The 10 Most Innovative Digital Signage Solution Providers 2019

Vol 09 |Issue 09 | 2019

JAYSON H. SO PRESIDENT & CEO

INEWVATION INTERNATIONAL

RE-‘INNOVATING’ THE DIGITAL WORLD MOST INNOVATIVE

DIGITAL SIGNAGE SOLUTION PROVIDERS 2019

E Communicate, Connect, and Capture!

M

arketing, being one of the vital aspects of business, demands effective media through which the messages of businesses can be communicated effectively. The most enchanting visuals capture the attention of people and lure their minds.

Ever happened, you were walking near some store and suddenly a creative display of something outside the store caught your attention, and then you ended up buying that thing just because it looked appealing to your eyes. Similarly, when you are driving, or going to movie theatres, or walking into a restaurant, you see display all around the corners.

This is how digital signage plays a significant role in communicating and seeking the attention of customers.

Digital Signage is an effective and compelling way for businesses to communicate, connect, and advertise with their customers. An appealing display with interactive information can definitely make people walk into their store.

Deploying Digital Signage needs a deep study, effective strategies, and sound implementation to convey the messages of businesses efficiently. The innovative digital signage platforms of some organizations have excelled in developing their digital signage solutions and are helping businesses communicate more effectively.

In order to acknowledge and admire the effective and novel approaches of these businesses, Insights Success has enlisted "The 10 Most Innovative Digital Signage Solution Providers 2019", which are redefining the market of digital signage with their cutting-edge solutions.

Featuring as the cover story of this edition is Inewvation International. With the goal to lead cities to digital innovations, while carrying the core value "quality is everything". Inewvation International came into existence.

Established in Manila, Philippines in 2011, with offices in major Asian countries including, Singapore and Hong Kong, the company provides not just products, but bespoke solutions to meet and exceed clients’ expectations.

Messages when delivered smartly and to the point can help capturing customers.

“

“

Hitesh Dhamani

Till date, understanding the client’s needs and delivering them the best solution has been the organization’s topmost priority. Since its inception in 2011, the organization has taken very important part in mounting some of the most innovative and technologically advanced LED displays in the country. During the last eight years, Inewvation has completed many notable projects including the first curved LED display, the first moving LED display, the biggest LED display, the first seamless LED display, highest definition LED screen, the first perimeter LED display, etc.

A technology company, Corum Digital features as the company of the year of this edition. Corum Digital is passionate about helping organizations improve the way they communicate. As such, it provides complete digital signage solutions that include Content Management Software, digital displays, video walls, kiosks and tablets, as well as content creation, training and installation services. Its products enable its clients to communicate effectively so that they can engage, educate, and empower their audiences.

Also, make sure to scroll through the articles written by our editorial team and CXO standpoints of some of the leading industry experts to have a brief taste of the sector.

Let’s start reading!

Cover Story

18 08

Company of the year Corum Digital: Helping Businesses across the Globe Communicate more effectively

24

I

ON I T A V W INE L A N O I T NTERNA e

g’ th n i t a v o n n Re-‘i orld Digital W

Interview with the insights success Pro DisplayBringing Innovation in Display Technology

CONTENTS 32

40 Adomni

Creative Realities

RedeďŹ ning Advertising in Digital Signage Space

The Creative Technology Company

Tech-Know Insights

Leadership Column

28

38 What a tech CEO can teach your business about digital

Is the Single Brand Dead in MPS?

34

42

Editor’s Choice

Industry Trends

3 Remarkable Innovations in the Field of Printing Business

Articles

Key Pos Trends Reshaping the Retail Sector

Editor-in-Chief Pooja M. Bansal Managing Editor Anish Miller

Executive Editor

Assistant Editors

Rohit Chaturvedi

Jenny Fernandes Rohit Chaturvedi

Visualizer

Art & Design Director

Associate Designer

David King

Amol Kamble

Kushagra Gupta

Senior Sales Manager Co-designer

Co-designer Karan Gaikwad

Business Development Manager

Kshitij S

Peter Collins

Marketing Manager

Sales Executives

John Matthew

David, Kevin, Mark, Sagar

Technical Head

Business Development Executives

Jacob Smile

Steve, Joe, Alan, Sanket

Technical Specialist Aditya

Digital Marketing Manager Marry D'Souza

SME-SMO Executive Prashant Chevale

Research Analyst Frank Adams

Database Management Stella Andrew

Circulation Manager Robert Brown

Technology Consultant David Stokes

sales@insightssuccess.com September, 2019

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COVERSTORY

Jayson H. So President & CEO

The 10 Most Innovative Digital Signage Solution Providers, 2019

INEWVATION INTERNATIONAL RE -‘INNOVATING’ THE DIGITAL WORLD

A team of

INSPIRED, PASSIONATE

AND

DEDICATED PEOPLE.

W

ith the goal to lead cities to digital innovations, while carrying the core value "quality is everything", Inewvation International came into existence. Established in Manila, Philippines in 2011, with offices in major Asian countries including, Singapore and Hong Kong, the company provides not just products, but bespoke solutions to meet and exceed clients’ expectations.

Till date, understanding the client’s needs and delivering them the best solution has been the organization’s topmost priority.

Since its inception in 2011, the organization has taken very important part in mounting some of the most innovative and technologically advanced LED displays in the country.

During the last eight years, Inewvation has completed many notable projects including the first curved LED display, the first moving LED display, the biggest LED display, the first seamless LED display, highest definition LED screen, the first perimeter LED display, etc.

“Keep on doing the good work and bringing the good technology, new and improved ideas to all of us.” – Lisanne Bogle, VP Supply Chain, Okada Manila “We found a partner in Inewvation.”

- Rachel Cachuela, VP Customer Experience Group, Cignal TV

For Inewvation International, having a factory that has a complete production line from Research and Development to testing lines is a sure score. Producing 10,000 sqm of LED Displays per month, or more than 120,000 sqm a year, is one of its developments that help the company through expanding its market.

Game Changing Products Inewvation International provides up-to-the-minute digital technology solutions, advanced and innovative products branded as "Inewvation", and quality customer experience,

from design, production, delivery, installation, to after-sales.

Inewvation digital displays are categorized in 2 categories; LED Display, and Digital Signage.

Both are highly customizable in dimension, resolution, brightness level, IP level, LED chip brand, and many other considerations. These tools also cater to Retail, Food and Beverage, Hospitality and Resorts, Transportation, Corporate, Out-Of-Home Advertising, Education, Events and Exhibition, etc.

The Pioneer Jayson H. So, is the President and CEO of Inewvation International. He had built the organization 8 years ago, in a small office space under a stairwell. The organization was born out of Jayson’s curiosity – a drive to know more about light-emitting diodes and how it can be used by companies and brands to convey their message. This curiosity quickly grew into a firm with a passionate vision to provide up-to-theminute advertising and digital display solutions.

