This Week’s Product Pick

J2 Retail Systems (Irvine, CA) unveiled its J2 625 POS terminal, with Intel Dual Core D2550 Cedarview CPU at 1.86 GHz, 2 GB DDR3, and 2.5-inch SATA HDD or SDD. A mercury-free, 15-inch LED backlight LCD display achieves extended product life and lower power consumption. J2 625 offers choice of touchscreens--five-wire resistive or multi-touch projected capacitive--both with stylish zero-bezel for easy cleaning. A convection-cooled fanless design, IP-64 rated, accommodates very harsh environments and the full suite of ports and built-in peripheral capabilities complete the package. "Collaboration with customers is central to J2's strategy," stated Moray Boyd, CEO. "Our policy of component standardization enables J2 to extend product life and keep reducing cost of ownership."

J2 625 POS Terminal

COMPANY BUSINESS

Un-LOC-ing Loyalty

A new entry, LOC Enterprises (Cincinnati), feels it holds the keys to loyalty programs. One key, it turns out, as the company's universal loyalty card (or accompanying app) enables the consumer to participate in any supporting merchant program. Consumers obtain the card and key fob from individual merchants and enroll in LOC's program at their own pace through its website. After activation, swiping the card through the merchant's POS system automatically enters the consumer into that merchant's loyalty program. All activity from multiple merchants may be tracked by the consumer from the consolidated website provided by LOC.

"Consumers are refusing to enroll in customer loyalty programs because of privacy concerns, cumbersome enrollment processes, and no room to carry additional cards," suggested Jack Kennamer, CEO/President of LOC Enterprises. "The LOC Card addresses all three of these concerns." Reportedly, Kennamer was inspired to create LOC after personally enduring delays and confusion caused by typical loyalty programs during holiday shopping. Two technical firms were recruited to help build the system: Logicalis, the U.K.-based IT solution provider, and VMware, one of the leaders in virtualization and cloud infrastructure.

Here's where things get really interesting. For enrolling the consumer, and providing his or her profile, LOC charges the merchant $1 per year, while providing the physical card for free. "It's incredibly cheap for the merchant, and the consumer pays nothing," RRN.Com was told by Chuck Furedy, Chief Sales Officer for LOC Enterprises, and three-decade veteran of the former Symbol Technologies. Now LOC has embarked on building its ecosystem of partners and resellers, most recently signing SHC Direct, the database marketing player, and Conductiv, one of the cloud-based retail POS software developers. For resellers, the play is revenue sharing, of course, along with differentiation in the market.

Universal Loyalty Card by LOC

ShopKeep in Synchronization

While many iPad POS sellers rush to retail channels, ShopKeep POS (New York) has announced its new Surround 360 partner program. This effort solidifies the company's previous efforts, RRN.Com was told by David Olk, COO and Co-Founder of ShopKeep POS, and commits substantially more resources. Elements include the hiring of eight team members, launch of an advanced reseller portal for portfolio management, and an increased emphasis on business development, marketing, and technical training.

"Under this new program, resellers receive 100% of the first month's subscription revenue and 15% residual every month thereafter," explained Olk. "We charge $49 per register right now, with two or three typically deployed for each customer. Our revenue, remember, is on top of associated hardware, and on top of credit card processing." ShopKeep POS, RRN.Com readers will recall, distributes exclusively through BlueStar (Hebron, KY), and Olk expects that relationship to strengthen under Surround 360.

At least at the outset, Surround 360 will not feature the multi-level, rewards-driven structure common to many partner programs. "We want to empower the channel through technology that's easy to sell, that's quick to install, and that allows resellers to generate good earnings," Olk shared with RRN.Com. "We also want to make it as simple as possible--to sign up, learn, and deploy. For that reason, we don't want to complicate the program. Our goal is to provide the channel with an opportunity to sell an attractive product that they haven't been able to sell before."

