This Week’s Product Pick

Winmate (Irvine, CA) has unveiled its new rugged tablet with Class 1, Division 2, ratings for the hazardous location (HazLoc) market. Model M101B features Intel's Bay Trail Quad-Core N2930 CPU at 1.8 GHz, 10-inch 700-nits projected capacitive touchscreen, and Windows 8.1. Weighing 2.6 lbs., M101B carries one and two-dimensional barcode readers, RFID, and two-megapixel front camera for conferencing and five-megapixel rear camera for additional data capture. Communications includes 802.11a/b/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, 3G or 4G LTE, and GPS. It meets IP-65 standards for water and dust and MIL-STD-810G for shock and vibration. "With its C1D2 certification, the M101B is the ideal solution for the HazLoc market as it combines the best features of our popular M970D with an advanced processor and graphics for unmatched performance," enthused Khalid Kidari, VP of Winmate.

Winmate M101B

COMPANY BUSINESS

Whither Microsoft

It's called "Retail Essentials," and its represents the path forward for Microsoft's efforts in the world of SMB POS. A subset of Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R3, and released this month, Retail Essentials simplifies the new Dynamics for Retail, which naturally enough focuses on omni-channel concerns, emerging hardware platforms, and e-commerce--mid-market and enterprise customers, in the main. At the recent Microsoft Dynamics Retail Technology Conference in Las Vegas, Seth Patton, Global Industries Director for Microsoft Dynamics, finally revealed plans for the SMB.

As part of this evolution, Microsoft Dynamics Retail Management Systems (RMS) will be supported until 2021, reportedly. In addition, migration at no cost will be extended from RMS to Retail Essentials for current customers with maintenance plans (either the Business Ready Enhancement  Plan or Business Ready Advantage Plan from Retail Realm, the central provider for Microsoft RMS and POS 2009). "The benefits of Retail Essentials are self-evident," RRN.Com was told by Authumn Wiltshire, Communications Director of Retail Realm, based in London (and Napa, California). "Given that all elements stem from the AX code base and use one single database, savings in time and money can be gained over other systems which would require integration of stand-alone applications. It's also scalable."

Moreover, Version 2 of Retail Essentials will be released at the end of 2014, with lower cost, reportedly, and further refinements for the SMB, along with "m-commerce, customer relationship management, and social media on an integrated platform," according to Wiltshire at Retail Realm. Also, it should be noted that Microsoft Dynamics has partnered with payment processor Vantiv (Symmes Township, OH) on Mobile POS to fulfill the needs "of the lower end" of retail SMB. "Attendees, who had been somewhat skeptical on arrival in Las Vegas, left the conference in positive mood after witnessing Retail Essentials," Wiltshire told RRN.Com. In all, about 250 retail experts were invited by Retail Realm, including RRN.Com.

Left to Right: Yasser Shenouda, CEO of Retail Realm; Afshin Alikhani, Chairman of Retail Realm; Seth Patton, Global Industries Director for Microsoft Dynamics; and Louis Piedra, VP of Sales & Marketing for Retail Realm

Granbury Gets Grander

More consolidation, this time for VARs. Here, Granbury Restaurant Solutions (Grapevine, TX) has snapped up Nova POS (Miami). Nova POS, as RRN.Com readers may know, delivers its solution via SaaS, with two plans--Go Nova Basic ($129 per month) and Go Nova Pro ($149 per month). For its part, Granbury has assembled its portfolio of solutions through acquisition and development, and now counts FireFly, Thrive for Tablets, Coffee Shop Manager, and WineWare. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

"Adding Nova POS Solutions opens tremendous growth opportunities for Granbury in the specialty retail market," projected Tom Bronson, Granbury CEO. "Nova is a perfect fit for Granbury as we continue our strategic moves into the retail space. We are thrilled to welcome their clients to Granbury and look forward to integrating their solutions with our current offerings to provide even more tools to help those customers grow their businesses."

