Tag Archives: Sophatar

5 Benefits of Digital Signage Solutions

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As you plan your strategy, consider how your business could be reaping the benefits of digital signage.

Smart marketing includes the goal of making the best investment of precious advertising dollars on activities that people will see. As you plan your strategy, consider how your business could be reaping the benefits of digital signage.

Shopping habits have certainly changed as consumers are more technology-oriented and sophisticated than ever. Digital content is now a primary trusted source when shoppers are considering a new purchase or searching for the best deal. Digital content affects where we choose to shop and what to buy, and smart business owners are adapting their operations to find the most effective ways to communicate with their customers.

Effective communication is one of the primary benefits of digital signage. It is an interactive gateway that allows businesses to communicate directly with customers, engaging them while they are in the store. This strategy pays off—according to Independent Retailer, digital signage can increase overall sales volume by nearly 32%. Additional benefits of digital signage include:

1. Attention-Grabbing Displays

Consider this: digital signage is one of the most customizable forms of publicity and a virtual guarantee that the message will be seen by its target audience. Merchants may use the same digital interface to influence customer behavior by creating eye-catching displays and showcasing brands or services, which will ultimately drive sales and boost profit margins.

2. Dynamic, Contextual Content Updates

Digital signage is easy to control and can be modified quickly, allowing it to be incorporated into virtually any environment. Depending on the setup and service you choose, you may be able to store your own graphics and update the signage as often as you want. This is especially useful during holiday shopping time, or if you want to promote doorbusters and flash sales during certain hours.

You can take this a step further by implementing a digital signage solution that incorporates an AI element to determine your most popular sales items and which items are commonly sold together. Or, perhaps to identify items that have seen a sudden drop in sales. Such a solution would then display these items, promoting them to in-store customers to increase sales and boost profits.

3. Cost-Effective

Another one of the benefits of digital signage is that it provides an additional revenue stream for enterprising business owners. After the system is installed, retailers or restaurateurs may opt to pay off their original investment by selling advertising space to companies or brands that will complement the store’s operations. These ads elevate the status of certain brands, services or suppliers that want to raise brand awareness and raise their numbers in the store, target market or sales territory.

Moreover, making information available via digital messaging helps businesses reduce the cost of traditional campaigns, by saving money on printing, distribution and waste materials that will be discarded after the promotion has ended.

4. Boosts Impulse Purchase Sales

Digital signage is a valuable tool for businesses because it conveys important messages, in-store specials, promotions or advertising directly to patrons during a critical moment—while they are contemplating making a purchase. This will help increase revenues by giving shoppers an extra push to complete a transaction by displaying information about impulse buys, promotions and other specials.\

5. Increases In-Store Digital/Social Media Presence

Business owners should use social networks to increase brand awareness, drive repeat business, generate new customers and address customer satisfaction issues. By providing additional information directly to customers via digital signage, stores can generate additional sales revenue, recruit new people for their loyalty programs and even display digital endorsements from Facebook, Twitter and other websites such as Yelp, TripAdvisor and more.

As technology seeps into every aspect of our lives, it seems like a natural progression to incorporate the benefits of digital signage into your business strategy to enhance customer experiences—and store revenues. Digital signage is an effective marketing tool that’s worth exploring: Businesses that have incorporated this electronic medium are already harnessing its power and using it to boost traffic and increase sales, boost traffic.

4 Must-Have POS Solutions to Increase Customer Engagement

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If you’re not using point of sale (POS) solutions to communicate with and engage your customers, there’s a good chance they’re going to go elsewhere.

The retail landscape is extremely crowded, and your customers have a wide variety of choices when deciding where to shop. A blowout sale isn’t enough to draw foot traffic—it’s important to ensure that each person who visits your business feels appreciated and engaged. If you’re not using point of sale (POS) solutions to communicate with and engage your customers, there’s a good chance they’re going to go elsewhere.

Of all the channels available to consumers, brick-and-mortar stores offer the instant gratification and service experience that shoppers crave. Make sure their time in your shop sets your business apart from the competition. A high-level of attention can turn first-time shoppers into repeat customers that may even evolve into brand ambassadors who refer their family and friends to your business.

POS solutions offer you several tools to help increase customer engagement and make visitors feel valued.

  1. Digital signage

Digital signage is an interactive gateway that allows a business to communicate directly with a consumer, engaging them while they are contemplating making a purchase in-store. This electronic medium is a highly customizable form of publicity and a virtual guarantee that your target audience will see your message.

Many POS solutions have digital signage functionality built-in, so users can change messages frequently. This user-friendly platform will help increase revenues by displaying information about impulse buys, promotions and other specials to customers.

