Stealth innovation: How a Troy company is reinventing vending machine technology

In 2009, Troy-based 365 Retail Markets generated $42K in revenue. This year it’s projected to make $15 million. Read how one of Michigan’s most under-the-radar tech companies is reinventing the vending machine experience.

Source: www.metromodemedia.com

‘I don’t worry about my competitors,” Hessling says. ‘I have two or three that are potential competitors. I worry about the 19-year-old kid sitting in his dorm room in Ann Arbor who is coding my demise. That’s what keeps me up at night.”

Pizza stores popped, sandwich stores sacked in PoS plunder

Signature Systems ‘fesses up to malware raid

Source: www.theregister.co.uk

Some 324 restaurants across the United States, including 216 Jimmy John’s outlets, have had payment terminals compromised by malware after a breach at vendor Signature Systems.

The massive breach occurred when an intruder stole remote log-in credentials for Signature’s point of sale (PoS) kit, according to cyber-crime reporter Brian Krebs.

Major Robot OEMs Fast-Tracking Cobots

Innovating they are. From rival dual-arms to one-arm wonders shedding their industrial barriers to further medical science, collaborative robotics has been around longer than many realize. Each manufacturer is bringing its own brand of converging technologies to the HRC space. Several were on display this month in Chicago at IMTS 2014. Meet the latest dual-arm to enter the fray.

Source: www.robotics.org

Innovating they are. From rival dual-arms to one-arm wonders shedding their industrial barriers to further medical science, collaborative robotics has been around longer than many realize. Each manufacturer is bringing its own brand of converging technologies to the HRC space. Several were on display this month in Chicago at IMTS 2014. Meet the latest dual-arm to enter the fray.

What In-store Kiosks Can Learn from Online Research

Susan Reda wrote an article in the most recent publication of STORES, the Magazine of NRF, about “Upping the Stakes in online retail. Some of the findings should be used to guide retailers as they carry their online offerings and services through to brick and mortar locations via the usage of in store kiosks and in store employee interactions.

According to Reda, The research identified a number of components for analyzing customer service and retailer success

Order Lifecycle

Offer to Complete Transaction

Difference Between Estimated & Actual Delivery Dates

Refund Provided Within 28 Days, Notification of Refund in Process

Chat – Addressed Two Sample Questions Without Reminder

One of the consistent themes with regard to all of the above components is “communication”.  The communication piece is extremely important from purchase to delivery to return.  How can retailers use kiosks and other in store experiences to improve the customer relationship?  Communication. Communication. Communication.

Using kiosks to improve the frequency, style, and method of communication can be a huge asset for retailers.  A kiosk application can be used to set customer expectations from the start.   Kiosks can provide both visual and interactive displays for customers to receive important “expectation setting” information.

To read the article in its entirety, visit the NRF website here and Susan Reda on twitter (@Susan_Reda). How do your customers experience better communication in store than online?  How can those experiences be improved?

Revel Systems iPad POS is the first tablet platform to Offer Open-Source E-commerce Platform for Retailers

SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 23, 2014 /PRNewswire/ Revel Systems, the leader in iPad Point of Sale Solutions, has made its E-commerce Platform available to all via its open-source code, making it easier than ever for businesses to offer E-commerce and web ordering. Now retailers who wish to integrate Revel’s powerful E-commerce Platform can customize it to their own business needs. This furthers Revel’s efforts to make its iPad POS fully customizable and give more businesses access to its powerful tools

Source: www.broadwayworld.com

“By making our platform open-source, retailers can simply take our code and build their own E-commerce system the way they want it while still benefiting from our powerful technology. We are giving enterprise-level tools to small business owners so they can compete in today’s economy.”

PayPal Merchants Accepting Bitcoin, Sort Of | PYMNTS.com

PayPal is taking another small step in helping digital currency, particularly bitcoin, enter the mainstream by helping their merchants accept bitcoin payments.

Source: www.pymnts.com

The leader in online payments is pairing up with Bitcoin processors  BitPay, Coinbase and GoCoin to allow digital goods (ring tones, games, etc) merchants to take bitcoin with an integration through the PayPal Payments Hub.  Starting today in North America, bitcoin is open for business on PayPal.