We’ve all heard of the term “retail apocalypse.” When you hear that phrase, you probably imagine brick-and-mortar stores shutting their doors. But guess what? That’s simply not happening (if brands innovate!). In fact, the opposite is occurring: e-commerce brands are opening physical stores, and fast. There are approximately 600 stores across the United States that belong to former online-only brands! Let’s explore why.

Online Saturation – and Expense

We probably don’t need to tell you that the online market is saturated … really saturated. Approximately 77% of marketers use at least one social media channel to market their business, and the overall organic reach you’re able to obtain on social media apps is falling as the platforms change newsfeed algorithms so users see more from their friends, and less from brands.

On top of the fierce competition in the world of online advertising, placing ads in the digital realm is also very expensive. In recent years, the cost for online ads on search engines and social media platforms has skyrocketed – it can be 10 times more expensive to acquire a new customer online than it is in a physical store!

Experiential Opportunities

No matter which way you cut it, an online shopping trip can only be so interactive. On the contrary, physical stores offer the added benefit of allowing shoppers to engage with products, interact with employees, and soak in the brand’s culture.

Brick-and-mortar stores are home to immersive experiences that will create a lasting memory for shoppers. For example, Casper, an online mattress store, is opening 200 physical stores so that customers can book naps and test out mattresses before buying. A creative, unforgettable in-person experience is priceless (especially when it includes naps).

Other examples of physical experiential retail include:

• Nike Live Concept Store: The athletic brand offers personalized advice, in person, to align customers with the best possible products to meet their fitness goals.
• Wayfair: The online furniture retailer is opening its first physical location in fall 2019, which will allow customers to meet face-to-face with design experts, try out furniture in person, and more.
• Warby Parker: The eyewear brand saw huge success when it opened its first pop-up in 2013, and it now operates dozens of physical stores and claims it gathers the most valuable data in person, and realized retail isn’t dead, it just needed a “creative makeover.”

A Fruitful Fusion

Sometimes the perfect place for an online brand is in a physical store. Take Glamsquad, for example.

Glamsquad in CVS

Glamsquad, an on-demand, in-home beauty service, recently partnered with CVS to offer express versions of its services. This is a great way for the brand to meet new customers in person, especially those who may not yet be aware of the online brand’s services (why not fill your prescription and get a manicure?).

Another benefits for e-brands taking up physical shop has to do with returns. Instead of simply mailing back a returned item, customers may opt to return the merchandise in person at the physical store, which presents a valuable opportunity: the opportunity to make another sale.

Make the most of your brick-and-mortar store with Star! Click here to learn how Star and Cohub streamlined one candy shop’s inventory management processes.

Here’s something you probably already know: the online ordering industry is booming. Here are some things you may not have known, though: 86% of consumers use off-premise services at least monthly, and food delivery in particular is expected to grow 12% year-over-year in the next five years. And last but not least, digital ordering and delivery has grown 300% faster than dine-in traffic!

If you’re looking to learn more about the online ordering industry as a whole, you’re at the right place. The below online ordering infographic explores the history of online ordering, industry key players and revenues, customer demographics, and more – including what point of sale features restaurants looking to jump into the growing industry should look for. Enjoy!

Click here to discover how Star teams up with 3B Apps to provide restaurants with an easy online ordering and payment solution.

Online Ordering Infographic:

Curious how Star can help you launch your own online ordering services? Contact us today!

The legality of cannabis is on the rise – but just because medical and even recreational cannabis use may be legal in some areas, there are still laws that must be followed, such as consumers proving their cannabis was legally obtained, and dispensaries staying in compliance with advertising.

So, what’s the solution to staying legal during this ever-changing era of cannabis? Printers! Simply put, printers are critical for every cannabis dispensary – they help businesses and consumers alike stay safe. Here are two major reasons printers are a necessary component of cannabis dispensaries:

1. Printers Provide Proof of Legal Purchase

When it comes to cannabis, proof of legal purchase is key. For example, it is illegal in Canada to possess cannabis deemed illicit (or illegally produced, sold, or distributed) by the law, and guess what? All cannabis without a proof of purchase is assumed to be illicit! Furthermore, if you are found to be travelling with cannabis without a proof of purchase, you can face up to a $5,000 fine or a five-year prison sentence. In the United States, laws vary greatly by state and must also be carefully obeyed.

Simply put, proof of purchase is necessary – and there’s no better way for dispensaries to provide it than with a receipt printer. Receipts offer a quick, easy-to-carry way to show law enforcement proof of purchase. So, what should be included on a cannabis receipt? It varies by region, but common items to include are store name and address, product category/name, and the appropriate tax code/identifier. And when you choose a sleek, modern printer, lawfulness and elegance coexist to strengthen your brand.

