With the development of a future-store concept, people will soon find it more convenient to shop for every product, and do it quickly.

According to Fredric Lam, manager of the IBM retail innovation centre, the concept of future stores is to bring technology to shoppers and offer more facilities at the supermarket.

Key technologies to shape the concept include smart shelves, self check-out, personal shopping assistants (PSA), wireless kiosks, electronic signs, digital multimedia displays and a biometric payment system.

To help retailers build the future-store concept, IBM has developed a store integration framework, which has two main systems - advanced point of sale technology and anywhere touch-point technology.

Advanced point of sale comes with sub-systems such as self check-out, interactive points of sale, biometric payment systems and RFID payment systems.

New, anywhere touch-points come with Web-tablets, personal shopping assistants, electronic scales, RFID readers, electronic shelf labels, electronic signs, digital multimedia displays and a wireless kiosk.

With the integration of this system, Lam said shoppers would no longer spend time paying for products as they could pay at the self-checkout counter.

By scanning products at the scanner, they can make a payment immediately.

This concept is now in use in the United States and some countries in Europe and the Asia-Pacific. Lam believes that the time is not too distant when Thailand's retailers adopt the concept. He added that McDonald's has installed digital multimedia displays to present promotional menus and it found they increased sales by 8 per cent.

He said that at present, retailers face tough competition. They are now bent on offering shoppers convenient shopping experiences. "There are two main technologies that will help retailers provide special service to their customers - Web-enabled and wireless technology.

He said the company had seen a change in people's shopping behaviour and huge opportunities coming to retail businesses throughout the Asia-Pacific, including Thailand.

The company last year established its second retail innovation centre, in Shanghai, where the future-store concept is demonstrated to help retailers understand the industry trends.

"China is the fastest growing market in the Asia-Pacific. The other emerging markets are Singapore, the Philippines, Malaysia and Thailand. PSA, wireless kiosk, and digital multimedia displays are three systems expected to be widely adopted in this region, including Thailand," said Lam. 

Asina Pornwasin

The Nation