Nova POS Joins the Fold at Granbury

Worth Your While

NRA Show
National Restaurant Association
May 17-20
Chicago

FMI Connect
Food Marketing Institute
June 10-13
Chicago

TRA Marketplace
Texas Restaurant Association
June 22-23
Houston

RetailNOW
Retail Solutions Providers Association (RSPA)
August 3-6
Orlando

VARTECH 2014
BlueStar
September 17-19
New Orleans

NACS Show
Association for Convenience & Fuel Retailing
October 7-10
Las Vegas

Pack Expo
PMMI
November 2-5
Chicago

ALL IN THE FAMILY

Filling the Gap at CipherLab

CipherLab (Plano, TX) has previewed its new industrial handheld terminal, the CipherLab 9700 Series. With new form factor, and bright yellow coloring, the 9700 brings increased capabilities and modularity, according to the vendor. It runs Windows CE 6.0 with Texas Instruments OMAP CPU at 1 GHz, 512 MB SDRAM, and 4 GB FLASH. As an example of versatility, it provides three different numeric and alphanumeric keypads and reader options of one-dimensional laser, two-dimensional imager, one-dimensional extra-long-range laser, and two-dimensional near-far imager.

Measuring 8.4 in. (L) x 3.4 in. (W) x 1.8 in. (H), and weighing about 1 lb., CipherLab 9700 carries 3.5-inch full-color touchscreen with backlight, 802.11a/b/g/n WLAN, Bluetooth Class II, and rechargeable 3600/5400 mAh Li-Ion battery. Designed for warehousing, distribution, and manufacturing, it meets IP-65 ratings for water and dust and 1.8-meter drop resistance on concrete. Interestingly, CipherLab has positioned the 9700 Series as the replacement for the Motorola MC 9090/9190, RRN.Com was told.

In reaction to Zebra's recent purchase of Motorola Solutions, CipherLab has re-emphasized its capacity to replace discontinued handheld computers from the progressive stages of Telxon, Symbol, and Motorola. "CipherLab can analyze and evaluate the existing system to integrate new CipherLab devices into the current processes," the company recently wrote. "CipherLab even designed the mobile computers with an acoustic modem specifically to extend the life of the legacy systems that depend on aging Telxon equipment. Adding CipherLab mobile computers with built-in acoustic modems with Ethernet and Wi-Fi means the Telxon users can work with familiar hardware, and you can continue to use the existing servers and software."

CipherLab 9700 Series

3M's Red Glare

3M Optical Systems Division (St. Paul, MN) has unrolled its AGF6200 anti-glare protection film for ruggedizing electronic displays. Sold through converters, or directly for large orders, AGF6200 improves viewing quality over diverse lighting conditions while simultaneously preventing scratches and scuffs. It addresses portable data terminals, tablets, laptops, and monitors, with an emphasis on mobile enterprise and hospitality, among other vertical markets.

With thickness of 0.15 mm, AGF6200 features residue-free, self-wetting adhesive. Described as easy-to-apply and easy-to-remove, this film has non-conductive matte surface, smooth feel, and wide environmental stability (+85 Degrees C and -40 Degrees C for 500 hours). It furnishes chemical resistance to common cleaners, coffee, sodas, and water insoluble marker. As ratings, 3M OSD identifies transmission of 94%, haze of 20%, and clarity of 40%.

In addition to anti-glare and durability, AGF6200 helps mask fingerprints for touchscreen deployments. Further, its paper-like writing surface accommodates electronic signature capture. For increased reflection reduction, 3M OSD also offers its ARMR220 display protection film. Richard Pawlak serves as Sales Manager for 3M Optical Systems Division.

New Anti-Glare Protection Film From 3M OSD

MPact-ed by Motorola

Motorola Solutions (Schaumburg, IL) has debuted its new location-based wireless platform for customer engagement in retail, entitled MPact Platform for Mobile Marketing. Significantly, this new build combines both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth Smart (another name for Bluetooth Low Energy) to deliver product information, customized offers, and personal assistance. It offers three levels of service--Presence, Zone, and Position--to pinpoint the exact location of customer devices in relation to specific merchandise.