Sophatar Digital POS Signage is the next generation of intelligent customer-facing displays. See how Sophatar can help increase your customers’ basket size in this interview with Bart DeCanne at NRF 2018.

  1. Custom coupon offers and promotions

Shoppers love saving money and receiving free items or services. Coupons give your customers an incentive to try a new product or make a repeat purchase. Merchants can use their POS solutions to reduce the cost of printing coupons and digital campaigns by generating offers in-store. Printing coupons on customer receipts allow you to reach a higher percentage of shoppers for a fraction of the cost of a print or digital campaign. Many POS solutions are equipped with templates of coupons, discounts and offers to customize receipts. Printing a coupon on the receipt means you can be sure the customer receives it.

  1. Digital receipts

Shoppers are rarely able to keep track of all the receipts they receive, but these proofs of purchase are often required to make a return. Returns are less frustrating for shoppers who can locate the receipt in their email, saving them the trouble of rooting around in bags, pockets or cars. The ability to make hassle-free returns moves customer service lines faster and increases the chance that people will shop at your store again.

Offering digital receipts gives businesses the opportunity to collect customers’ email addresses, which can also be used to email coupons, promotional information, and other announcements.

  1. Customer engagement surveys

Take advantage of every opportunity to engage your customers. A customer service survey is a direct channel of communication that gives you an inside look at how your business and products are performing. Typically, customers are offered an incentive like a discount coupon, free item or a chance to be entered in a contest for completing the survey. These surveys should be included on the receipt because it shows you care about a customer’s experience.

Engaging every shopper who comes into your store will go a long way toward ensuring they will return. POS solutions can make engaging customers easier and equip you with tried and true methods of capturing attention and offering personalized service that will help build customer loyalty.

NRF Retail’s Big Show 2018 Recap with Star Micronics

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Thank you to everyone who took the opportunity to stop by our booth and check out our latest retail technology solutions. If you missed us, we offered a sneak peek at several of our newest technologies and solutions for 2018.

Here are just a few of the innovative solutions Star Micronics had on display.

mCollection

Our new mCollection includes products that will expand the functionality of our mPOP solution. mC-Print2 and mC-Print3 were big hits with all of our visitors.

mPOP + Peripherals

Merchants can now transform the mPOP into a complete point of sale hub and accept versatile transactions at a greater volume. The mPOP is able to integrate with an increased number of peripherals, such as a 2D barcode scanner, scale, customer display, and port to an external cash drawer.

mcPrint2 and mcPrint3

Stylish and sleek, these printers were made to look great with your mPOP. These attractive and Cloud Service-ready receipt printers support multiple interfaces and peripheral connectivity. These little printers look fantastic and are ideal for handling your business needs with style.

TSP650IIAirPrint®

This receipt printer works seamlessly with all Apple® devices and is the first printer of its kind with Apple AirPrint Certification. With quick and, easy setup, high-quality receipt printing, this printer is ready to hit the ground running out of the box. Most importantly, it will allow Apple users to continue with the familiar AirPrint experience while using their Apple iOS® POS system. Cash drawer control from your Apple device has also become a reality with the TSP650IIAirPrint.

Sophatar® POS Signage™

Available at a low monthly subscription, this digital signage solution solves three common problems retailers run into when purchasing a digital signage solution. First, it’s affordable. Second, it searches by the UPC codes and product descriptions of your products to automatically generate content and display them on your digital signs. This eliminates the time you spend hunting down images and content to display. Lastly, it creates dynamic content updates based on your sales data. In this way, it’s always displaying your best selling products.

PromoPRNT

Available through the Star Cloud Services dashboard, this new service will empower you to create printed promotions on your receipts. PromoPRNT includes two separate services, Promo Maker and Promo Manager. Promo Maker is a quick and easy way to design receipt promotions and add them to your printer receipts. Promo Manager is the tool that allows the length of a promotional campaign to be scheduled. Merchants can also track promotion campaign insights through the Promo Manager tool. With PromoPRNT, you will be able to deliver incentives directly into shoppers’ hands.

We also featured several of our vendor partners in our NRF 2018 booth, including Vend, SuiteRetail, Biztracker, and nClose.

See you next year NRF!

Sophatar Digital Signage Service, Sophatar® POS Signage™ added to Star Cloud Services

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Easy and affordable solution for in-store digital signage

Somerset, NJ – January 4, 2017- Star Micronics is proud to announce that Star Cloud Services has added another great benefit to its long list of value-added services: Sophatar® POS Signage™. Star Micronics, together with Sophatar, launch this brand new digital signage service for all Star Cloud Services members. Star Micronics customers can sign-up for this monthly service currently available on the Star Cloud Services dashboard. The service automatically creates in-store digital signage with product recommendations based on the line items of your Star printer receipts.