David Olk, COO and Co-Founder, ShopKeep POS

Worth Your While

ETA Annual Meeting & Expo
Electronic Transactions Association
April 30 - May 1
New Orleans

THE Tech EVENT
(Formerly NACStech, National Association of Convenience Stores)
May 6-10
Dallas

NRA Show
National Restaurant Association
May 18-21
Chicago

HITEC 2013
Hospitality Financial & Technology Professionals
June 24-27
Minneapolis

RetailNow 2013
Retail Solutions Providers Association (RSPA)
August 4-7
Las Vegas

Pack Expo 2013
Packaging Manufacturers Machinery Institute
September 23-25
Las Vegas

ALL IN THE FAMILY

Next in Zebra's "nth" Generation

Zebra Technologies Corporation (Lincolnshire, IL) has rolled out its four-inch portable thermal printer, the QLn420. Measuring 6.5 in. (W) x 7.35 in. (H) x 3.25 in. (D), and weighing 2.5 lbs., QLn420 includes several new features, according to the vendor. It prints at four inches per second at 203 dpi and carries 400-MHz 32-bit ARM CPU with 128 MB RAM and 256 MB Flash. As communications, 802.11a/b/g/n, Wi-Fi, Cisco CCX Version 4, and Bluetooth 3.0 have been provided, with Serial and USB, and Lithium-Ion "smart" battery.

A new seamless, one-piece design joins the printer's over-molding for greater durability, with clamshell paper loading and simple peeler operation. Size and resolution of the LCD control panel has been increased (240x128 pixels), with printer alerts and help menus, as well as five-way navigation buttons and two software-defined keys. As always, the extensive portfolio of Zebra's set-up, label design, and programming platforms are supported in the QLn420, along with common barcode symbologies and scalable, rotatable fonts.

"Zebra is focused on making products integrate and operate seamlessly within an organization's network," stated Keith LeFebvre, VP of Product Management for Zebra Technologies. "The QLn420's features and functions make it an intuitive printer that addresses customer pain points such as durability in harsh environments, reliability, fast printing, and easy-to-use functionality." One last thing: Zebra's new Link-OS furthers the development of printing apps for Windows, Apple, Android, WinCE, WinMobile, and BlackBerry.

QLn420 Printer From Zebra

Buds of RFID at Juniper

Juniper Systems (Logan, UT) has added RFID to its rugged handheld computers through its new partnership with ID BLUE (St. John's, NL, Canada). Juniper Systems will offer the ID BLUE reader as part of a bundled package, or as a separate product which can be used via Bluetooth. This pen-shaped RFID device doubles as capacitive stylus and comes in both HF and UHF formats, with pending Class I, Division 2 certification, for the industrial, natural resource, and public works environments addressed by Juniper.

"We are delighted to now offer RFID options for our handhelds," indicated Josh Egan, Product Manager at Juniper Systems. "We've had many customers request RFID capabilities as a cost-effective means to track, maintain, and manage their assets, so we are moving in that direction to respond to their needs. The ID BLUE reader is the perfect add-on for those customers who want RFID capabilities, but don't want to make the investment in all new hardware."

Just recently, Juniper Systems launched its new Channel Program, encompassing Silver and Gold levels and offering benefits such as deal registration, lead sharing, special pricing on demo units, access to business development resources, and greater engagement from sales and marketing teams. "Juniper Systems values its partner relationships greatly, and this is our way of giving back to the companies that make up our team," emphasized Rob Davis, Director of Business and Channel Development for Juniper. "We want our partners to succeed as much as they do."

Juniper's Rugged Handheld Computers Add ID BLUE

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ENVIRONMENTS/PLATFORMS

Inventory Weaned From PC

AccuCode, Inc. (Centennial, CO) has brought its cloud-based AO: Rapid Inventory to consumer devices. With this new app, employees may access the full range of functions, such as receiving purchase orders, picking sales orders, or counting inventory, over their smartphone or tablet, whether Android or Apple. An enhanced, clean design fits perfectly on the screen of the mobile device, according to the developer, with the accompanying camera used for light barcode scanning needs. A barcode scanner with Bluetooth may be connected for heavier scanning.

"The new Rapid Inventory application means our users don't need to be tethered to their computer--they can carry their mobile device into the warehouse, stockroom, or take it out onto the sales floor to complete the task at hand," observed Kevin Reynolds, Product Director of Rapid Inventory. "We know our clients' time is valuable, so the Rapid Inventory app will help them make the most of it. Now users can immediately respond to requests, process orders faster, and their customer base will appreciate the faster service, which means more repeat business."

