E-waste self-service kiosk opens

A San Diego-based start-up company, ecoATM, has rolled out a self-service kiosk that enables shoppers to recycle unwanted electronic gear safely, offering cash rewards and coupons to people willing to part with unwanted cellphones and other electronic devices, reports IPS News.

The kiosks work like an ATM in reverse. The machine scans and identifies the phones after they have been placed in a tray, looking for broken keys and cracked faces. After calculating the value of the phone, it makes the consumer an offer on the spot.

After a successful 12-month trial run in San Diego's shopping centres and other test sites in the US, the ecoATM kiosks are poised to become as much a part of the retail landscape as coin-exchange machines did in the 1990s.

Escalate Retail, a provider of retail solutions, says it will feature a new native mobile self-service application for in-store use on the new Windows Phone 7, says Retail Solution Online.

Code-named Project Arke and developed specifically for the Windows mobile platform by Escalate, Microsoft and IdentityMine, the application empowers in-store shoppers to access and buy merchandise online while visiting their favourite brick-and-mortar retail stores.

Project Arke provides in-store shoppers with detailed product information and personalised features specifically in the context of the store they are visiting, right at their fingertips.

NCR has revealed a software platform to offer a personalised experience for consumers at self-checkout based on a consumer's individual preferences, states Webwire.

Through this ability, retailers can provide a unique and differentiated shopping experience, deliver promotions more effectively, further reduce checkout times and enhance customer loyalty.

Customers can set their preferences for self-checkout through the retailer's existing loyalty programme, or a preference management solution such as the NCR Enterprise Preference manager.