“We are extremely proud of the success the company has achieved so far. Locally, we’ve grown to become one of the most reputable names in the LED digital display solutions

‘‘

Up-to-the-minute digital technology solutions, advanced and innovative products, and quality customer experience.

‘‘

As we exercise our passion and commitment each day, on each project, with each partner, Inewvation International is looking forward to reach cities and developing countries, leading the way to digital display innovation.

sphere.”- said Jayson. “Expanding our business abroad, we want to show the world that a Filipino company can compete and thrive in the international stage in this industry.”

- further he added.

During the initial days of the organization, Jayson alongside only one employee practically did everything only to jumpstart the business. Since then, the organization has completed a long journey and now it employs more than 100 employees, mostly in the technical and engineering departments.

When Everyone is Up for Challenges Inewvation grows now to more than 100 employees, with inhouse licensed engineers and technical support team. The company has a diverse, yet harmonious working culture wherein people are encouraged to contribute their skills, share their ideas, and are given unique opportunities to learn new knowledge and improve abilities.

Being humble with passion and commitment, all employees are up to challenge, driving the company to go up to greater heights.

Moreover, Inewvation has a Business and Development team, Product Development, own Marketing team, Technical and Engineering, Operations and Logistics, Accounting and Finance, and of course, Sales, to complete a well-managed organization.

Flashback from last year, the company was humbled by small to huge opportunities that came its way. According to the organization, market expansion is a continuous accomplishment as Inewvation tacked the map of Asia, and established its Hong Kong and Cebu offices, while fortifying HQ (Manila) and Singapore bases. All these happened while simultaneously working with international brands like Shilla Duty Free, Ted Baker, Lacoste, Royal Sporting House, Citibank, FWD Life, Football Republic, Dufry, RE&S, Okada Manila, Globe Telecom, Solaire Resort & Casino, Adidas, Bench, Nike and many more- for the company each was a great learning experience.

service. The goal of the organization is to omit Inewvation’s clients’ headache during planning, purchase, and maintaining the digital displays they acquired.

As an organization, Inewvation accomplishes highly customized projects that often times, its competitors are even recommending Inewvation to the clients, as because they are just doing the standard stuff.

To add, it has really taken the brand— Inewvation, to another level as it received recognition last December 2017 at International Innovation Awards, for Inewvation Brix Series, under Product Category, held at Hyatt on the Bund, Shanghai, China.

Also, there are a lot of digital display suppliers in the AsiaPacific region. However, what made Inewvation unique and a leading provider is having this 6-set of services: its in-house licensed engineers do the designing, its factory that works round the clock when it comes to product customization, Inewvation also has a fast delivery, its efficient installation, content creation and management, and top notch after-sales

Adding Value to the Product Inewvation believes, a product is just a product, but what matters is how an organization is adding value to the product.

This is where Inewvation comes into play; the organization always put “an experience” to the product it offers. Since the company is into digital display solutions, it creates interactive

software solutions to be integrated with its digital screens.

That’s how the future of digital display will be.

As an organization, Inewvation always make sure that its products and solutions are always up-to-date and state-of-art, accompanied by proper customer experience.

Inewvation International’s LED displays are equipped with Photoelectric Lighting Control System or often referred to as ‘Smart Lighting’, which detects the current ambient light level which measures how bright and dark the external light is. This technology allows Inewvation International’s LED Screens to reduce its brightness when it’s dark and adjust itself automatically when needed. Through this, Inewvation International’s LED displays don’t only conserve energy and burning hours, but can also reduce eye strain without compromising quality. This technology also helps the onlookers to enjoy the spectacle of advertisements and information played on the LED screens.

When Marketing is Key As an organization, Inewvation is quite aggressive in terms of marketing to let the world know what it can do, and who they can look for in terms of Digital Display Solution needs. With the type of industry where Inewvation operates, it just can’t do it quietly. The market is broad, and Inewvation has to go out and spread its capabilities and skills, through proper marketing. The company has been featured in various magazines and newspapers, and it is participating in various events across Asia Pacific (Retail Technology and Innovation Summit, Retail Asia Expo, Hospitality Summit, Airport

Expansion Summit, Signs and Media Expo, Stores Asia Expo, Digital Technology Expo, BCI Asia events, etc).

Inewvation is not just marketing its products and solutions, but also educating every client about these tools. The company also publishes its blogs, product features, infomercials, and social media posts via its website, LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.

Lastly, Inewvation does marketing to create the company’s branding for decades of business, not just for a year.

When Conquering the Globe is a Dream With the line of business Inewvation is into, it really has to be strong in Research & Development and Engineering. Hence, the management never stopped sending the team for technical trainings and seminars to enhance their skills and acquire more knowledge, which eventually share the benefits to the clients around the world.

Market expansion is also one. Today, Inewvation is catering to APAC, and conquering the globe is always its dream. The organization is communicating to Inewvation Channels, who are helping it to spread innovation— the Inewvation way.

CLIENTS TESTIMONIAL “It’s really about the very superb service that you guys are providing. I know some of the people who work in the same area, same field as I am and then they are covering the Hong Kong maybe the Asia Pacific. You can rest assure to leave all your digital work and installation to Inewvation they will coordinate with you with the best work. We understand because this might not be as easy. Because once we step in Hong Kong or maybe the Asia area, we finally able to find a company that we can for sure deliver with the highest quality.” - Simon Chan, Design & Construction, Shilla Duty Free “We are glad to have met such a dedicated, hardworking and cooperative digital display provider. For this kind of product, it is very essential that you are good in terms of after-sales service support and communication skills. Rest assured that you will always be remembered on our next digital display requirements. Keep it up and more power!”

– Virendra Savani, Division Project Manager – Asia, The Nuance Group (a DUFRY company) “It has been a good business relationship since 2013. Thank you for rendering us with quality products and excellent after-sales service. I personally commend your good company values that will surely bring you to different places. I wish you success in the years to come!”

– April Koh, Managing Director, TPM Outdoor Productions Pte. Ltd. “Inewvation International provides a bespoke solutions for its customers, your competitors are just selling products, you are selling a solution. Brilliant service, second to none, than what I have seen in the industry around the region.”- Terry Waterhouse, Managing Director, Redgoodss - Lorenzo Manalang, VP Brand & Marketing, Solaire Resort & Casino “We want you to know that we are very pleased with the quality of products and service your company provides. We sincerely appreciate your responsiveness and the way you conduct business. We have recommended your company to others because of our satisfaction with your service. We look forward to doing business with you for years to come”. - Jude Ong, General Manager, Bench / Suyen Corporation “Quality and partnership. I am very pleased with the quality of the products; and they are very open in terms of sharing of technology and concepts, which is of interest to companies such as SMSGT.” - Anthony Angeles, President & CEO, SMS Global Technologies “I believe that Inewvation met our expectations with making sure, not only with the product quality, but at the same time- delivery is on schedule and quality components have been used.”

