IBM: IBM and Business Partners Deliver Customer-Focused Innovations and Insights to Retailers at NRF 2007
IBM and Business Partners Deliver Customer-Focused Innovations and Insights to Retailers at NRF 2007
NEW YORK, NY — (MARKET WIRE) — January 15, 2007 — NRF Annual Convention
& EXPO 2007 — IBM(NYSE: IBM) and its comprehensive ecosystem of retail-focused BusinessPartners demonstrated the latest in customer-centric innovations today atthe National Retail Federation (NRF) 96th Annual Convention and Expo. Aspart of the convention, IBM announced a number of new strategic clientengagements, innovative datacenter technologies and insightful reports andsurveys focused on consumers buying habits.
The announcements include details on IBM’s work with Sears and Circuit Cityin the exciting new virtual world of Second Life. Also, on the heels ofthe 2006 holiday shopping season, IBM released two new pieces of research,which look at consumer buying habits and the strategies retailers need topursue to take advantage of disruptive changes. IBM also detailed a newclient engagement at Kroger which leverages the IBMStore-Integration-Framework. Finally, the company revealed datacentertechnologies designed to help retailers improve security, systemsmanagement and serviceability.
“IBM has worked with retailers for over 50 years to deliver innovationsthat have transformed the industry,” said Karen Lowe, General Manager, IBMRetail Industry. “We have a deep understanding of today’s polarized retailmarketplace and the sophisticated consumers who inhabit it. IBM, togetherwith our network of nearly 2,000 retail industry Business Partners, createssolutions that deliver value to customer-focused retailers.”
Connecting to Consumers Virtually
IBM has announced it has teamed with Circuit City Stores and Sears tointroduce virtual worlds and 3-D environments into the multi-channelretailing environment. Taking place on the IBM “island” in the virtualworld of Second Life, these experiments explore the application of thetechnology to gain customer insight and improve shopping experiences.Connecting the virtual world with the real world can create a richer, moreimmersive experience for customers. This work is part of an IBM-ledinitiative to collaborate with clients and partners to solve businessproblems in new ways.
The prototype store from Sears is a showcase of basic features of whatmight be possible in using virtual worlds to transform consumerexperiences. The initial store allows consumers to experiment withchanging the color of the cabinets and countertops in a virtual kitchen,explore 3-D versions of various home theater set-ups and learn how toorganize their garage by virtually customizing storage accessories.
IBM and Circuit City experiments include an interactive home theater setup,where customers can easily recreate their own home environment, and figureout the optimal size television to purchase based on room dimensions. Thecompanies are also researching the potential to add other features incustomer service.
New Consumer Insight and Research
IBM also announced two new pieces of research focused on helping retailersnavigate the unprecedented diversity and fragmentation in today’smarketplace. First, IBM released the results of a national survey of 1,000consumers which showed that consumers were more informed and focused duringthe 2006 holiday shopping season. In conjunction with this research, IBMreleased a new study, titled “Turning shoppers into advocates: Thecustomer-focused retail enterprise,” suggesting retailers turn theirtraditional business models around by putting consumers at the center ofstrategies and operations.
While price remained a key factor with seven in ten consumers during the2006 holiday shopping season, influences such as the internet, peerrecommendations and instant feedback via text messaging emerged as keyfactors consumers weighed when deciding where they shopped and what theybought. In fact, 53 percent of consumers used the internet to compareproduct features and prices across retail outlets.
Also, friends and family continued to influence buying decisions, with 24percent of consumers identifying them as a factor. Interestingly, one in10 consumers reached out to friends and family via text message as theyshopped to get input or share information on products.
Integration through Open Standards
IBM announced it has engaged with supermarket client, Kroger to deploy newtechnology initiatives throughout its network of more than 2,470supermarkets across the country. The solution will leverage IBM’s StoreIntegration Framework, a store-centric framework which leverages Java™ 2Enterprise Edition (J2EE)-based architectures as well as an infrastructurebuilt on open standards. The framework provides a complete, flexible androbust retail-optimized infrastructure to enhance store-centered processesand connect them with the enterprise.
The solution will include IBM Store Integrator and IBM Data IntegrationFacility and will leverage Kroger’s previous investment in IBM’s SurePOS700 point-of-sale (POS) solution and IBM SurePOS™ ACE for 4690 OSsoftware. This network of 30,000+ POS systems is being proactivelymonitored using IBM’s Tivoli Manager for Retail software.
IBM’s Store Integration Framework made strong gains in 2006 and is theleading retail store infrastructure platform. The framework is the retailimplementation of IBM’s Services Oriented Architecture (SOA), and has beenimplemented with 38 clients at more than 7,000 stores, with committedrollouts at 25,000 stores. Also, 66 leading Independent Software Vendorsand Business Partners have been validated on IBM’s Store IntegrationFramework, with a pipeline of dozens more.
New Datacenter Technologies and Business Partner Milestone
IBM also announced a comprehensive series of offerings based on datacentertechnologies that are designed to help retailers improve security, systemsmanagement and serviceability. The hardware and software enhancements arethe latest efforts by IBM to help simplify and automate retailenvironments, which can enable retailers to lower costs, streamlineoperations, and protect existing investments. The new technologies includeupgrades to IBM’s flagship 4690 point-of-sale (POS) operating system, newadvanced systems management software, and serviceability enhancements tothe SurePOS 500 series of POS systems.
IBM’s Retail Store Solutions Division also recognized the 25th anniversaryof its Retail Solutions Business Partner program. Since it launched in1982, the program has grown to over 1,000 members today that sell more thanhalf of IBM POS and Kiosk solutions.
About IBM at NRF 2007
IBM’s booth in the main hall convention floor is #1319. IBM is alsofeaturing a number of Business Partners in the IBM Partner Pavilion booth#3055. The company will demonstrate a number of new solutions andtechnologies for retailers. Some of the innovations include: the IBM’sLoss Prevention Solution with Smart Surveillance technology, smart shelftechnologies like electronic shelf labels and signs, self service solutionsincluding kiosk and self checkout and the bridging of virtual andreal-world shopping experiences in Second Life.
For more information on IBM’s activities at NRF 2007, please access thecompany’s online Press Kit at www.ibm.com/press/nrf2007
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