As hardware, MPact employs Bluetooth Smart Beacons, which transmit low-power radio signals to consumer smartphones or tablets. As expected, Software Development Kits (SDKs) are furnished for both Apple iOS and Android. Additional features include an installation application and cloud-based server software with floor plan views, shopper traffic flow insight with analytics, and Bluetooth Smart Beacon management capabilities. Finally, Motorola's WiNG 5 O/S supports in-store Wi-Fi.

Motorola has drawn upon four technology vendors for this project: Aisle411 (St. Louis), for inventory searchable mapping; Digby (Austin, TX), for marketing and measuring performance; Phunware (Austin, TX), for turn-key, multi-screen presentation; and Swirl (Boston), for beacon-based content delivery. "A majority of consumers are already using their smartphones for shopping-related activities," advised Girish Rishi, SVP, Enterprise Solutions, for Motorola Solutions. "MPact helps retailers interact with shoppers in-store, adding valuable engagement through technology."

Beacon for Motorola's Wireless Customer Engagement Platform

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PARTNER PROGRAMS

The Bell Rings at Revel University

With all the publicity about iPad POS from Revel Systems (San Francisco), we thought it time to catch up on their interest in resellers. "We just started about six months ago to build the channel out," reported Christopher Ciabarra, CTO and Co-Founder. At present, Revel remains 90% direct, but "we have training for resellers every month, leading to certification on our product." This program runs under the title of Revel University, and represents the second, higher level of channel engagement, as opposed to the company's basic customer referral program.

Revel charges $1,500 per person for its training "to pay for the expense, and to make sure that the people coming in are dedicated to selling the product." Following graduation, resellers are signed up with salesforce.com (for deal registration purposes), and become eligible for marketing support (typically 10% of whatever they're selling), as well as territory protection ("we don't allow more than one reseller in an area"). Interestingly, Revel Systems has its own fulfillment center, where hardware gets configured before shipping. It also has relationships with BlueStar and Ingram Micro.

Christopher Ciabarra, CTO & Co-Founder, Revel Systems

An Entry for e-Nabler

One of the aggressive players in software for Mobile POS, e-Nabler Corporation (Fort Lauderdale, FL), has signed for distribution across the U.S with Ingram Micro. Expanding its solutions portfolio for the retail and hospitality markets, Ingram Micro will bundle eMobilePOS from e-Nabler with smartphone or tablet along with associated peripherals. Supporting iOS 6 or higher, or Android 4.0 or higher, eMobilePOS will also soon be released for Windows 8.1.

"With eMobilePOS, Ingram Micro can offer full-featured and fully integrated Mobile POS with support for all major platforms, enabling VARs to quickly capitalize on this growing market," declared Carla Cicero, Executive Director, Vendor Management and Sales, Data Capture/POS, Ingram Micro North America (Carlsbad, CA). It can be used as a stand-alone system by smaller merchants or tied into Retail Pro, Microsoft RMS, QuickBooks, and Sage. among others, noted IM. Also, it will be provided as native app or cloud-based service and may be configured for diverse end-user requirements.

"Teaming up with Ingram Micro provides an opportunity to grow the eMobilePOS ecosystem and broaden the coverage in the U.S.," observed Joel Vazquez, President of e-Nabler. "Ingram Micro gives us access to an extensive network of VARs as well as powerful marketing vehicles and large support and sales infrastructure." Industry veteran Kevin Egyed, formerly of Aures Technology, Posiflex Business Machines, and Squirrel Systems, serves as Director of Channel Sales for eMobilePOS.

Ingram Micro DC/POS Addresses Mobile POS

Code Corner

In keeping with the times, Lucas Systems (Pittsburgh) has addressed warehousing with Jennifer VoicePlus for Smartphones. Jennifer VoicePlus supports end-to-end warehouse processes, not just voice-directed picking, and includes the Serenade Speech Recognition Platform, which provides superior recognition quality across languages, diverse users, and accents, as well as noisy industrial environments, according to its developer. Significantly, it permits the seamless use of voice direction, speech recognition, visual user interfaces, and barcode scanning, matching the one-stop expectations set by smartphone apps. Initial platform to be supported will be the Samsung Galaxy S4, now the world's best-selling smartphone, with accompanying third-party accessories such as Bluetooth headsets and Bluetooth barcode scanners. "The new Jennifer VoicePlus solution for smartphones represents the next logical step in the evolution of our offering," proposed Jennifer Lachenman, VP of Product Strategy with Lucas Systems. "Smartphones are designed to support the use of voice, screen, and imaging, so they are a natural fit for Jennifer VoicePlus. More importantly, the smartphone ecosystem is driving mobile technology innovation and new types of smart and durable wearable devices that create the possibility of even more powerful, productive warehouse applications in the future."