- Lorenzo Manalang, VP Brand & Marketing, Solaire Resort & Casino

The

Management

Brief

Adomni adomni.com

Jonathan Gudai CEO

Founded in the year 2015, Adomni is a leading advertising technology company headquartered in Las Vegas, NY. The company’s mission is to connect brands of all sizes with optimal consumers via a network of over 100,000 real world screens.

Corum Digital Corporation corumdigital.com

Mr. Amedeo Tarzia Founder, President/CEO

Corum Digital enables businesses communicate effectively so that they can engage, educate, and empower their target audience.

Ifti Ifhar Chief Executive Officer

ComQi is a global leader providing a cloud-based Shopper Engagement Technology that influences consumers at the point of decision, in-venue, using all digital touch-points: digital signage, mobile, video, touch, web, and social networks.

Creative Realities cri.com

Rick Mills CEO

Creative Realities has a diverse mix of seasoned leadership with vast experience in strategic planning, digital design, CMS and custom software platform development, Operations and Field services.

doPublicity dopublicity.com

Mahesh Hinduja Founder

doPublicity provides an easy to use digital menu board and signage software that works with any TV and can be managed remotely wth no monthly or annual fees.

Gable gablecompany.com

Paul Gable Chief Executive Officer & President

Gable provides visual solutions that attract, connect, engage and direct people to properties, buildings, places, and spaces through the integration of architectural and graphic elements that include signs, digital displays, audiovisual, media and lighting.

Inewvation International Corporation

Jayson H. So President & CEO

Established in Manila, Philippines in 2011, with offices in major Asian countries including, Singapore and Hong Kong, Inewvation provides not just products, but bespoke solutions to meet and exceed clients’ expectations.

Miappi miappi.com

Andrew Foyle Chief Executive Officer

Miappi makes content discovery, curation and distribution easier than ever before. And while consumers love earned media, it has the added benefit of saving you money.

Pacifici Digital Signs pacificdigitalsigns.com

Vince Mitchell CEO & Founder

Pacific Digital Signs is an award-winning Interactive and Digital Sign Company, which was founded in 2005.

PRO DISPLAY prodisplay.com

Ben Kershaw Managing Director

Pro Display is an award winning manufacturer of innovative display technology dedicated to quality and manufacturing excellence.

Company Name

ComQi comqi.com

inewvationinternational.com

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CORUM DIGITAL HELPING BUSINESSES ACROSS THE GLOBE COMMUNICATE MORE EFFECTIVELY

We enable communication so you can effectively engage, educate and empower your audience.

18 |September 2019

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COMPANY OF THE YEAR

Amedeo Tarzia Founder, President & CEO

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September 2019| 19

D

igital communication, via a network of digital displays, is truly a more effective way to communicate, believes Corum Digital. Corum Digital is a technology company that is passionate about helping organizations improve the way they communicate.

As such, it provides complete digital signage solutions that include Content Management Software, digital displays, video walls, kiosks and tablets, as well as content creation, training and installation services. Its solutions are installed in thousands of corporate, retail, government, educational, and industrial locations globally. Its products enable its clients to communicate effectively so that they can engage, educate, and empower their audiences.

Mature and Feature rich Offerings Corum Digital designs and develops 2 brands of Digital Signage Content Management Software, MediaTile and firmChannel.

MediaTile is an enterprise level SaaS based Content Management Software (CMS) that is typically sold as part of a complete Digital Signage Solution. Complete solutions include Digital Displays, Digital Media Players, Cellular Routers and Mounting Systems. Digital Displays are purpose built commercial displays and are available in various form factors including independent displays, video walls, interactive digital kiosks, tablets and merchandising displays. firmChannel is an enterprise level SaaS based Content Management Software (CMS) and as its name indicates, is sold exclusively through a channel of value-added resellers.

It is targeted at larger network operators and is either sold as a software only product or sometimes with a media player and/or display.

20 |September 2019

Corum Digital’s CMS Software offerings are mature and feature rich offerings that are easy to use and deploy for a handful of displays, but also scalable enough to handle thousands of displays. They are highly reliable with a robust set of remote management and automated maintenance tools. A wide range of innovative features include a full featured Content Designer, Drag & Drop Widgets for News and Social Media Feeds, Anonymous Analytics/Facial Recognition, Video Presence live 2-way video chat, Touch Interactivity, Roles Based Security and much more.

A Technically Minded Leader The entrepreneurial mind behind Corum Digital is Mr. Amedeo Tarzia, its Founder, President/CEO. He has been in the technology sector his entire life, with more than 30 years leading Corum and various spin off technology companies. His focus is on creating highly innovative technology companies and surrounding himself with individuals who are truly passionate about the technologies they immerse themselves in. This has resulted in industry firsts, including first entirely cloud based digital signage solution and first commercial use of Android media players.

He continues to drive innovation through investment in the research and development of digital signage software and hardware products. Amedeo prides himself on cultivating long lasting relationships with his clients and partners alike.

Customer-centric Approach Corum Digital listens closely to the needs of its customers to better understand who their target audience is and what message they want to deliver. An internal corporate communication would be delivered very differently than a cross sell or upsell promotion on a retail sales floor. Hence,

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COMPANY OF THE YEAR

the company is constantly coming up with new and innovative ways to deliver content that will be most impactful to the desired target audience. They offer everything from large video walls that create a real wow factor, to small merchandising strip displays that can effectively influence decisions right at the point of purchase, to interactive digital tablets and kiosks that create self-service functionality.

Corum Digital understands that very often, a customer may set out with very simple objectives that change dramatically as they become more familiar with the potential impact of digital signage. For example, a customer may be looking for a single display, with simple static messaging.

Once installed, the customer may decide that they want an individual to be able to interact with the display, empowering them to navigate content.

It is therefore important that digital signage offerings be robust enough to handle not only the customers current perceived needs, but also their future requirements. Corum Digital strives to maintain a robust ecosystem that their customers will grow into, rather than out of.

What does the future hold?

According to Corum Digital, from a technology perspective, display size and orientation are still a significant consideration when purchasing a solution. With the advancement of fine pitch LED modules, the ability to create a display of any size, orientation or shape will soon be commonplace.

This would essentially be accomplished by connecting smaller LED modules into one larger display of almost any shape or size. Therefore, a consideration in Corum’s development efforts is to ensure that its CMS solutions are designed to handle even non-standard display sizes of any pixel pitch or resolution.