2. Printers Can Deliver Cannabis Advertisements – Legally and Effectively

Speaking of what to include on a cannabis receipt, another valuable piece of information you can provide with your cannabis dispensary printer is an advertisement – directly on your receipts!

Everyone within a dispensary must be an adult, so when you print promotions from your dispensary printer, you’re automatically advertising legally and to the right people. Did you know that:

• In California, at least 71.6% of cannabis advertisement audiences must be 21 years or older,
• In Colorado, at least 70% of the audience must be over 21,
• And in Oregon, each advertisement must include the statement, “For use only be adults age twenty-one years of age and older.”

On top of offering advertising capabilities that help you avoid the headache, expense and reputation damage caused by a lawsuit, your cannabis dispensary printer can also automatically deliver ads to an ideal (and legal) target audience.

Think about it: by printing promotions on a sales receipt, you’re delivering your ads directly into the hands of someone who is already shopping in your store and interested in your product. Marketing delivered on a slip of paper that, legally, consumers must keep close to them – what better way to create sticky customers?

If you’re looking for ideas on what to promote on your cannabis receipt, here are some ideas:

• Featured strains/strain of the week
• Strains that are coming soon
• Discounts/sales
• Links to your social media accounts
• Store hours
• Store merchandise
• Now hiring messaging
• Customer testimonials
• Featured FAQ

Remaining in compliance and effectively advertising go hand-in-hand when you implement the right cannabis point of sale (POS) solution and printer. Looking to build out a cannabis dispensary POS solution? Discover how Star Micronics delivers modern, sophisticated looks, and all the features you need to legally cash in on cannabis.

Ah, online ordering. Who doesn’t love it? Online ordering makes the ordering process easier, improves order accuracy, keeps costs transparent, and more. And the public agrees: a whopping 86% of consumers report using online ordering services at least monthly, and a third are using it more than they did a year ago.

One of the biggest segments of online ordering is food delivery, which is expected to grow 12% each year, for the next five years (and beyond, we’re sure). In such a booming industry (online food delivery alone is expected to be a $137 billion market by 2023), it comes as no surprise that new ways to order on the web are popping up left and right. Let’s explore five futuristic ways to order online – that are already happening.

1. Order by Tweet

Did you know that on top of catching up on your daily news and memes, you can also order a pizza on Twitter? Domino’s Pizza allows customers to make a “pizza profile” on its online delivery service, create an “Easy Order” (which is like a pizza speed dial), link the pizza profile to their Twitter account, and order simply by tweeting a pizza emoji to Dominos’ Twitter account. Dominos also allows customers to order via Google Home, Alexa, Slack, Facebook Messenger, and more. Ordering via social networks is an interesting thing, and there is certainly already a market for social media-driven online ordering.

2. Order Through Virtual Assistant

You can ask Alexa for the forecast, to play your favorite song … or to order your lunch. Companies such as Just Eat, which has 24 million customers across the globe, are using virtual assistant technology to further modernize and personalize the food ordering process.

Per Storm Fagan, head of product at Just Eat, “It’s as simple as having a conversation with your partner and you’re talking about what takeaway to order of an evening and, as natural as that conversation is, a voice assistant like Amazon Alexa will join in with your conversation. It will know how many people are in your home and what sort of food you like, and they can start recommending food options to you. Rather than us having to go to a website, it’s almost as if Just Eat will exist in your home with you.”

3. Order via Smartwatch

Smartwatches are no longer just for early adopters: in 2018 alone, 141 million of them were sold. With such a big adoption comes another wave of innovation and new features. One example of this is OrderUp/GrubHub, which allows a customer to place an order, track delivery status, and check estimated time of arrival, all through their watch. Expect to hear more about smartwatch functionality in the near future – the market is expected to grow to $73 billion by 2022.

4. Order from Car

Cars aren’t just for driving you to places where you can buy things – now you can buy things directly through your car! Take General Motors, for example. The automaker has launched GM Marketplace in millions of its cars, providing car owners the option to order food and beverages from Starbucks, Dunkin’ Donuts, Wingstop and more – all through the press of a button. Because the vehicles that feature GM Marketplace also have Wi-Fi connectivity, when drivers place an order through their car, it automatically will locate the nearest store and direct the driver how to get there. Although the service is predominantly foodservice-based, GM says there’s a huge potential for retailers to cash in on orders placed through cars.

5. Order with Eyes

Perhaps the most far fetched-sounding method of them all, believe it or not, you can order with your eyeballs. In conjunction with Tobii Technology, Pizza Hut developed Subconscious Menu, which tracks customer eye movement, and suggests pizza ingredients based on what a customer’s eyes focused on. Creepy? A little bit. Efficient? You betcha: the menu can suggest just the right pie for you, out of nearly 5,000 combinations, in 2.5 seconds.