Speaking of Wearable Devices, Here's Your Editor, Michael Kachmar, With Epson's Moverio Smart Glasses

ALLIANCES

Zatar Draws VARs (ZARs?)

Zebra Technologies Corporation (Lincolnshire, IL) has enlisted American Barcode and RFID (Phoenix) for its Internet of Things platform, Zatar. Launched in 2013, Zatar draws together legacy and smart devices, such as printers, RFID, and iBeacons, into its cloud-based methodology for IoT. It enables third-party applications to easily work with the devices over an open-source Application Programming Interface (API), according to the company. Last month, Zebra added ThingMagic RFID from Trimble (Woburn, MA) to Zatar.

"With Zatar we can enable new capabilities and business models which offer our customers the flexibility required in today's marketplace," relayed Mike Stryczek, CEO of American Barcode and RFID, naming, in particular, "pay as you use" solution delivery. "Also, we can now gain real-time visibility to the performance and status of our customers' specialty printers and ensure they get the necessary support quickly. In the near future, we will explore other areas Zatar can be deployed to create the truly connected and smart AIDC enterprise."

"Zatar is a simple and powerful IoT solution that is easy for organizations of any size to implement and operate, even as more devices and collaborators are added to the platform," suggested Phil Gerskovich, SVP of New Growth Platforms for Zebra Technologies. "We are excited that AB&R, a long-time Zebra partner, has selected the Zatar IoT platform to enhance the experience for their customers and address tasks that are historically time-consuming and expensive." Very busy times for Zebra, of course, following its purchase of the Enterprise Business of Motorola Solutions for $3.5 billion--citing the importance of the Internet Of Things as one motivation.

Internet of Things Pursued by Zebra Technologies

No Flipping Paper for Heartland

Heartland Payment Systems (Princeton, NJ) will offer its customers the ARC eInvoicing System from VersaPay Corporation (Toronto). Under the reseller agreement between Heartland and VersaPay, small to mid-sized businesses may transform their manual invoicing operations into an electronic system via branded cloud-based portal. "The opportunity to change the way invoices are issued and paid between businesses is enormous," indicated Todd Whiton, President of VersaPay Payment Technology Solutions, subsidiary for the U.S., "and we believe this strategic partnership with Heartland will broaden the acceptance of our technology." Currently, VersaPay has 2,500 customers.

Accessible through Heartland's Portico e-commerce gateway, VersaPay ARC enables merchants to create invoices or import invoices through their accounting software. Invoices are delivered instantly to the portal and customers are notified via e-mail. With integration to the merchant's payment processing system, customers have the option of using credit or debit cards. Merchants can track when an invoice was sent, when their customer received and viewed the invoice, and when payment was made, as well as send reminders when necessary.

VersaPay's Electronic Invoice

TSYS Keeps Shop

Coming at our market from two different fronts, TSYS (Columbus, GA) has partnered with ShopKeep POS (New York). Under this agreement, TSYS will offer ShopKeep POS, and its iPad-based solution, on the subscription basis, along with its own payment processing services for customers. Both TSYS and ShopKeep POS have been active of late in recruiting POS VARs.

"ShopKeep is a leader in tablet-based point-of-sale today," reflected Craig Ludwig, Senior Director of Product Management at TSYS. "That, together with a commitment to high-quality customer care, is why we chose to partner with them." TSYS Merchant Services has been ranked as the seventh largest merchant acquirer in the U.S. by number of active merchant outlets (for its part, ShopKeep POS has over 10,000).

