STORES Magazine - April 2008 - (Page 102)

CONSIDER THIS/ ARTS UPDATE ARTS a Big Winner at EuroShop BY RICHARD MADER ARTS vendor members won two of the three Retail Technology Awards Europe (RETA) presented last month at EHI’s EuroShop Conference. Awards are presented to the retailers implementing the best application for customer experience, enterprise solution and in-store operation. The Best Customer Experience Award was won by Neukauf Culinara Maier, a franchisee of German Supermarket retailer EDEKA, for implementing a customer service and information application developed by Bizerba. This application runs on the display of an “intelligent scale” and provides the customer with nutritional information and menu suggestions around the product being purchased. Bizerba is a leader in the ARTS Fresh initiative to develop standards linking together the many applications required to maximize turnover and profit in the retailing of perishable products. “Bizerba is using all components offered by the ARTS standards framework, from UnifiedPOS to ARTS XML schemas and the SOA blueprint, while also contributing to the development of standards relating to scale management and perishable items,” says Tudor Andronic, head of retail business development at Bizerba GmbH & Co. “ARTS is not just standards; ARTS is a network of people, ideas, commitment and enthusiasm, all put together to serve the retail industry.” Software, a longtime ARTS member and implementer of the Data Model and standard XML schemas, developed the POS application. Conforming to a variety of governmental regulations requires a flexible application, one that can be modified for specific requirements in a time- and cost-effective manner. “This is exactly why we chose the ARTS Data Model as the foundation of our POS application,” says Ronald Scholz, senior vice president of operations for Germany-based GK Software. “Using the model and ARTS standard XML schemas, we can deliver applications that meet today’s customer needs — and those yet unknown that will be requested tomorrow.” Richard Mader is executive director of ARTS. Membership in ARTS will enable you to network with winners and learn tips on implementation Encouraged to share The Best Enterprise Solution Award went to Portuguese fashion retailer Brasopi - Comércio de Vestuário S.A. for its use of item-level RFID to track merchandise from manufacturer to sale at its fashion chain, Throttleman. The application was developed by Tagsys and Avery-Dennison: While neither vendor is currently an ARTS member, ARTS will encourage them to join and share their knowledge with the industry. Perhaps they can assist us in enhancing our RFID reader interface as provided in UnifiedPOS or the item and inventory schemas used to track merchandise at the corporate and store levels. Health and beauty retailer Parfümerie Douglas GmbH won the Best In-Store Solution Award for a POS application that provides consistent rules for operation to employees and explanation of policies to customers, while complying with the regulations of 21 different countries. GK 102 STORES / APRIL 2008 Expand the awards? Walking the EuroShop exhibit floor, I learned GK has many new customers, reminding me of how 360Commerce (now Oracle) built its POS application and business on ARTS standards. Perhaps you, too, should purchase only ARTS-based applications. I was very pleased to be sitting in the audience when the winners were announced. Given the excellent relationship between EHI and NRF, perhaps the awards can be expanded next year to include a new category: the best use of standards. These wins for ARTS vendors are in line with the results of the RIS News Software Leaderboard of best vendors in U.S. retail for the last two years. In 2006, the top five vendors were all participating ARTS members, implementing and helping to develop and expand ARTS standards. In 2007, eight of the top 10 (as selected by their retail customers) are ARTS members. These impressive wins provide testimony to the benefit of ARTS standards. Hopefully this will encourage you to take a closer look at our standards — and at membership in ARTS, which will enable you to network with these winners and learn tips on implementation. WWW.STORES.ORG http://WWW.STORES.ORG

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of STORES Magazine - April 2008

STORES Magazine - April 2008 Contents Executive Editor's Page President's Page More Retailers Bagging Monthly Comp-Store Reports Time-Warner Center's Economy-Defying Results What Shoppers Think 10 Things You May Have Missed Numbers Worth Counting Full Price/Markdown Retail People Eating Locally Grocery Concept2Watch Restaurants Online Services Marketing Human Resources Product Lifecycle Management E-Commerce: Peer Reviews Drive Online Buyers Kiosks Recycling Operations Payment Systems POS Logistics E-Commerce: Getting Personal Website Management LOEB Retail Letter Arts Update Point of View NRF News Retail Industry Calendar Last Laugh

STORES Magazine - April 2008

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