AO: Rapid Inventory, fully integrated with QuickBooks, may be downloaded from the Google Play marketplace, or may simply be accessed on the iPad or iPhone's web browser. It's free for users who have already purchased their Rapid Inventory license. AccuCode, RRN.Com readers may know, has been fast out of the gate in the area of "as a Service" delivery models for the channel, including AO: Compliance, AO: HaaS, AO: LifeCycle, and AO: ProServe.

Rapid Inventory Screen for Android and Apple

Swizznet Swims in POS

A hosting provider of accounting services for Intuit, Swizznet (Seattle), has pushed ahead into POS by offering QuickBooks Point of Sale 2013 for both single and multi-lane environments. With multi-lane, retailers benefit from immediate access to the full financial picture of all their sales and inventory activities, according to the firm, whether from multiple locations or multiple terminals within one store. Reportedly, Swizznet and Intuit collaborated for months on this enhanced cloud-enabled platform.

"Swizznet is thrilled to be the first to offer cloud-based Point of Sale for multi-lane environments," related Kristin Callan, COO of Swizznet. "Our customers have been requesting this capability and we are confident that the time we've taken to perfect this single and multi-lane hosted solution has resulted in one of the most reliable and robust online accounting/POS offerings to date. We're very proud to again prove our technical leadership by delivering this hosted service that was previously impossible."

"By utilizing Swizznet's solutions, business owners and accountants don't have to become IT experts," Callan continued. "Swizznet and its U.S.-based technical support and engineering teams assist with implementation and are on call for any need that may arise. Additionally, customers cite the anywhere/anytime access to their accounting software and financial systems that hosted solutions provide, allowing them to manage their business wherever they are, anytime of the day or night."

Cloud-Based Multi-Lane POS Offered by Accounting Service Provider

Code Corner

Furthering its success in distribution markets, Infor (New York) announced the release of Infor Distribution Facts Version 7.8. Improvements include best practices such as flexible inventory management concepts and automated controls to optimize inventory efficiency. Additionally, the service and repair and customer returns modules carry an updated look and feel to deliver consistency with the developer's standard GUI. Infor Distribution Facts spans the range of functions from supply chain and warehousing to financials and sales analytics, thereby maximizing resources and inventory levels. More than 2,000 distributors in North America have implemented the solution. "We rely on technology like Infor Distribution Facts to support our aggressive growth plans and help us achieve company goals," remarked Jill Vass, CEO of Rice Industries (Circle Pines, MN). "We are looking forward to the 7.8 release and anticipate that it will reduce the time our purchasing manager spends working in the system by approximately 20 hours per week, allowing her to focus on more value-add tasks for the business."

ENVIRONMENTS/PLATFORMS

Aussie VAR Takes Prism Data Systems

Another shrimp on the barbie for Task Retail Technology, the POS VAR from Australia, which has moved strongly into the U.S. Earlier this week, TRT agreed to purchase Prism Data Systems (San Antonio, TX), with more than 2,500 software systems installed and nationwide footprint for vendors such as Epson, NCR, Partech, Partner Tech, and Touch Dynamic. Terms of the transaction, expected to close this month, were not disclosed.

"Prism Data Systems is a strong, strategic fit for TRT and the combination of our two companies will drive further value for our customers," declared Daniel Houden, CEO for Task Retail Technology. "Prism's market-leading services and hardware offerings, plus its company structure and reputation, will enhance TRT's portfolio, creating a world-class product and services offering. This enhanced portfolio plus the addition of the exceptional talent to our team positions TRT for further market growth and customer satisfaction."

Another contract win for TRT, as well. All A&W Restaurants will deploy "xchangexec," its cloud-based retail software platform developed in Microsoft's .NET environment and based on SQL Server. A&W expects to push further into self-service kiosks, digital menu boards and marketing panels, and drive-thru technologies through this new POS, as well as consolidate systems from various vendors throughout its 1,100 franchise locations. In late 2010, TRT opened its U.S. offices in Atlanta, and has marched onward from there.

Daniel Houden, CEO, Task Retail Technology, the New Owner

Prevention for Revention

Hospitality ISV Revention (Houston) has called upon Bomgar (Jackson, MS) to furnish remote support for approximately 20,000 POS systems in the field. Citing several points of failure in its previous configuration, particularly with regards to PCI, Revention employs Bomgar to provide training and guidance for its customers, as well as service and support. Appliance-based, Bomgar's solution also extends scalability for the customer support team at Revention.