Ensuring Customer Satisfaction Corum Digital’s team worked with Precise Park link for their Digital Signage requirements. Here is what they had to say about their experience dealing with Corum Digital, its

employees and its products; “Precise Park Link’s experience with Corum Digital has been a pleasure. We purchased a 42” and 58 “kiosk from them which we are currently using for a virtual receptionist at our head office and for an artificial intelligence project we are working on. We also purchased their 15” touchscreen Signo which we bring to trade shows. Their hardware is very sleek and modern looking. Its performance is fantastic. The best part is, that all of their products are very intuitive to the user. We use Corum Digital’s MediaTile software to update our Signo and customize the content on it per trade show we attend. We can link to our website, videos, forms images and more from the Signo; replacing the need to display TVs in our trade show booths. – Maria Lato The Arbutus Club sought Corum Digital to implement MediaTile's digital signage solution as a way to maximize impact while creating a more sustainable and greener environment. “Going digital with signage is definitely the wave of the future. We wanted to maximize impact and implement a more sustainable solution.” – says Jeremy Reay, Communications Designer, The Arbutus Club. Since the installation of the new screens, The Arbutus Club has been able to deliver communications to their members in a more efficient way.

It is clear that the team at Corum Digital truly believes that it can help customers communicate more effectively. It is something that all of its employees are very passionate about. Beginning with sales, right through customer onboarding and on to training and long-term support, the company aims to make its customers better communicators through the use of its technologies.

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September 2019| 21

Interview with Insights Success

Ben Kershaw Managing Director Pro Display

24 |September 2019

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Bringing Innovation in Display Technology

I

n an interview with Insights Success, the Ben Kershaw, Managing Director of Pro Display sheds light on the company's cutting-edge solutions that create the best digital signage solutions and shares his insights about the company's core competencies and its future.

Below are highlights from the interview conducted between Ben and Insights Success: Give a brief overview of Pro Display, its uniqueness and its vision.

The Pro Display Group is an award-winning innovative display manufacturer, standing as a leading global authority in professional and specialist projection, mirror screens, transparent screens, interactive touch technology and switchable smart glass. What makes The Pro Display Group so unique is their combination of technologies and manufacturing processes that allow for their divisions to work together to deliver incredible bespoke solutions that draw from the specialist knowledge and experience that each boast.

Describe Pro Display's cutting edge digital signage solutions, which address all the needs of your customers.

Their digital signage solutions vary considerably, with an enormous range of products that can suit virtually any digital signage requirements, from High Brightness Outdoor Displays to Holographic Projection Screens. The spectrum of Pro Display's digital signage solutions is broad enough to cater to many industries such as retail, corporate, events and even the arts – companies from these industries come to Pro Display safe in the knowledge that they will be receiving quality products from a well respected manufacturer. Over the years, Pro Display have become integral in the AV industry, having worked with ISE on headlining projects, as well as some of the world's leading projector manufacturers such as Epson, Digital Projection, Hitachi and Panasonic. These manufacturers rely on Pro Display to showcase the very best of their latest projectors at trade shows, events and even their own showrooms.

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Give a detailed description of the featured person's influence over the company and the industry.

Ben Kershaw, Managing Director at Pro Display serves as a central point for the sales, manufacturing and marketing arms of the Pro Display Group, facilitating the synchronistic inner workings of these teams across all divisions to ensure the company functions like a well-oiled machine. Ben has worked at The Pro Display Group for over 10 years having overseen the company's growth from its infancy.

Describe in detail ab out the work culture and the values that drive your company.

Innovation is at the very heart of Pro Display's approach to business. Each division's sales team are driven, industrious and incredibly knowledgeable in their fields, handling virtually any questions regarding their products that customers could throw at them. The Pro Display Group's Research & Development team drive technological innovation both within the company's high standards and for the wider market, having been responsible for developing proprietary manufacturing processes as well as product developments that have had deep market impact, such as Self-Adhesive Switchable Smart Film or Front Projection Holographic Film.

Pro Display's management team have nurtured a culture that encourages development in almost every aspect of their operations, from their day to day responsibilities to the quality of service they offer to their customers. With an emphasis on continuous improvement, Pro Display – and its employees – are consistently working to better themselves in-line with customer's expectations. With an endlessly evolving work environment, the range of industries they cater to and the incredible projects they are involved with as a result, it is never a dull day at Pro Display's European HQ in Sheffield, UK. How does your services differ from the other companies' offerings?

Customization is one of Pro Display's main USPs, being able to collaborate with the various specialist divisions September 2019| 25

within the company allows them to offer bespoke solutions to customers from any industry with exacting needs. This gives Pro Display a real competitive edge over manufacturers who only specialize in display, interactive or switchable smart glass technology. The ideal example of these collaborative efforts is seen in the development of Interactive Rear Projection Switchable Smart Glass – the archetypal product that demonstrates Pro Display's passion for innovation and collaboration.

The British manufacturing standards Pro Display are held to are also a fundamental part of their appeal, with their expert production team crafting often fragile and highly technical products to far higher standards than you may find elsewhere in the world.

in their field, they have had the benefit of being able to respond to customer demands in a way that both adapts to the market and helps shape it. A great example of this can be seen in the way they approach the North American market, which has exploded in terms of demand in recent years. With their European headquarters located in Sheffield, UK, the incredible surge in North American demand can make operations challenging. This obstacle has encouraged Pro Display to listen to the demand and work on embarking on a new frontier for the company in North America, with movements being made to set up a US branch of the Pro Display Group that can better cater to the needs of their North American customers.

What technologies are you leveraging to make your solutions resourceful and bringing advancement in the industry?

Manufacturing display technology to these standards is a fine art that requires constant innovation and development; this means leveraging resources, data, research and of course different technologies in order to constantly stay ahead of the competition both in terms of manufacturing efficiency and product offerings. Indeed, in many cases, Pro Display's determination to innovate has even driven the industry itself, encouraging competitors to update their own products and processes in order to measure up. Harnessing technologies that allow for the production of superior products is a big part of Pro Display's business model.

Describe the experiences, achievements or lessons learned that have shaped the journey of the company.

In the early days of the company's operations, Pro Display was well known for being an innovator of display technology. Serving as both a hurdle and an advantage to the business, they initially faced difficulty due to the market's lack of understanding and knowledge about the products they manufactured. In this sense, they were so 'ahead of the curve' that demand for these technologies hadn't even caught up. However, Pro Display's early investment in innovative display technology paid off, firmly placing them as leaders in this emerging industry, so that when the market matured, thanks in part to solid marketing efforts from Pro Display, they were perfectly positioned to facilitate this demand. However, being ahead of the curve comes with other difficulties too; the pressure to innovate and stay innovative remains an ever-present challenge for the company to this day. Indeed, market demand did catch up, but so did competitors, both old and new, so the importance of remaining innovative is more than just a strategy, it's a business imperative.

What are your company's future aspirations? What strategies are you undertaking to achieve those goals?

