NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Panasonic, a leading provider of retail technology solutions, is today announcing a number of new technologies at the 104th annual National Retail Federation (NRF) Big Show. These retail solutions, including mobile and fixed point of sales devices and smart shelving technology, are part of the company’s expanding solutions portfolio targeting retailers of various sizes and sub markets including Big Box Retailers, Department Stores, Supermarkets, Table Service restaurants, Quick Service Restaurants (QSR), Hotels and more.
Panasonic’s solutions are engineered to help retailers adapt and grow in today’s evolving marketplace by increasing sales, improving efficiencies, reducing shrinkage, expanding insight into customer habits, reducing technology downtime and aiding in the creation of an omni-channel customer experience. These integrated solutions are designed to address customer problems and challenges and engineered to work the way retailers actually use them.
“2014 presented retailers with a number of challenges, from increasing credit card fraud to heightened customer in-store experience expectations,” said Rick Albert, Vice President- Retail and Food Services Solutions, Panasonic System Communications Company of North America (PSCNA). “This year at NRF, Panasonic is showcasing a number of technology solutions designed to tackle these problems head-on, including the Toughpad FZ-R1 with integrated EMV reader with chip and PIN payment technology. Combined with our digital signage, POS and other technologies, we’re strategically positioned to equip retailers with integrated solutions that deliver the omni-channel shopping experience customers now expect while streamlining efficiencies and sales.”
New Retail Solutions at NRF 2015:
Toughpad FZ-R1
The Toughpad FZ-R1 is the industry’s first*1
7-inch all-in-one mobile POS tablet running Windows 8.1 for retail
environments and to meet the changing omni-channel customer expectations
while providing secure transaction capabilities. With its integrated EMV
reader with PIN pad, mag stripe reader and NFC compatibility, the Intel®-based
Toughpad FZ-R1 can handle all forms of electronic payment, giving
retailers and their customers’ confidence that financial data is secure.
With the Toughpad FZ-R1 and the retailer’s own store applications, salespeople can assist customers with product comparisons, check inventory or change an item’s style color or size right from the sales floor in real time. By enabling checkout anywhere on the sales floor, the salesforce can emerge from behind the register and instead focus on the customer. They can easily pull up customer information including purchase history and other preferences, enabling associates to create cross sell opportunities and deliver that unique in-store, omni-channel experience customers now expect.
It and other models in the Toughpad family of enterprise-grade tablets will be demonstrating a variety of retail-specific applications including line-busting, table-side ordering, inventory management, customer engagement and inventory locating tasks.
Panasonic will be promoting the Toughpad FZ-R1 via a 3D projection mapping demonstration, created with Panasonic projectors, each evening outside and around the Javits Center. NRF attendees can take a selfie with the projection mapping demonstration, post to Twitter, Facebook or Instagram with the hashtag #PanasonicMPOS and bring by booth 1633 for a chance to win a $5 coffee gift card - 200 cards will be awarded on Monday and again on Tuesday.
Powershelf® Next Generation Shelving Solution
The
Powershelf brings the online and mobile shopping experience to the real
world by combining electronic shelf labels (ESLs) with a suite of
applications that will help brands and retailers drive consumer
engagement and loyalty.
Powershelf is the first fully integrated retail merchandising solution to combine battery-free, wirelessly powered electronic shelf labels (ESLs) with a built-in, beacon activated advertising capability, inventory and price management software and out-of-stock sensor technology. The solution can be installed on existing shelving units, delivering maximum value for retailers with minimum investment. Powershelf features a suite of technologies that help retailers reduce labor and material costs, ensure regulatory compliance, enable omni-channel marketing, drive sales with targeting advertising, create new revenue streams and more. The Powershelf complements the company’s line of Toughpad tablets for inventory management and direct store delivery within grocery environments.
Stingray III
The new Panasonic Stingray III is an
enterprise-grade POS device featuring an all-in-one flexible, modular
design, and is compatible with a variety of Microsoft Windows operating
systems. The Stingray III’s versatile design features interchangeable
touchscreens, allowing easy customization to meet individual retailer
requirements with unlimited mounting options. The increased modularity
of the Stingray III also makes servicing and replacing parts a simpler
process, allowing the workstation to be easily maintained, reducing
total cost of ownership and increasing ROI. The Stingray III offers a
variety of display options depending on the application with 15-inch XGA
(1024x768) and 17-inch SXGA (1280x1024) that feature clear viewing and
durable touchscreen capability. These screens can be tilted from 20-90°
angles with a 15° lateral swivel for improved user comfort while a
secondary screen, with an optional touchscreen and customer-facing
camera, is available to enable promotional video, advertising or order
confirmation to be displayed to customers. The Stingray III is
compatible with existing Panasonic POS cabling and peripherals, making
the transition to an upgraded workstation simple for operators.