"Given the recent increase in network breaches, we wanted to strengthen our security measures even further," recounted Jeff Doyle, CEO/President at Revention. "When looking at the Bomgar solution, its security features were like icing on the cake. It sealed the deal for us in terms of being as secure as possible, and no additional steps or patches were going to be required to maintain that security. Bomgar fulfilled all of our current requirements, and as far as I'm concerned, any future requirements as well."

Another main factor that led the Revention team to choose Bomgar was pre-built integration with Salesforce.com. Doyle explained that all support sessions get started through the ubiquitous sales and customer relationship management platform, with remote session data automatically fed back into the case record. In addition to POS, Revention provides HungerRush online ordering and Revention Enterprise for its target market of restaurants, bars, and pizza delivery.

Bomgar Remote Support Appliance

Key Advertiser Links

Be sure to visit these vendors for the latest in channel products and offers for resellers.

POS & Auto ID Distribution
Metropolitan Sales
Synnex
Wasp Barcode Technologies

POS & Peripherals
Harbortouch
Partner Tech
Pioneer POS
Posiflex
POS-X
Touch Dynamic

POS Systems - Hospitality
PAR

POS Systems - Apple Based
LightSpeed Retail
ShopKeep POS

Barcode & Transaction Printers
Zebra Technologies

Cash Drawers
MMF POS

Data Collection Terminals
CipherLab
Datalogic ADC
Trimble

Data Collection Software
Wavelink

Integrated Payment Solutions
Datacap Systems
Merchant Warehouse
Mercury

Keyboards
PrehKeyTec USA

Receipt Printers
Bixolon America
Citizen Systems America
Epson America
Star Micronics

Scanners
Code Corporation
Honeywell

Thermal Printers
Seiko Instruments USA

Touchscreens & Monitors
Elo TouchSystems

INSTALLATIONS

Finger Licking Payments

Tabbedout's customer-driven payment platform has been embraced by Famous Five Dining, Inc., which operates five Famous Dave's Legendary Pit Bar-B-Que sites in Tennessee. Developed by ATX Innovations (Austin, TX), Tabbedout allows customers to carry credit card information on their device, encrypted and under password protection, view and pay their bill at their own pace, and share their experience with friends via social media. It integrates directly with the merchant's POS--in this case, Micros Systems--and does not require changes to hardware. Merchants, of course, also benefit from reporting and marketing capabilities.

"Tabbedout is unique in that it is deeply integrated with our POS system, which made it simple to install and enables customers to pay directly and securely from their own device," relayed Laurel Renegar, CFO of Famous Five Dining. "Our commitment in creating a guest-centric culture drove our decision to add Tabbedout to our venues. We know mobile payments are on the rise and they are something our customers are demanding. We wanted to partner with a trusted leader who has experience providing this in full-service restaurants."

"Famous Dave's has over 190 locations," noted Kevin McKeand, VP of Major Accounts for Tabbedout. "Our goal is to help Famous Dave's as they continue to grow and win awards for their barbeque and service." Good start, since Famous Five Dining, Inc. has been named as the chain's Franchise of the Year on three occasions. In addition to Micros, Tabbedout has established strategic partnerships with NCR Aloha, Digital Dining/Menusoft, Dinerware, Future POS, and Focus POS.

Tabbedout Deployed by One of the Leading Famous Dave's Bar-B-Que Franchisees

Digital Dining's Hot Potato

An upstart chain, Potato Corner, has selected the Digital Dining Dashboard from Menusoft (Springfield, VA) to support POS, inventory management, and labor scheduling. This cloud-based platform, powered by WhenToManage (Norwalk, CT), will be used by corporate marketing, finance, and operations executives to monitor daily performance and strategic trends among the franchisee base. Starting in 2012, Potato Corner, part of the quick-service french-fry segment, has grown to several dozen franchise locations in the U.S., mainly in California, and including kiosks in high-traffic areas.

"After evaluating inventory, web-based labor scheduling, and above-store reporting solutions for the past few months--the Digital Dining Dashboard presented capabilities to support an operation like ours, with the features necessary to track theoretical usage, labor costs, and cash-handling security," reported Guy Koren, Managing Partner and President at Potato Corner. "The Digital Dining Dashboard demonstrated numerous advantages that we look forward to sharing with our franchisee base." To that end, tools will be customized to fit the specific needs of the franchise operation, according to Digital Dining.