As Pro Display have grown to enjoy status as world leaders 26 |September 2019

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What a tech CEO can teach your business about digital About the Author Pam Bateson is an expert coach and mentor in business, training others to Masters level qualiďŹ cations and supervising coaches. She has worked within the healthcare, retail, hotels, construction, media, agencies, education and public sector. She specialises in Coaching, Mentoring, Employee Engagement, Change Management, Learning and Development and Organisational Design. She has worked with all levels in organisations from graduates to the CEO. She has designed change programmes that connect projects, outcomes, training and coaching. The performance outcomes have been outstanding. She is CEO and Co-founder at Thrive Partners.

28 |September 2019

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Tech-Know Insights

Pam Bateson CEO & Co-founder

Thrive Partners

P

am Bateson set up Thrive Partners, an on-demand coaching company, three years ago. In this article, she shares her point of view on how important humans are in a more digital world, what she’s learned as a tech CEO, and what this means when you’re looking to use tech in a way that’s both disruptive and works for customers.

www.insightssuccess.com

September 2019| 29

In October 2015, I gave up a successful career as a management consultant and coach to set up Thrive Partners. Lots of people thought I was crazy. I was approaching 50, with two children still at home. But for the decade running up to that decision, I’d been thinking about a better way to deliver coaching – supported by digital, to share more widely the coaching tools I’d used to help clients for many years.

This was the business I set out to build three years ago. Today, we’re working with 25 clients on five continents – delivering our own brand of on-demand coaching, backed with insights for the whole business. The learning curve has been steep – particularly for someone who, by their own confession, didn’t have a lot of experience in learning technology. So here, I wanted to share some of the things we’ve learned – and what it might mean for your business.

Dream big I didn’t really set out to build a business that would be considered disruptive, but my background as a lean engineer and coach did mean that we ripped up the rulebook when it came to the coaching industry. We scrapped the idea that you needed to meet face to face, and that sessions had to last an hour, or even two hours. And we made it a lot easier for people to access a coach to answer the questions they had there and then – increasing access so people could chat to an expert within an hour.

Working with my co-founder, we then rebuilt the industry by asking the biggest questions we could imaging.

What if we could make coaching available to whole organisations? What if we could get listening as valued as speaking? And what if we could help organisations learn as quickly as individuals?

I found these questions irresistible: I wanted to do for coaching what Uber had done for getting a taxi, Netflix had done for home entertainment, and Tinder had done for dating. It’s these 30 |September 2019

big dreams that have galvanised our success in the last few years – and which has set us in the right direction for the future.

Build for modern users Despite big dreams, we’ve also made our fair share of mistakes! A lot of them mistakes happened when we took our attention away from our end customers. It sounds obvious to see it there on the page. But it can be easy to lose sight of the customers that matter most, especially when, as a tech CEO, sometime we get preoccupied with a shiny piece of new technology.

So, what to consider first when it comes to users? The main thing to bear in mind is that they expect experiences that are easy and fast to access – a shift brought about by what we call the ‘Amazon Prime Mindset.’ In this era, clunky user experiences reduce the chances of uptake of services. In short, if your technology can’t match or exceed the quality of digital experience people get in their everyday lives, then you’ll need to go back to the drawing board.

Create wins for the many So, if users come first – who else can we harness the power of technology for?

Our answer? Everyone else in the system.

Early on in the development of our MyThrive platform, we realised that delivering digitally would enable us to do more than just scale and facilitate coaching in global organisations; it would also mean we could spot trends and patterns within communities of users, in organisations or society at large. Just as carefully listening has a powerful and transformative role in one-to-one coaching conversations, carefully listening to and analysing anonymised version of the conversations we host has a powerful and transformative role within whole organisations.

The whole-system insights we produced has helped to make sales processes smoother, improved communications and created more opportunities for people to learn.

Keep it human With suicide being the biggest killer of men under 45, loneliness sweeping through developed economies in epidemic proportions and a third of all young people suffering from anxiety, I strongly believe that we have a duty to keep talking to each other as a society.

We believe that keeping the art of conversation alive in this digital age is essential; only humans can master creativity, empathy, humour and imagination in a way that’s compelling.

Information is everywhere, so we’re using technology differently – to offer real human experiences at scale, at any time of the day, whenever our clients need a conversation, for everything you can’t Google.

And what of the future? Curiously, even the structures of artificial intelligence and machine learning look set to mimic human patterns. It’s still early days, but leaders in this space talk of ‘deep learning’ with AI – by layering up different tools that connect in the same way as our brain’s neural networks.

And so, the next three years?

My recent experiences have led us to ask even bigger questions than we did to begin with – which I suspect will lead to our next irresistible set of adventures! What if we could transform learning management systems into learning ecosystems?

What if any community of learners could connect with any community of teachers? And what if a better understanding of outcomes from learning could help both individuals, organisations and society to thrive?

I for one believe there are exciting times ahead.

www.insightssuccess.com

The 10 Most Innovative Digital Signage Solution Providers, 2019

Redening Advertising in Digital Signage Space

F

ounded in the year 2015, Adomni is a leading advertising technology company headquartered in Las Vegas, NV. The company's mission is to connect brands of all sizes with optimal consumers via a network of over 100,000 real world screens; from larger-than-life screens in Times Square to small screens in retail locations, Adomni helps advertisers deliver better marketing results by reaching consumers on-thego in a meaningful way.

Core Value Propositions Adomni is driving new marketing dollars into the out of home and mobile advertising industries by offering the following five core value propositions: Scale of reach: People are spending 70% of their waking hours out of the house today. Adomni connects advertisers to consumers via a huge network of 100,000+ screens in every corner of the U.S. as well as Europe, Canada and Australia.

Brand safety: With out of home screens there are no bots, click fraud or "below the fold" viewability issues. Out of home offers the largest canvas in the advertising world to communicate a message that can't be skipped.

Self-service buying: We live in an era when convenience and automation are the new norm. Adomni's touchless programmatic buying process allows 32 |September 2019

for last-minute campaigns on a Friday afternoon and 24/7 campaign creation and editability. All in a fully transparent manner.

Audience-based buying: Just like the online digital and social advertising platforms, on Adomni, advertisers can specify who they want to reach and execute audience-optimized campaigns.

Analytics and reporting: Savvy advertisers demand clear and actionable campaign reporting.

Adomni offers real-time access to performance numbers such as the number of ad plays and impressions delivered at their specific locations.

Their Audience IQ showcases which audiences were reached based on the mobile devices that passed by the screens. And with Adomni's August 2019 roll-out of mobile ads, advertisers can view conversion KPIs such as clicks and online conversions.

With these core ingredients delivered in an easy-to-use online interface, Adomni and the out of home advertising industry are poised for exponential growth.