Craig Ludwig, Senior Director, Product Management, TSYS

Key Advertiser Links

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

POS & Auto ID Distribution
Wasp Barcode Technologies

POS & Peripherals
Harbortouch
Pioneer POS
POS BANK USA
Posiflex
POStablets
POS-X
TEAMSable
Toshiba GCS

POS Systems - Hospitality
PAR

Barcode & Transaction Printers
Brother Mobile
Citizen Systems America
CognitiveTPG
Intermec by Honeywell
SATO America
Zebra Technologies

Cash Drawers
MMF POS

Data Collection
CipherLab
Code Corporation
Datalogic
Honeywell Scanning
Intermec by Honeywell
Trimble MCS

Integrated Payment Solutions
Datacap Systems
Discover
Merchant Warehouse
Mercury Payment Systems

Inventory Systems
New West Technologies

Keyboards & Mobile POS
Cherry, ZF Electronics Corp

Receipt Printers
Bixolon America
Citizen Systems America
CognitiveTPG
Epson America
Fujitsu Components
Star Micronics

Thermal Printers
Seiko Instruments USA

Touchscreens & Monitors
Elo TouchSystems

INSTALLATIONS

It's Kourtney, Kim, Khloe . . . and POS

LightSpeed (Montreal) has supplied its LightSpeed Cloud for Dash, the Kardashian-owned fashion boutique with three locations in, where else, Los Angeles, Miami, and New York. Adopting LightSpeed Cloud has improved inventory tracking, sales forecasting, and merchandise reordering, while eliminating roughly eight hours per week spent on manual administrative tasks by sales associates, according to Dash. Now the retailer plans to exploit LightSpeed Cloud in expanding its number of stores and establishing an online presence.

"Having LightSpeed has made it much easier to view our current inventory and our top sellers, allowing us to provide our clients with what they want, when they want it," testified Dakota DiSanto, Director of Retail for Dash. "Kourtney, Kim, and Khloe care a lot about what is put into the boutiques and want to find the most fashion-forward brands and styles for our clients. It's our job to deliver that." In addition to Inventory and POS, LightSpeed Cloud allows Dash to tailor the individual shopping experience, noted DiSanto.

LightSpeed Cloud Deployed by Kardashian-Owned Boutiques

Carl's Jr. and the Beanstalk

Beanstalk Data (Charlotte, NC) will bring its marketing and loyalty system to one of the leading franchisers of Carl's Jr., Star Chasers, with 38 sites in Oklahoma and Northern Texas. According to Stephen Anthony, President of Star Chasers, Beanstalk was recommended by Greg Gower, VP and GM of Xpress POS at Xpient Solutions (Charlotte, NC), who said "Hey, you really need to see this." It will be implemented at the Carl's Jr. sites under the name of MyStarChasers.

Anthony praised several specific features of this SaaS CRM: "Integration with the point-of-sale system, as well as the fact that all offers are license plated to the actual member--there's no sharing of the offers. Then there's the fact that their campaign and loyalty engines have the ability to do randomization of the offers. And we didn't want to have employees putting in names--we wanted no human intervention to on-board any new members. We also like how the system integrates with our cloud-based reporting platform, Mirus."

Just recently, Beanstalk Data linked with NexTable (also in Charlotte, NC), the reservation and table management platform for full-service restaurants, competitor to OpenTable. "NexTable custom-fits with our platform and the benefit to full-service restaurant brands is obvious: they will be able to trigger the most accurate, personal, targeted campaigns possible," proposed Scott Nowokunski, CEO of Beanstalk Data. With this agreement, Beanstalk's CRM Marketing Master runs on iPad.