Security and Surveillance
The booth also includes a variety
of surveillance solutions optimized for retail applications, including
the FacePro™ Facial Search and Recognition System and the new ULTRA 360
panoramic dome cameras. FacePro Facial Recognition is a software-based
solution that automatically performs identification of a person’s face
using digital images captured by Panasonic i-PRO Cameras. Captured face
images can be used to match against a database of enrolled target faces
or to search previously recorded video and provide notification of
positive matches. The system is ideal for alerting store managers to the
presence of known shoplifters. The new ULTRA 360 cameras (WV-SFN480
indoor and WV-SFV481 outdoor) are the first of a series of models based
on Panasonic’s new 4K Imaging Engine and produce a 9MP (3K x 3K) 360°
Fisheye image to capture crisper edge-to-edge images that deliver
virtually the same resolution and coverage area as four conventional
720p security cameras thereby increasing system efficiency. The Ultra
360 cameras offer advanced analytics that can track store traffic
patterns and dwell time and includes a people counting function that
helps a store analyze a customer’s movements.
Other Panasonic retail solutions on display at NRF 2015 include a larger than life digital signage installation featuring professional display and projection technology. Digital signage solutions enable retailers to highlight promotions, boost sales, entertain and direct customers via video walls, interactive kiosks and ultra HD displays for high-end retail stores.
The company will also showcase the company’s wide range of rugged Toughpad tablets, including the 7-inch Toughpad FZ-M1, 10.1-inch Toughpad FZ-G1, 5-inch Toughpad FZ-X1 and FZ-E1, 20-inch Toughpad 4K and 7-inch Toughpad B2. The complete line of Toughpad tablets offer retailers the mobility and flexibility they need to boost sales, engage customers and manage operational efficiency from the sales floor to the warehouse.
Panasonic’s retail solutions ecosystem built around partnerships, vertical market expertise, world class products and a globally admired R&D engine.
For more information on these solutions and meet with a Panasonic representative, please stop by booth #1633.
*1As of January 11, 2015
For more information on these new products and solutions, please
follow the corresponding links:
Toughpad FZ-R1: http://us.panasonic.com/fz-r1
Powershelf:
http://us.panasonic.com/powershelf
Stingray
III: http://us.panasonic.com/stingray3
For More Information on Panasonic’s Retail Solutions Go To:
www.panasonic.com/business-solutions/retail-solutions.asp
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Panasonic Solutions for Business
Panasonic delivers game-changing technology solutions that deliver a customized experience to drive better outcomes—for our customers and our customers’ customers. Panasonic engineers reliable products and solutions that help to create, capture and deliver data of all types, where, when and how it is needed. The complete suite of Panasonic professional solutions for government and commercial enterprises of all sizes addresses unified business communications, mobile computing, security and surveillance, retail point-of-sale, office productivity, visual communications (projectors, displays, digital signage) and HD video production. Panasonic solutions for business are delivered by Panasonic System Communications Company of North America, Division of Panasonic Corporation of North America, the principal North American subsidiary of Panasonic Corporation.
All brand and company/product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of the respective companies. All specifications are subject to change without notice. Information on Panasonic solutions for business can be obtained by calling 877-803-8492 or at us.panasonic.com/business-solutions/.
About Panasonic Corporation of North America
Panasonic Corporation of North America provides a broad line of digital and other electronics products and solutions for consumer, business and industrial use. The company is the principal North American subsidiary of Osaka, Japan-based Panasonic Corporation and the hub of Panasonic’s U.S. branding, marketing, sales, service and R&D operations. In Interbrand’s 2014 annual “Best Global Green Brands” report, Panasonic ranked number five overall and the top electronics brand in the report. As part of continuing sustainability efforts, Panasonic Corporation of North America relocated its headquarters to a new facility, built to meet LEED certification standards, adjacent to Newark Penn Station in Newark, NJ. Learn more about Panasonic at www.panasonic.com.
