With 2012 in full force, London is preparing for the Olympics, but without proper preparation, the city could face debt.

Even manufacturers need to prepare for the event. While 40 percent of manufacturers have not made any preparations for the Olympics, demands for products and services are projected to increase. In fact, only 10 percent of manufacturers have actually introduced new systems or technologies that will allow them to flexibly manage their supply chain.

The games start at the end of June, so there’s still time to make the necessary adjustments, but manufacturers need to act fast. Because of increased traffic, routes will be greatly affected, so manufacturers, especially those in the food and beverage industry, need the right tools to create the most cost effective routes while keeping track of accounts. Manufacturers should make sure their field workers have the right tools to get the job done in the most efficient way possible, despite any impact the Olympics may have on business.

Weather you’re preparing for the Olympics or not, make sure your mobile field computer can handle a marathon. Learn more about solutions for the manufacturing industry and start preparing.

The National Retail Federation (NRF) will be hosting their 101st Annual Convention and Expo, Retail’s Big Show 2012. Beginning on Jan. 15 at the Jacob Javits Convention Center in New York, the show will be attended by anyone who’s somebody in retail, including over 22,000 industry professions, 500 exhibitors and 175 speakers.

Barcoding Inc. will be exhibiting in the Motorola Solutions booth, booth number 1702. Stop by to see a demonstration of their dressing room technology, the Fitting Room Assistant Network (FRAN) on Motorola Solutions’ ET1 Enterprise Tablet. The demonstration will provide a live example of how retailers can improve efficiency and increase sales through the right technology.

FRAN is Barcoding Inc.’s proprietary system engineered for retailers to maximize revenue from customers’ fitting room experience. In addition, Fran allows for increased control over their inventory as it moves around the store and into the fitting room.

Read the rest of this entry »

As mobility continues to affect the way we live, work and play as consumers, it’s no surprise that retailers and other businesses are going mobile. As is evident with the exhibitions at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES).

One notable exhibit was PaySaber, a secure, mobile credit card solution for the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. Best of all, they offer different solutions depending on the size of your company.

For example, if you’re a small, on-the-go company, such as a food truck, you may be interested in the PaySaber Clip, similar to the more commonly known Square.

For larger businesses, there’s PaySaber POS, which includes a barcode scanner, thermal printer and encrypted card reader all in a light-weight, mobile point of sale (POS) system. In addition to simply taking payments, it’s easy to manage inventory, conduct returns and print receipts or invoices. Businesses will also be able to access real-time reporting and product, inventory and customer databases and more. From there, reports can be made in commonly used programs such as Excel and QuickBooks.

It’s interesting to watch how mobility has and will continue to affect POS solutions. Now, how long will it be until we can all just pay through our cell phones–no credit card needed!

Share your thoughts on mobility in POS systems, or let us know that you’ve liked at CES so far by commenting below, or on our Facebook or twitter pages.

In Barcoding Inc.’s most recent newsletter, Eye on ROI, we featured the LXE/Honeywell Marathon field computer. If you missed it, view the product in our “Speeds and Feeds” section and sign up to receive future newsletters.

The LXE/Honeywell Marathon computer features:

• Keyboard, barcode, magnetic card and touch screen data entry
• Intel Atom Z530 (1.6GHz) processor
• 7.1″ WVGA (800×480) display
• Backlight keyboard
• Enhanced security options
• 802.11 a/b/g/n
• High resolution color camera

Watch the video and get the product brochure here, or learn more about LXE/Honeywell and their products.

Mobility in the retail industry is changing everything from the way consumers shop, to purchasing habits, to checkout and the way we pay.

According to a National Retail Federation (NRF) survey conducted by BIGresearch, a record 226 million shoppers visited stores and websites over Black Friday weekend, up 14 million from last year.

But, of the online shoppers, which ones were e-commerce, and which ones were m-commerce. Short for mobile commerce, m-commerce is taking retail by storm—and it’s no surprise. As consumers continue to do more with their phones, they want to be able to shop on their phones. And consumers aren’t just making purchases from their mobile devices—they are also using their smartphones while in the store, looking up prices and comparing products.

An article from Internet Retailer states, “Mobile commerce is different than e-commerce in that it is tying the e-commerce and bricks-and-mortar channels together. Customers are standing in stores looking up product information and prices and reviews, and that is having an impact on sales online and in stores.” In order to keep sales up, retailers need to cater to the consumer, not only creating mobile websites, but also mobile apps and QR code campaigns.

And consumers aren’t the only ones turning to their mobile devices. In our last look at the retail industry, we explored the possibilities of using Apple iPhones, iPod touches and iPads as point of sale systems, a growing trend among retailers. Many retailers operate at a loss all year, depending on 4th quarter holiday sales to drive business. However, in order to cater to consumer demands and increase sales during busy holiday times, traditional POS systems are becoming outdated, bulky and expensive to scale. With a cloud-based POS system, such as those offered with the Apple products, retailers gain the ability and agility to quickly meet demands. Since these solutions are portable, manpower is no longer tied up at the register and can be used as necessary to keep lines moving, help customers and ultimately, keep sales up.

Mobility has brought exciting changes for both retailers and consumers. But, what else is in store for the future of retail? Share your thoughts by commenting below, or on our Facebook or twitter pages.