A Widely Recognized Expert Adomni's CEO, Jonathan Gudai, is widely recognized within the out-ofhome advertising space as an expert thought leader and visionary. He is on the board of directors of the DPAA

(Digital Place Based Advertising Association), on the Innovations Committee of the OAAA (Outdoor Advertising Association of America) and plays an important role in shaping the future of the out of home community. He has written numerous articles for national and industry publications, educating the world on the power of out of home advertising and the future of the industry.

Jonathan's leadership has earned Adomni awards and national recognition.

Strengthened Online Platforms Adomni believes that society has evolved to an attention economy. Data is the fundamental currency upon which so much of the world is operating. E-commerce and online buying platforms continue to strengthen.

Adomni's innovations were crafted to dovetail with these core concepts. Its founders continue to hold strong the belief that the success of online platforms is determined by their easeof-use, accessibility and ability to deliver results. These core principles drive the Adomni team and the out of home industry.

Aspiring Digital Growth According to the company, out of home advertising is one of the healthiest advertising mediums, with www.insightssuccess.com

“

Advertise everywhere by putting out of home media in your hands; enabling meaningful connections between brands and their ideal consumers.

36 straight quarters of growth. Digital out of home advertising is the second fastest growing ad medium behind digital. However less than 5% of out of home ads are being purchased programmatically. Adomni's mission is to help grow the digital out of home market by 250% in the next five years by providing a programmatic platform that makes ads easier to buy and measure.

The current advertising platform giants who are the biggest competitors to out of home - Google, Facebook, and Amazon have brought the scale of reach, relevancy and self-service buying to advertisers. They do not "sell ads" as much as advertisers "buy their ads".

With Adomni's easy, open online platform, the same holds true.

Emblem of Excelence

Jonathan Gudai, CEO

Skin campaign show up on billboards simultaneously across the whole country, to tie in with everything I was doing on social media to promote my skincare launch," Kylie Jenner.

"Whether we are promoting our pay-per-views a week in advance or making a last minute push to sell tickets the day of the fight, 100% of our out-of-home advertising starts on Adomni.com." – Dana White, UFC "Adomni's platform allows small businesses like my sandwich shop to advertise on digital billboards, even with a small budget." - Theo van Soest, The Goodwitch "I love how the whole ad booking process can be done online. Adomni makes it so much simpler to run the UNLV Marquee Billboard." – Brian Williams, UNLV.

"It's always exciting to find new ways to connect with people and I loved the idea of being able to have my Kylie

www.insightssuccess.com

September 2019| 33

3

Innovations

in the Field of

Printing

Business I

n the year 1450, when Blacksmith Johannes Gutenberg ďŹ rst introduced a movable type press in the German city of Mainz, a printing revolution had got erupted.

This invention encouraged more people to proliferate and distribute their creative/informative ideas though printed texts. Sooner, plethora of work related to literature, religious scriptures, scientiďŹ c papers, ontological treaties, law texts among other started publishing out in the European region which later got adopted globally at large scale and helped individuals and others to promote/sell their ideas.

This printing revolution still considered as one of the most important event in the history of printing and for the humankind as a whole. With the passage of time many other inventions have been taken places that have boosted the printing business at large.

Here we have enlisted some of the recent developments that are worth mentioning, and which are also considered as a turning point for the arena of printing business.

34 |September 2019

www.insightssuccess.com

Editor’s Choice

Nano Printing: 3D printing has witnessed many remarkable breakthroughs in recent years, Nano printing is one such innovation. Due to this cutting-edge printing technology it is now possible to print and integrate tiny components directly on to the integrated circuits include micro-lenses onto photonic circuits and deformable structures on MEMS actuators.

environment friendly. In this technology, the ink is not made of plastic and other damaging petroleum or fossil fuels; instead ‘water’ here is act as the main solvent and thus makes it an environment friendly printing technology.

Moreover, what are making this technology scalable and popular are its other fascinating features famously includes its fine print quality and affordability over the other prevailing printing technologies.

Interestingly, what was a dream some decades ago has become a reality with this technology as it is now possible to print microscopic objects with complex geometry and sizes of nanometres to several millimetres. Such things can be printed on a single printing step and that too on a scale which was not possible before. Such innovative change of on-printing brings new perspectives for developing nano and microscopic 3D component in a hassle free manner.

Its solvents decrease the time and heat necessary to absorb the ink film on fabric and instead of just spreading on the outer layer of the fabric, its ink flow deep into the fabric and create a much better look and ultimately a much better end-user experience. Further, water based inks are thinner and you can actually print with higher precision to give a good texture as compared to thicker inks like plastisol.

Moreover, its application has significance in many vital areas including Artificial Organs, Tissue Engineering, Stem cell-based Regenerative Medicine and Therapy, Fabrication of Nano Scale Devices among other. Customers also reap huge benefit by utilizing this technology as it provides great precision, stability, and support 3D custom design at large scale.

Moreover, the increased softness and flexibility of waterbased prints have the potential to win customers heart every time when they touch a fabric printed using this technology.

Many leading organization are considering this technology over plastisol and it is just the matter of time before this technology becomes an industry standard in the printing business.

How this Technology Works?

In this printing technology, Nanoscribe’s Photonic Professional GT system uses the technique of two-photon polymerization. In this process a laser gets expose to a photosensitive resin by a high-numerical aperture objective that too in a controlled trajectory following CAD design.

The interesting thing here is that the material gets solidified only in the laser focused spot and thus allows printing the exact 3D structure with submicron features. Such advancements have expanded the use of this technique for printing pre-manufactured circuits and opens new ways for executing on-chip printing as well. Nanotechnology for printing – is truly innovative as it alters materials at the atomic and molecular level.

Conductive Ink: Invention of conductive ink is one the greatest milestones in the business of printing and it has the potential to change thefuture of printing business as well.

Water-based Printing: Many printing technologies use inks made from harmful chemical substances which creates negative impact on the printer, wearer and the environment at large. Usage of harsh chemicals and toxic waste also always keep various regulatory agencies on vigil. Therefore, there was a dire need of a technique which can do a fine printing by minimizing the bad effects on environment at large. The birth of water-based printing fulfilled that need.

What's unique in this technology is its ‘ink’ which contains conductive materials like silver nanoparticles or conductive polymers which gives them the ability to conduct electricity. This conductive (Silver) ink has multiple uses today including printing RFID tags as used in modern transit tickets, they can be used to improvise or repair circuits on printed circuit boards as well. Although, this technology is in early stage and its mainstream adoption may probably takes several years but it is a promising technique which can be effectively used in many different applications including the creation of interactive posters, billboards, and other advertising materials.

Interestingly, this technology also holds promise to play sound just by touching a paper or connect you to your phone app just by interacting with a poster on the wall that is linked to the app. Moreover, it has the same capacitive sensing technology that is present in modern day electronic devices like tablets, smartphones among others.

