BIG TICKET RETAILERS GAIN COMPETITIVE
ADVANTAGE WITH INNOVATIVE KIOSK AND PORTAL SOLUTION
Kiosk-based electronic credit application integrated with retailer's private label credit bank drives higher tickets and more sales.
Pittsburgh, PA. – January
11, 2004 – Innovative
Retail Systems, LLC announces the commercial availability
of its front office and retail showroom solution, 360° RetailTM.
Targeted to retailers who sell high priced goods though
retail showrooms by commissioned sales staff, the 360° Retail
solution delivers improved sales performance at the
showroom level and provides better information about
customers and business metrics. The 360° Retail
solution, consisting of the 360° Retail KioskTM
and the 360° Retail PortalTM, combines leading
technology from Sun Microsystems, award-winning kiosk
technology from Apunix, and portal and open source
technology from CommNav.
First to market, Innovative
Retail Systems has leveraged proven, open systems technologies
to enable big ticket retailers to create a 360-degree
selling experience among itself and its customers,
vendors, and the retailer’s private label credit
(PLC) bank. Customers can apply for credit in the showroom
using a touch screen kiosk application integrated with
the retailer’s credit processing system. Product
advertising and promotions can be targeted to the customer
via the kiosk. And, a retailer’s sales staff
can access real-time information via a user-friendly
and secure portal to improve the selling process. The
end result is a 360-degree value proposition: customers
experience fast and private credit application; retailers
increase ticket size and foot traffic-to-sales ratio;
product vendors gain a target promotion vehicle; and
PLC banks cast a “wider net”, opening more
credit accounts.
“Aggressive promotions are a
significant part of our marketing strategy. The credit
kiosks are adding real value to those programs we run,
and we have seen important increases in the average
sales tickets we write. Our productivity portal is
helping us to manage the detailed information from
our sales process. Each of our sales associates uses
the portal everyday and that improves our communication
with the sales force and makes the management of the
selling process more proactive.”, said Basil
Hawanchak, Vice President of Levin Furniture, an expanding
$110 million furniture retailer. Levin Furniture has
deployed sales productivity portal applications integrated
with 22 self-service kiosks spread across 11 showrooms.
Levin has seen dramatic results – 98% of its
customers applying for credit now use the 360° Retail
Kiosk, open and activated credit accounts have seen
increases as much as 100%, and Levin Furniture’s
average ticket size continues to increase.
Innovative
Retail Systems offers the 360° Retail solution
with core components and allows retailers to choose
from add-on portal and kiosk software applications.
Such applications include: the Sales WizardTM, to help
a retailer’s sales staff better manage and assess
their selling performance; the Showroom Traffic AnalyzerTM,
a sophisticated application that compares foot traffic
to sales, and Virtual Showroom, a kiosk application
for quick and easy access to a retailer’s entire
inventory. “The 360° Retail solution enables
big ticket retailers to really transform their selling
process, from initial advertising for creating showroom
traffic to customer check-out using private label credit,” notes
David Weyher, Chief Executive of Innovative Retail
Systems.
About Innovative Retail Systems LLC
Launched
in 2002 to specifically address the needs of big ticket
retailers, Innovative Retail Systems continues to create
and deploy retail front office and showroom applications
that drive better advertising, promotions, and sales
results for big ticket retailers. The 360° Retail
solution creates a 360-degree experience enabling a
retailer and its customers, PLC bank and product vendors
to more effectively interact and transact business
together. For more information, visit www.360-Retail.com.
About Commnav, Inc.
CommNav, a division of Perfect
Order Inc., provides web-based solutions that allow
businesses to aggregate critical data in a secure framework.
This technology leverages key industry standards including
web services; roles based management and patented virtualization
technology. Packaged solutions are being used successfully
in diverse industries including Retail, Automotive,
Consumer Packaged Goods and PharmChem. Contact Commnav
at www.commnav.com.
Headquartered
in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, Perfect Order Inc.
is a provider of technology
solutions with eight locations nationally. Recognized
by Inc. 500 for being one of the fastest growing privately
held companies in the United States, Perfect Order’s
client list includes many Global 2000 corporations.
Contact Perfect Order at www.perfectorder.com.
About Apunix, Inc.
Apunix has been a leader in developing
industry leading software throughout its 23 years in
business. Apunix has been recognized for both its industry
leading kiosk software engine and its reputation for
robust and reliable kiosk deployments. Apunix's software
has been extensively recognized in the kiosk industry,
including winning the 1st place award for best software
at KioskCom, the kiosk industry trade show, for two
years in a row. Apunix is the only company ever to
receive this prestigous award. Apunix's kiosk innovations
have also been recognized by awards from Kiosk Magazine,
industry analysts Frost and Sullivan, and other industry
organizations such as Kiosks.org. Learn more at www.apunix.com.
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