Is your restaurant ready for the growing online ordering trend? Find out now! 

As futuristic as they might sound, delivery robots are here and they are flourishing. Since more than 60% of a merchant’s customers live within three miles of one of their stores, delivery robots are a great way for restaurants, retailers, pharmacies, and more to complete deliveries.

In 2018, the U.S. delivery robot market was worth $11.9 billion, and it’s predicted that it’ll be worth a whopping $34 billion by 2024. A big reason for that is online shopping: between 2016 and 2017, U.S. online retail sales jumped 16%. And we can’t forget robotic food and beverage delivery, which has already been adopted at university and corporate campuses across the world.

So, are delivery robots really that beneficial? And who’s using them? Let’s take a look at some of today’s top delivery robots and the impact they’re having.

Who is Using Delivery Robots?

• FedEx: FedEx recently announced that its autonomous home delivery robot, the FedEx SameDay Bot, is under development. The FedEx SameDay Bot is designed to operate all by itself, using sensors and artificial intelligence to make same-day and last-mile deliveries via optimal routes. Recently on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” the bot even successfully navigated sand, rocks, and water. The bot is being tested this summer in Memphis, and will make deliveries for AutoZone, Lowe’s, Pizza Hut, Target, Walgreens, and Walmart.
• Amazon: It probably comes as no surprise that this January, Amazon, one of the world’s most innovative companies, unveiled its own tiny autonomic delivery device, Scout. The size of a small cooler and featuring six wheels, Scout currently delivers Amazon packages to a neighborhood in Washington. Amazon also recently patented a retrieval robot that would remain inside a consumer’s home and autonomously fetch deliveries from a nearby delivery truck.
• Postmates: Postmates delivers orders from more than 350,000 restaurants, retail shops, grocers, and more, and recently rolled out Serve, arguably the world’s most adorable delivery robot. Serve can carry up to 50 pounds of product and can deliver items within a 30-mile radius, all on a single charge. The cute bot even features dynamic light-up eyes, which communicate when Serve is changing direction or performing specific tasks. Serve will first launch in the Los Angeles area, and is slated to hit other U.S. cities this year.

Benefits of Delivery Robots

• Fast: In this day and age, there is a true need for speed. More and more of today’s consumers expect deliveries to reach their front door (or office desk) within the same day, or even hour. Traditionally, the last leg of the delivery is incredibly inefficient; as Henry Harris-Burland, an executive at delivery robot company Starship, said: “Think about vans stopping and starting 150 times outside of 150 houses in one neighborhood. It’s an incredibly large waste of time.” Delivery robots help speed up deliveries by increasing efficiency in the last couple of miles from a store to the delivery location – cruising at about 4 miles-per-hour, bots can deliver within 15 to 30 minutes.
• Space Efficient: Trucks, bicycles, and scooters typically complete the final leg of the delivery process, dangerously crowding city streets. In fact, a Mobility Lab and George Mason University study found that 73% of freight and delivery vehicles in Arlington, VA were parked in unauthorized areas, blocking things like bike lanes, fire hydrants, and crosswalks. By sticking to sidewalks, delivery robots help combat congestion and keep emergency paths clear.
• Money-Saving: On top of speeding up the store-to-home process, delivery robots can also save companies money – lots of it. According to a 2018 McKinsey & Company report, delivery robots could help reduce last-mile delivery costs by as much as 40%! Although delivery robots can cost a lot to manufacture, in the long run they could save companies billions.

Now on to the fun stuff … let’s see some delivery robots in action:

We’re excited to see what the future has in store for delivery robots!

EMV: we’ve all heard of it, but what exactly does it mean and how does it work? Even more important, what are the benefits of EMV compliance, for both merchants and consumers?

Europay, Mastercard and Visa, or EMV for short, is global standard for payment cards equipped with computer chips and technology that enable a business’s POS system to authenticate a transaction. Thanks to the EMV standardization, chip cards work worldwide at any payment terminal capable of processing chips.

Designed to protect consumers and reduce costly fraudulent purchases, EMV has been in existence since 1994, but didn’t make major waves in the United States until October 2015, when a new set of compliance rules hit the nation. According to the new rules, American businesses that do not process EMV (and still process transactions via magnetic strip) will be held responsible for any fraudulent charges made at their location.

Any way you cut it, EMV compliance is important, but what benefits does it hold? Read on to discover the many ways EMV compliance is helpful to both businesses and consumers.

Benefits of EMV Compliance Guide created by BluePay

Looking to upgrade your POS system? Check out the Star Micronics Ultimate Guide to Building Your iOS POS System.