The innovation of water-based printing has started a new era in printing space which is hugely considered as

www.insightssuccess.com

September 2019| 35

IS THE

SINGLE BRAND Dead in MPS?

I

f you are an MPS provider, you may have realized the “single brand from a single vendor” solution is falling out of favor with end customers. So, what has changed and is MPS a sustainable offering?

As of 2018, we are 20-years into the bell curve for MPS. For many years, prospects were first time buyers who viewed their environments as messy. Printers and copiers were everywhere from different manufacturers and vendors.

Control was distributed among departments, Facilities, and IT. Acquisitions methods were just as diverse and included purchases, leases, contracts from local dealers and national supplies resellers.

Print was a big mystery to customers. They had no idea how many devices they had, how many pages they were producing or how much they were spending. They needed a clear picture of what they had and potential solutions. Then they struggled with satisfying all stakeholders and gaining consensus on a final solution. Projects were time consuming, political and even risky for the project lead.

You played a valuable role as an MPS vendor. In the customer’s eyes, you were the expert who taught them something new and showed them a path forward. You offered expertise and people to find out what they have today and were able to develop a complex solution. The journey took many months from concept to assessment to proposal. You earned the role of trusted advisor so it was only natural that the customer would see a “single brand from a single vendor” as the best available solution.

Pricing changed. You wrapped up the solution into bundled pricing that simplified costs for the end customer and

38 |September 2019

enabled you to shield pricing for hardware, maintenance and supplies. After all, there were managed services wrapped around all products so the customer agreed with the bundled pricing format. Bundled pricing enabled you to work with margins behind the curtain.

Come decision time, the customer realized that Implementation would affect every user and the potential cost savings put it near the top for cost-savings initiatives.

These two factors elevated the project to the most senior management levels for approval and executive sponsorship.

The sales cycle got longer but the project became more important to more people. The final result was often a case study of successful transformation from a messy environment to a lean, managed print environment.

So, what changed in recent years? The MPS market had certainly matured. Customers had lived through the transformation from unmanaged to managed. With the end of their first MPS contract came a new perspective and different buyer attitude. The customer was no longer sick and in dire need of expertise. Their fleet was no longer messy. Devices had been consolidated and processes streamlined. Customers had clear visibility to what they devices they had, how many pages they produced, and the total cost of ownership. The mystery was solved.

Your role changed. In many cases, the customer was more experienced in real-world MPS than your sales team. Sales people struggled to teach customers something new, something of significant potential value. Talk of potential cost savings by switching vendors was no longer compelling – the big savings had already been taken. The MPS story from one vendor sounded the same as the other

www.insightssuccess.com

Leadership Column

vendor – in fact, the story sounded exactly the same as the one told years earlier by their current MPS vendor.

Now the end customer was asking about your ability to support their existing fleet, to do repairs and provide consumables. The potential for placing your new hardware was not clear. These new MPS opportunities felt like they belonged more to the vendor service and inside sales teams than to the account sales department. The customer was now clearly in control and driving the sales process.

In the past few years, many dealers have exited the MPS market and refocused on their traditional selling motions.

They found MPS operations different and costly. Sales reps were harder to train and it took longer to get them hitting quota numbers. So, like a rubber band, dealers re-focused on their core competency. So, what does the future look like for those dealers wishing to stay relevant in the MPS market?

Ben Harris Founder

Harris Technologies

It is time to look inward to tackle five key obstacles to growth and profitability in MPS: • Redefine your value and how you will educate the customer • Define a strategy for pricing and supporting both OEM and compatible supplies • Justify managed services independent of products • Learn how to participate in an open sourcing model • Decide if a fragmented customer environment and sourcing model is good business The days of single brand and single vendor are gone.

Sourcing methods have changed dramatically for everything – including print – and the pace of change is accelerating. Vendors must rethink the value provided and how to educate the customer. MPS vendors will still spend months doing assessments and proposals only to be faced with the purchasing process that would unbundle pricing and force transparency to price by product category. The decision then is can you re-invent your practice to enable you to participate in this new arena and win – profitably.

www.insightssuccess.com

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Ben Harris is the Founder of Harris Technologies, Inc. Ben Harris enjoyed a 15 year career in corporate sales, selling and implementing large contracts to Fortune 500 companies around the country. In 2006, he decided to begin a new journey, leaving the big office and tie to start up his own firm. After years of perseverance and dedication, Harris Technologies has become a recognized leader in their space.

September 2019| 39

The Creative Technology Company

W

ith the intent of distributing content from a centralized location, to any end point, Creative Realities was founded. In 2008, the company expanded its offering to include front-end environment, technical design and app development services.

In an interview with Insights Success Rick Mills, the CEO of Creative Realities, shares the inception story of the organization.

Below are the highlights of the interview; Give a brief overview of your company, its uniqueness and its vision.

Creative Realities is a creative technology company, combining the technical know-how of a digital integrator with the design and consultative prowess of a marketing services partner. We design, develop and deploy marketing technologies that solve business pain points either by inspiring action or by bringing branded content to life across the journey – always in a way that’s contextually relevant, and appropriate for virtually any commercial environment.

Describe your company’s cutting-edge Signage Solutions to address the needs of your customers?

We are a technology-agnostic, digital marketing services organization that is solution focused, vs. product focused. We recommend a set of 40 |September 2019

“

We design and install experiences that inspire consumers at specific points in their journey, with contextually relevance, omni-channel, and specific to the physical environment.

“

What makes us different is our ability to deliver end-toend solutions – from problem definition and design thinking – through to deployment and day 2 support / service level agreements. What makes us desirable partner is our ability to do this with scale. Whether it be for one massive LED wall at JFK, to 1,000 menu boards for Circle K, we have the ability to be the single point of contact for our clients to easily and successfully bring digital engagement solutions to market, across virtually any commercial environment.

Rick Mills CEO

www.insightssuccess.com

The 10 Most Innovative Digital Signage Solution Providers, 2019

technology experiences that are grounded in behavior-based requirements that can be measured and tracked, and tie back to ROI metrics.

In doing so, we can better justify the role of technology for commercial purposes vs. than just for the sake of doing something new, different, or as a gimmick.

This allows us to make the right recommendations based on unique requirements of the client: whether it be digital storytelling, endless aisle, a way to distribute advertising content for ad-based revenue, connected fitting rooms for retailers, or geo-location.

