
With this collaboration, GK customers can now create and configure shared file systems simply and quickly. The solutions can also be used with Amazon RDS, which makes it easy to set up, operate, and scale a relational database in the cloud. It provides cost-efficient and resizable capacity while automating time-consuming administration tasks such as hardware provisioning, database setup, patching and backups.
"It's become increasingly important for retailers to transform their digital operations by enhancing their cloud capabilities," said Michael Jaszczyk, chief executive officer at GK America. "Our AWS offerings allow retailers to easily leverage cloud computing and accelerate their innovation journey. We're excited to bring this solution to the table for our customers and make it easier than ever to improve efficiency and productivity in all areas of a retailer's business."
In this series, we sit down with members of the GK Software team to learn more about their experience with the company.
I've been around technology nearly all my life, starting out as a toddler sleeping under the tables in the computer lab at NC State University while my mom worked on her computer science degree. I became interested in retail software as a college intern, working on IBM's point-of-sale solution, and have been a part of the industry ever since. I joined GK Software in 2015 when it acquired the company I was working for at the time.
The people, hands down. There are so many talented people here that prioritize doing a good job and taking care of our customers. Beyond that, we really care about each other as people, not just as coworkers. We have fun together, we celebrate successes together, and we even mourn losses together.
There have been so many cool projects, it's hard to name just one. One of my favorite things about retail technology is that you get to see your work out in "the real world." It's always a great moment when I can tell my kids, "our software printed that receipt," or "our software processed that credit card."
If I were forced to narrow it down though, I would probably say I'm most proud of our payment processing software, TransAction+. It runs in tens of thousands of locations, has processed millions of dollars of transactions, and is integrated with a dozen different point-of-sale systems. We are currently in the process of making it a part of our cloud offering too, which is very exciting.
I think GK has approached retail technology in a unique way by offering a retail platform rather than just a point-of-sale system. So many other companies start with the point-of-sale and then try to bolt other systems onto it. GK flipped that concept around by creating a platform that is easy to integrate with, and then building point-of-sale as one of several offerings on top of it.
My favorite thing to do is travel and see new places with my wife and two children. Beyond that, I love both watching and playing sports, especially basketball and football. I also teach Sunday school and work with the youth at my church.
The average shopping cart abandonment rate is a staggering 70%. As a result, preventing lost sales is a main priority for ecommerce retailers. What's more, the apparel industry is highly dynamic due to item seasonality, customers' unique fashion tastes, and the ever-evolving definition of what's in style.
It's important for retailers selling online to offer the most relevant item results – and the increase in mobile shopping only reinforces this need. Mobile commerce sales grew 41.4% in 2020, and is expected to grow another 15.2% this year, according to eMarketer.
Whether on a browser or in a retailer's app, the limited number of items displayed on a smartphone demands retailers provide customers with relevant, personalized results to reduce the number of lost sales.
Image similarity, or product recommendations calculated on the basis of patterns recognized between images, can improve and influence the shopping experience on a product webpage, in the shopping cart and on a shopper's wish list.
After clicking on a product that strikes their interest, a customer is taken to the item's unique webpage. Here they can find more information about a product and gather a detailed view, including various images and videos.
Many retailers place additional product recommendations under the item details based on different recommendation strategies. These recommendations are calculated on the basis of similarity analysis.
For example, a customer may receive suggestions for a shirt that is similar to the one they originally selected in terms of fabric, material and/or color. In the event their desired item is sold out in size, instead of a shopper leaving the site, retailers can share similar items that might still fit a customer's needs.
Once a customer has decided to buy an item of clothing, they place it in their online shopping cart. From here, they should ideally not be distracted by anything, to ensure they do not abandon the purchase. However, we know this is not a flawless strategy. A customer may open a new tab, or physically step away from their device. If items are selling quickly, a customer may return to their shopping cart only to find the item is sold out.
To counteract the threat of lost sales, it has proven practical to display alternative products that are visually similar to the sold-out item of clothing. Retailers can then define the filter criteria as it best fits the customer's need. For example, they can ensure that the items displayed are available in the clothing size of the sold-out product.
A wish list makes it easy for customers to remember items they may want to buy later. Apparel retailers often see a wish list as a preliminary stage to the actual buying process. Unlike in the shopping cart, where the customer should not be distracted, opportunities for upsell exist in the form of recommendations.
For example, recommendations can be displayed based on visually similar items of clothing that are on a wish list. Using artificial intelligence, retailers can analyze which recommendations are more frequently accepted by customers and added to wish lists – or shopping carts, too – to better inform future merchandising decisions, such as the choice to display items of clothing within a certain price range based on the price of the original product.
As the popularity of ecommerce continues to rise, retailers can improve the shopper experience from the first click all the way to the point of purchase. With image similarity, retailers can achieve higher sales by offering more accurate product recommendations.
prudsys, a member of the GK Software Group, works to automate personalization in retail through artificial intelligence. Learn more about prudsys solutions here.
According to the Global POS Software 2021 study now published by the British analyst group Retail Banking Research (RBR), GK once again defended its number one position in this area (period studied: June 2020 to June 2021). The analysts assessed the market shares of over 100 POS software providers in the top 49 countries.
Taking into account new installations across the retail, hospitality and forecourt sectors, it can be seen that GK counts among the leading cross-sector providers: GK was able to defend the second position worldwide for all new installations in retail, hospitality and forecourts during the period of the study.
GK is the market leader for total POS installations in both Germany and Eastern Europe. In Western Europe, GK ranks second for all installations.
According to RBR, GK is also one of the world's leading suppliers of software solutions for self-scanning: Worldwide, GK ranks fourth among all providers in this segment. This is according to RBR's Mobile Self-Scanning and Checkout-Free 2021 study, published earlier this year. In this report, analysts examined the market shares of more than 60 vendors in the top 23 countries.
According to the RBR study, retailers currently offer self-scanning with mobile devices in 32,000 retail outlets worldwide. In more than 80 percent of these shopping locations, consumers can use their own smartphones to scan.
RBR is a strategic research and consulting firm with three decades of experience in banking and retail automation, cards and payments. RBR supports its clients by providing independent advice and information through reports, consulting, newsletters and events.
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!
The Retail Innovators