Hospitality Technology Systems (El Monte, CA) led this installation. "Inventory is tough, and the Digital Dining Dashboard implementation team does a great job," testified James Bacarella, Principal at HTS. "From inventory item vendor details to sales data from the POS, they make sure it works." Additionally, franchisees will soon have the option to utilize the Digital Dining Dashboard on any mobile device.

Digital Dining Dashboard From Menusoft

Channel Factoid

A recently released survey, "Mobile Fraud," shows retailers and payment industry professionals universally believe mobile revenue will continue to grow, with approaches and payment protection varying considerably by industry and company size. A substantial number of businesses (29%) estimate that 10% to 20% of their sales will come through the mobile channel by 2014. Significantly, smaller merchants expect more growth in this area, with equal implementation of mobile apps for online shopping as merchants with revenues of $50 million. Retail segments expecting the biggest growth with mobile are digital goods, gaming, and, somewhat surprisingly, jewelry. When it comes to fraud, more than half of merchants (55%) cannot detect if specific transactions originate from the consumer's mobile device--yet nearly 60% believe this capacity is "important" or "very important." Merchant size impacts which tools it currently uses and which tools it plans to add in the coming year, as 20% of merchants with annual revenues between $10 and $25 million consider managing fraud risk as the biggest obstacle, versus less than 2% of the largest merchants surveyed, with more than $50 million. "While retailers are focused on the growth of mobile transactions, the survey results indicate many are unprepared for the fraud that will inevitably follow," warned Don Bush, VP of Marketing at Kount, one of the sponsors of the survey.

HELLO GOODBYE

Roaming Far and Wide

ROAM (Boston), early mobile payments provider, has enlisted Scott Goldthwaite as its SVP of Operations. In this role, Goldthwaite will seek to match the firm's business processes with the fast-changing needs of customers as they deploy mobile point-of-sale solutions. Areas of focus include information technology, help-desk, data center, payment gateway, and quality assurance.

"Scott's extensive experience in operations, business process optimization, and international deployments will allow us to field teams who can help our customers effectively and efficiently use the ROAM payment platform to meet their business and sales objectives," remarked Ken Paull, CEO of ROAM. Most recently, Goldthwaite held the title of SVP of Product Management and Marketing at Planet Payment. Previously, he was VP of Global Solutions for Hypercom and Founding Member and VP of Operations for WAY Systems.

ROAM, which is owned by Ingenico, also has partnered with Visa to further the cause of mobile payments. A first for the Visa Ready Partner Program, this agreement will target key geographies and merchant segments worldwide through certification, preferred brand collaboration, white labeling, application programming interfaces (APIs), and software development kits (SDKs). "Security is a primary focus for us at ROAM and we fully embrace the Visa Ready Partner Program as a way to identify the differentiation of our magnetic-stripe and EMV solutions," said Paull.

Scott Goldthwaite, SVP, Operations (at Far Right During Fred Tibbits & Associates Awards Dinner)

A Riptide at Revionics

Revionics (Roseville, CA) has elevated John "Rip" Greenfield to SVP of Global Business Development. Most recently serving as Revionics' VP of Channels and Alliances, Greenfield has over 25 years of technology executive experience. Former employers include Accenture, Oracle, Coopers & Lybrand, Equifax, and Austin-Tetra (acquired by Equifax).

"I am very excited about my new position and contributing to the worldwide awareness and adoption of Revionics' end-to-end merchandise optimization solutions," volunteered Greenfield. "There is a strong market need for our solutions which help retailers increase margins while enhancing customer loyalty and strengthening their brand. Strategic partnerships and alliances play a vital role in accelerating the market awareness, adoption, and implementation of Revionics' solutions."

Added Marc Hafner, CEO/President of Revionics, "I am pleased to appoint John Greenfield to this new position. He has done an exceptional job since joining Revionics and I know he will build upon this strong momentum to ensure we continue developing strategic partnerships and alliances which increase our market share and revenues." Through SaaS, Revionics addresses product, price, promotion, placement, and space allocation across omni-channel shopping. It has been installed in over 30,000 retail locations.

John "Rip" Greenfield, SVP, Global Business Development, Revionics