Describe for us of your impact at Creative Realities, and influence across the digital industry over the years: Rick Mills has over 30 years in industry: IT, telecommunications, staffing, and digital media. He’s an accomplished founder and executive, acquiror and integrator of more than 20 acquisitions during his career tenure in the technology space: 2x founder, both resulting in successful strategic sales Ÿ History of driving organic and acquisition growth Ÿ Turnaround and rollup expert Ÿ

Experienced small and large public company executive with proven results Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

10+ years with publicly-traded organizations COO & board member of Pomeroy Computer Resources (PRMY) CEO of SARCOM - drove revenue to >$1 billion and profitable for first time in years CEO of Cyberswap, Inc. increased revenue by 5x to >$100 million President & Director - Beacon Solutions (BEAC), successfully integrated 4 acquisitions in a short time span

www.insightssuccess.com

With the escalating number of Signage Solution providers, how is your company driving to create an impact on its customers?

We bring a level of insight, strategy and design thinking that is not always associated with integrators or resellers of our kind. Our ethos and approach to digital solutions can be summarized in this way: Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ

Ÿ Ÿ

Ÿ

We put humans at the center of the technology, not the other way around.

Our strong design DNA yield digital experiences that are organic to the space and beautifully integrated to virtually any environment.

Solution-centric means if it must solve a client or consumer paint point Remaining Technology-agnostic allows us to the solve the problem, not sell a product.

We work seamlessly with other vendors and partners From pilots, to flagships, shop-inshops to digital signage networks that scale, we have size covered Committed to ROI and map success according to our Clients’ requirements

What are the challenges faced while providing Signage Solutions and how is your company serving to tackle them?

The biggest challenge is not in the solution itself, but in guiding our clients on how to justify the CAPEX and being able to bring advanced analytics to provide acceptable return on investment, return on objective, and return on experience to the full stakeholder teams.

What are your company’s future aspirations? What strategies are you undertaking to achieve those goals?

Our vision is to become one of the top 3 enterprise-level, digital signage / solution providers in the

marketplace. We expect to achieve that goal in 2019. Our definitions / success drivers include: Be recognized as an industry thought leader Ÿ Drive in new referrals and repeat business Ÿ Be a go-to partner for our suppliers Ÿ We’re obsessed with the Consumer.

We follow consumer, digital, and technology trends through primary and secondary research materials as well as thought leadership created

by Deloitte, L2, Accenture, Pew Research, Gartner, Forrester, Bazaar-Voice. From this, we can create informed, insight-based considerations and recommendations for design thinking and technology solutions based on existing data and use cases. Ÿ

Ÿ

We’re students of the Industry: we keep close track on new innovations, the digital signage product pipeline, the new applications of software, design applications and ways to transform environments through connected ecosystems. We take advantage of thought leadership opportunities through panels and speaking engagements that allow us to put forth our ethos, point of view, and perspective on the business of the business.

Ÿ

We embrace the value of our partners: Our volume and relationships with our manufacturing community allow us to go to market from a position of strength, as well as capitalize on PR and marketing opportunities that come from designing solutions to our clients’ challenges.

September 2019| 41

Industry Trends

Key POS

Trends

Reshaping

the Retail

I

n recent times, the retail industry hasn’t seen a more exciting invention since the invention of cash register.

With new and innovative technologies helping shape both online and offline experiences for consumers, the landscape is continuously changing in a way which was unimaginable even few years back. The best part is that there seems to be no end of the innovation, which only influencing the purchase decision of the consumers.

Nowadays the main focus of retailers is to create a safe, engaging, and unique shopping experience for its consumers, it’s very important for the retailers to understand the importance of Big Data and in-store analytics and adapting to the cloud. With the retail industry at the verge of massive transformation, we are listing out few key trends that everyone needs to know to be successful in the ecosystem that is transforming quickly.

Multi-system Integration Multi-system integration with various applications gets the utmost priority from top retailers. Most of the retailers list out POS integration with other applications as a key priority alongside the implementation of dynamic marketing content through mobile devices. This is mostly due to the retailer’s interest to store all the customer information and purchase history in a database, which is completely centralized that could be easily integrated with multiple applications.

However, in order to do that, a retailer needs to use an ERP database that can handle all these.

Speed People always look for quick solutions for everything. A clock starts ticking the moment a customer enters, no matter how good the product is, if the process is slow and the attention to details are missing, then customers will leave 42 |September 2019

Sector

disappointed. As a retailer, one cannot please everyone, but with a modern and efficient POS, the service can be improved. A modern POS simplifies the communication between various departments and can save a lot of time for both the retailer and the customer respectively.

Managing Stocks Keeping and managing inventory is a nightmare for most of the retailers, and it’s quite natural. Managing inventory is a never-ending task and takes a lot of effort, time, and manpower. However, it is quite important to manage inventories when it comes to long-time survival. An efficient POS system always makes the process of managing the inventory much easier. The best part of a POS is, one can monitor the status of stocked items, shipped products, and new orders anytime. This is a huge time saver for a cumbersome and a tedious process, and eventually helps retailers to focus on other important aspects of running the business.

Customized Experience With POS systems, retailers just need to provide personalization that scoops out every shopper. Every passing year, retailers are adapting to personalized technology solutions that allow an interactive user experience. Thanks to the emergence of all new mobile POS technology, now retailers can offer its customers more choices to accommodate their shopping habits by letting them to complete transactions anywhere in the store. Now with the invention of improved POS marketers and customer service teams can contact the buyer at each point of their purchase decision. With so much data retailers and consumers can have better customer service, quicker payment processes and access to better offers and real-time personalization. www.insightssuccess.com

Promotions and Marketing at its Best Nowadays with the advent of digital technology, marketing involves maintaining a digital presence as well. A POS can integrate all the advertised offers with transactions, making it easier to keep track of all the campaigns. Additionally, it can integrate with CRM and track customer behavior. When an offer gets popular among the masses, then the retailer will see it in his transaction data.

Usage of Big Data analytics In order to compete with e-commerce, retailers are now taking the help of Big-Data and in store analytics just to have a better idea about what’s happening inside the store.

Big-Data analytics helps retailers to track how frequently a specific item moves from shelf to shopping cart allows retailers to know the trends that are dominant in the market.

Analytics helps the retail industry in a big way to better understand consumer purchase pattern and behaviors.

Keeping Track of Employees To run a business smoothly a retailer, need few people. A POS system enables to manage them with great accuracy.

With a Point of Sale system in place, employees can sign on or off easily and the system will automatically log their work hours and break hours.

Security Above all, a POS system offers great security protections that help keeping customer data safe. Retail stores and businesses are always prime targets for Cyber Criminals, and a data breach is not good for a business. So, by using standard encryption and firewall, businesses can be secured from cyber-attacks and customers can swipe their cards with a peace of mind.

So, here we have listed out few of the POS trends that will shape the future of the retail industry. As we look ahead, these trends will be on focus for both retailers and customers. The main advantage of an advanced POS system is greater efficiency and optimization, it links all the departments together which eventually allows to have better control over the inventory, better profitability, and to manage processes in an efficient way.

www.insightssuccess.com

September 2019| 43