The constant evolution of e-commerce provides a hybrid of digital and physical purchasing possibilities to customers. While the appeal of an online market is steadily increasing, consumers still cannot resist the social experiences and certain advantages that brick-and-mortar is able to provide. Among the many irreplaceable elements of the in-store shopping experience that cannot be replicated online, here are the top five reasons why shoppers still rely on – and prefer – brick-and-mortar retailers.

1. Personalized Shopping Experience

With all of the advancements that online shopping provides, it still cannot compete with the personalized in-store shopping experience that’s found at brick-and-mortar stores – and that customers crave. Walking up and down the aisles, listening to the music, taking the time to browse and linger; there’s just no way the web can parallel such an immersive experience.

It’s this sort of engagement and excitement that continuously attracts shoppers to brick-and-mortar stores. In fact, according to Retail Touch Points, during the 2018 holiday season 96% of consumers did at least some of their shopping in-store, thanks to the ambiance and festive decor found in physical stores.

In addition to a store’s ambiance, physical stores also attract (and retain) customers through hosting events and classes – something an online store just can’t do. Some examples of events held in retail stores are product launch parties, book signings, holiday parties, charity events, and various classes for cooking, crafting, DIY home projects, and more. And don’t be mistaken, just because events are held in person doesn’t mean they can’t feature the convenience of the digital world. It’s easy for customers to securely pay registration fees and obtain event tickets online, using tools like Star Micronics’ partner Authorize.Net to provide a simplified payment process.

Simply put, brick-and-mortar stores offer a level of customer service and personalized experience that online shopping simply can’t duplicate, making one thing clear: the need for physical stores is here to stay.

2. Ability to Preview Products In-Person – Before Purchase Commitment

One of the biggest advantages that brick-and-mortar stores have is the ability for consumers to inspect products before buying them. Getting a feel for the material, verifying the quality, and testing the product before committing to it is a surefire way to avoid surprises that can be caused by misleading online information and pictures. A recent TimeTrade report showed that as many as 87% of modern consumers want to see and experience a product prior to “taking the plunge.”

Who can blame them? Shoppers value seeing goods in person because it helps avoid inaccurate sizing, malfunctioning equipment, and product scams. Even with an abundance of high-quality photos and videos available online, there’s still nothing like seeing a product with your own eyes and touching it with your own hands, which is why consumers still travel to physical stores to get the most bang for their buck.

3. Quick, Hassle-Free Returns

Even with the alluring ability to inspect products before purchasing, there’s always a possibility that customers may need to return an item. But there’s no question about it, the return policies available at brick-and-mortar stores offer a more simplistic and engaging process than their online counterparts. With just one quick stop, shoppers are able to verbally discuss their returns, ask questions, learn about new deals, and possibly even negotiate the return policy terms.

Brick-and-mortar returns are a clear winner for customers seeking an urgent solution – they can replace the item right then and there, with no shipping costs, no deadline stress, and certainly no waiting. While online platforms consistently update return policies to better enhance customer service, brick-and-mortar stores continue to have benefits up their sleeves that makes in-store returns simply irresistible.

4. Easy, Quick and Detailed Customer Service

It’s undeniable that face-to-face customer service continues to reign supreme, even with the rise of modern online customer service tools. The interactive service offered at brick-and-mortar stores helps shoppers locate products in the store, get second opinions, and more. This sort of personalized expertise and knowledge is highly favored because it provides consumers with a level of interaction that can only happen in-person, as well as answers that even the web might not have (yes, that skirt matches that blouse).

A recent Retail CX Trends study showed that 30% of consumers claim that personalized treatment is what elevates an experience and makes them feel special. The ability for brick-and-mortar stores to offer consistent service that is tailored to the customers’ specific needs and situations ultimately saves the consumer time and improves their overall shopping experience. You just can’t find that level of customized, instant attention online.

5. Ability to Take Items Home Immediately

Even if an online store offers two-day or same-day delivery, no form of expedited shipping can compare to the delivery speed experienced at physical stores. When consumers choose a brick-and-mortar store, they don’t need to worry about waiting, handling fees, or damaged and lost packages. Only physical stores are able to offer the satisfaction of immediately bringing an item (that you know is correct and in satisfactory shape) home.

Today’s shoppers have spoken and they want their purchases now. A recent Retail Dive survey shows that 49% of consumers choose brick-and-mortar stores over the web because they like to take home items immediately. Just one swipe of a credit card unlocks the instant use of your latest buy – the perfect option for the impulse buyer or last-minute shopper in all of us.

Looking to empower your retail staff, save space, reduce your checkout lines, and enable fast and secure transactions? Click here to learn 5 Ways Ergonomic mPOS Solutions for Larger Retailers Increase Sales and Boost Customer Satisfaction!