Major Franchise Serves Up CRM SaaS

Channel Factoid

A recent national poll of college students revealed, surprisingly, that 42% would "probably not" or "definitely not" make more mobile payments if they were widely offered. This study showed that another 42% reported they would use their mobile phone "somewhat more, depending on the retailer or purchase." Only 16% of those surveyed said they absolutely would use mobile payments "all the time." In terms of gender, men are more likely to switch to mobile payments once they become widely available, apparently, with 21% claiming they would absolutely use them all of the time, versus 12% of women. Students in career-oriented majors, such as accounting or business administration, are more likely to embrace mobile payments than those in academically oriented tracks, such as history or literature. At 18%, students in graduate programs are more likely than undergraduates in saying they would use their smartphones for in-store payments all of the time, if available. Finally, students living on either coast are more likely to gravitate towards mobile payments, at 18% for the West Coast and 17% for the East Coast. Only 13% of students in colleges located in the Midwest said they would use their mobile phone to pay for purchases. "Because they are forerunners of technology and avid smartphone users, we anticipated higher interest in the use of mobile payments among these 18-to-24 year-olds," contended Steve Rempel, CEO/President at Balance Innovations, which sponsored this study. "But this is a reminder that it's the consumer, not the retailer, who ultimately drives the rise and fall of payment technologies, as well as the pace of adoption. "

Students: Not Sold on Mobile POS?

HELLO GOODBYE

RDS Marches Through Georgia

Retail Data Systems has recruited Steve Balentine as its Southeast Grocery Sales Manager, to be based in Marietta, Georgia. Balentine brings more than three decades of dedicated experience in this sector. Since 1982, he has worked for Retail Systems, the Columbia, South Carolina-based VAR, serving most recently as VP. Customers have included regional and national warehouses like SuperValu, Piggly Wiggly, Nash Finch, Merchants Distributors, A.G. South, and W. Lee Flowers.

"Industry trends toward cloud-based transactions and wireless solutions are being met here," remarked Balentine. "RDS has the resources to integrate today's web-based applications with the latest POS solutions. NCR's appointment of RDS as an NCR Premier POS Dealer and their national presence were also strong factors in my decision to join RDS. These powerful products [ISS45, ScanMaster, and ACS-IR] will allow me to offer my clients the best path to the future."

Steve Balentine, Southeast Grocery Sales Manager, Retail Data Systems

Calling on Cibley

International Bancard (Clawson, MI) has hired Jerry Cibley as its ISO/Agent Channel Director. "A few" of his responsibilities include recruitment, on-boarding, coaching, and management of the partner network, according to International Bancard, which provides payment processing. Cibley has over twenty-five years of experience for sales and marketing in the areas of both ISOs and POS VARs. He will be based in Foxboro, Massachusetts.

Most recently, Cibley held the position of VP at POS-itivity, with responsibility for the launch of their POS. Previously, he was National Sales Trainer at United Bank Card/Harbortouch, and Dealer Channel Manager at Aloha Data Systems. Additionally, he founded both Write Touch POS, Inc. and Odyssey Solutions, Inc. He also speaks nationally on the dangers of distracted driving, appearing in a number of publications and media outlets, including the Oprah Winfrey Show.

"We are delighted for Cibley to join our team here at International Bancard," shared David Iafrate, Chairman and CEO. "His amazing and unorthodox blend of experience, knowledge, and his hands-on approach will contribute to the growth and expansion of International Bancard, help achieve its goals, and propel the company to the next level."

Jerry Cibley, ISO/Agent Channel Director, International Bancard

British Invasion for APG

APG Cash Drawer (Minneapolis) has engaged Rick Paull as its Product & Business Development Manager for the U.K. An industry veteran, Paull brings three decades of experience in Retail IT, mostly for Fujitsu as Business Development Manager. He will be based in Berkshire, England.

"It's essential that we increase our global support as we expand our presence worldwide," elaborated Mark Olson, President of APG Cash Drawer. "There are opportunities to participate in new markets and Rick will enhance our ability to support our new and existing customers. Rick is well-versed in POS and is respected by many within our industry. We are honored to have him on our team."

"We're introducing six, new, purpose-built European products this year," noted Stephen Bergeron, VP of Global Marketing. "Rick will be working closely with APG's established channel and OEM partners introducing APG and its products and services to the U.K. end-user community. He will assist them in introducing our cash drawer technologies to their customers and to help them grow their businesses."

Rick Paull, Product & Business Development Manager, APG Cash Drawer U.K., Flanked by APG Executives Stephen Bergeron, VP of Global Marketing, and Mark Olson, President