This monthly service brought to you by Sophatar is available at a low-cost but adds key business solutions that would normally require a long-term contract with expensive upfront costs. With a month to month subscription and a choice of hardware priced in a variety of ranges to meet any budget, this digital signage solution is affordable and cost-effective. Automatic content updates are included with the service resulting in a ‘set & forget’ operation, so your signage doesn’t go stale over time as with other solutions based on a static playlist. If retailers do not have pictures of their products or services, the solution’s engine will automatically retrieve images based on UPC codes and textual descriptions. Content on the signage continuously updates through a networked media player by using a data feed from the retailer’s printed sales receipts already stored through the Star Micronics printer and the Star Cloud.

This solution also allows retailers to display the store’s social media content, such as tweets and Instagram posts, when connecting social media feeds in the Sophatar web console. So when a special is promoted through social media, it will appear on the retailer’s in-store signage as well.

This revolutionary solution will empower retailers to boost in-store sales revenue simply from advertising the great products sold in your store while customers shop!

This new Star Cloud Service is just one of the added benefits to Star printers. Look for more services in the next year. For more information about Sophatar® POS Signage™, visit Star Cloud Services’ website or Sophatar’s website.

Sophatar POS Signage will be on display at the National Retail Federation’s Big Show, January 14-16 2018, Javits Center, New York, at Star booth #2745 and Sophatar booth #1012.

 

About Star Micronics

Star Micronics, one of the world’s largest POS providers, has designated a portfolio of printing, secure cash management, and customer engagement solutions for any retail or hospitality establishment in POS and mPOS environments. Embracing the mobility wave, Star’s complementary SDKs allow users to utilize Star printers in tandem with Android™, iOS iPad®, and iPhone® devices to generate receipts for all of its printers. Always leading, and always innovating, Star Micronics enables web-based printing solutions including remote cloud printing, wireless cash drawer solutions, proximity-based printing, and secure cash management. For more information, visit www.starmicronics.com or follow us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, or LinkedIn.

 

About Sophatar

Sophatar is a Silicon Valley based Software Company providing innovative solutions for higher customer engagement in retail, hospitality and enterprise markets, including digital signage. The solutions utilize a software-as-a-service business model and run on commercially available hardware. For more information, visit www.sophatar.com

# # #

Media Contact:

Kyle Lauber

Star Micronics America, Inc.

klauber@starmicronics.com

848-216-3300 x 580

 

Melissa McGaughey

SkyRocket Group

Melissa@skyrocketgroup.com

814-833-5026 x106

 

The Amazing Retail Machine

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See the best of modern retail come together at NRF Retail’s Big Show, with displays from Star Micronics, Vend, and Vantiv

It’s almost that time.
With over 600 exhibitors, 18,000 retailers and 35,000 attendees from 95 countries, NRF truly is Retail’s, BIG Show. All of our partners will be there debuting something pretty special – The Amazing Retail Machine — and we’re giving away an iPhone X to celebrate!

What: NRF, Retail’s BIG Show
When: Jan 14-16, 2017
Where: Booth 2745, Jacob K Javits Convention Center, NYC (map)

Come to booth 2745 to see how the best of retail come together with a quirky chain-reaction machine designed by Kinetic Artist Joseph Herscher, in the original Rube Goldberg style. The Amazing Retail Machine will show how Vend, Vantiv and Star Micronics power the modern retail transaction. See how to make the perfect POS system with each part coming together seamlessly.

Joseph Herscher’s videos have been viewed by over 30 million people online. He has built a page turner, watered plants on Sesame Street, and been featured in the New York Times. This is his first installation at NRF and you won’t want to miss it!

And you can win an iPhone X! Drop by booth 2745 to see the amazing retail machine in action then post about your visit and tag it with #nrf2018 & #amazingretail for your chance to win.

Interested in attending?
Retailers can register for their free EXPO Hall pass at https://nrfbigshow.nrf.com/register

Want to catch up at the show?
We’ll be at Booth 2745 during expo hours – but if you’d like to set up some specific time to chat just email events@vendhq.com. We’re all really looking forward to meeting you.

Star Micronics Money 20/20 2017 Recap

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Star Micronics is grateful to all of those who helped make Money 20/20 a successful event. Here are some highlights from the event.

The Star Micronics team wants to extend a big thank you to our visitors at Money 20/20. We always enjoy the opportunity the show provides for relationship building and connecting with our partners. The intrigue that we saw on our visitors faces is amazing. Showing the attendees all the added features and benefits that Star can provide is always a wonderful experience for us.

  • SM-L 300 + Cradle

The SM-L 300 + Cradle were a popular display.  The effortless way the printer switches from portable to desktop mode with the cradle piqued visitors’ interest. That, added to the fact that the SM-L300 can connect to any iOS device without pairing, makes it the perfect mobile solution for environments that use multiple devices for mobile printing.

 

  • mPOP + peripherals

The mPOP + peripherals pulled in quite a few fans at Money 20/20. The new set of sleek looking, versatile peripherals including 2D barcode scanner, scale, customer display, and external cash drawer, make the mPOP a no-brainer for those looking for a cohesive and ergonomic all-in-one solution.

 

  • cloudPRNT

Star Micronics is always leading, always innovating, and cloudPRNT is a prime example. Booth visitors were able to take cloudPRNT for a test drive on their cell phones, experiencing first-hand the convenience of sending online orders directly to the kitchen receipt printer.

 

  • Star Cloud Services

Star Cloud Services provided another significant point of interest for our booth visitors. With a wide variety of benefits and functionalities, Star Cloud Services was created to ensure that Star Micronics users get the most out of their Star products. Featuring the AllReceipts® digital receipt solution, Micro Receipts and Receipt Flip, visitors were introduced to the latest in mobile receipt management and customer engagement solutions.

  • Elo I-Series + TSP100IIIU

Elo Touch made an excellent partner for Star at Money 20/20, just as our TSP100IIIU is an excellent partner to Elo’s I-Series. Available with optional flip stand that houses the TSP100III, the Elo I-Series Android all-in-one is capable of providing businesses with a complete and ergonomic kiosk solution.

 

  • Sophatar and Star Micronics

A big thank you goes out to Sophatar for their contributions to our booth this year. Sophatar showcased digital display solutions capable of boosting the customer experience by bringing the advantages of the web into a physical space.

Thank you again to those of you who took the time to stop by our booth at Money 20/20 2017 and to our software and hardware partners who participated in the event with us. If you weren’t able to visit our booth at Money 20/20, feel free to contact us to discuss the products we showcased or arrange a demo.

Stop and See Us at Money 20/20 USA 2017 Booth #1355

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Star Micronics showcases new innovative solutions at Money 20/20 USA 2017.

Money 20/20 is right around the corner and Star Micronics is ready to showcase some game changing products. We’re excited to be a part of the event, which is scheduled from October 22 to 25 in Las Vegas. Money 20/20 USA is one of the largest global events that showcases payments and financial services innovation for commerce connected through mobile, retail, marketing, data and technology. The Star Micronics team is ready to meet with leaders from every corner of the industry that flock to the event to find new business opportunities and to strengthen partnerships.

Stop by our booth #1355 to take a look at our all-star lineup:

SM-L300 Portable Printer with it’s Cradle

The new cradle for the SM-L300 portable printer allows users to effortlessly move from mobile to desktop mode — and then back to mobile mode. Used with or without a belt clip, the SM-L300 + Cradle boasts a small footprint and modern design that charges the portable printer while docked.

mPOP with it’s Peripherals

The mPOP™ is the first hybrid tablet (point of sale) POS combining cash drawer and printer peripherals with convenient Bluetooth and USB connectivity. Now, you can transform your all-in-one mPOP into a complete POS system with new available peripheral options, including 1D or 2D barcode reader, scale options, a customer-facing line display, and a port for an external cash drawer.

cloudPRNT

cloudPRNT is our innovative technology that will allow users to print to Star printers directly through a cloud service. This provides benefits to retailers and restaurateurs

alike by eliminating the need for additional hardware to send online orders to the printer.

Star Cloud Services

Star Micronics provides additional support through our Star Cloud Services. SCS includes applications like AllReceipts®, customer surveys, Engage NOW, Device Management, Receipt Flip, Micro Receipt and more. The goal of Star Cloud Service is to provide modern Web-based applications using both the legacy and mPOS Star Products already installed in-store, reducing cost to retailers.

All-in-one solution featuring Elo I-Series and TSP100IIIU

The Elo I-Series Android all-in-one is available with an optional mPOS flip stand that rotates from sales associate or cashier to customer for easy signature and payment capture. The stand is designed to house our TSP100IIIU printer, which provides businesses with complete self-service kiosk applications for any environment that calls for a space-saving point of sale terminal.

 

Star Micronics and Sophatar Feature POS Display
This year at Money 20/20 we will be partnering with Sophatar. The digital display company will be combined with Star Micronics to showcase all of our products seamlessly together. They provide a more engaging customer experience by bringing the advantages of the web to a physical space. To learn more about Sophatar head over to their website.

 

We’re looking forward to seeing all of the fantastic sessions and keynote speakers at Money 20/20 USA.

 

We look forward to seeing you at Money 20/20! Booth #1355

 

2016 Highlights!