Sony makes shopping easier

Sony will demonstrate its iTRx technology and Network Operations Centre services with hopes that the new systems will help make retailers' lives a little easier, reports All Headline News.

The demonstration takes place at the National Retail Federation show in New York this week.

Sony will also showcase its improved digital signage device which allows retailers to centrally create, schedule and deliver content in one location, to other displays throughout the store or in an entirely different location altogether.

The National Retail Federation issued predictions about the short- and long-term future of retail at its 96th annual convention in New York this week, reports North Jersey.com.

For the near-term, the federation sees retail sales growth of 4.8% for 2007. Over the long-term, the trade group predicts that in the stores of the future, consumers will shop by cellphone, try on clothes in dressing rooms equipped with "magic mirrors" connected to the Internet, and let their fingerprints do the paying.

The predictions that seemed more science fiction than shopping came from a "Store of the Future" exhibit at the convention, featuring companies such as Pay By Touch. The California-based company touted its "biometric authentication" system that lets shoppers scan their fingers to get discounts and pay bills.

Technology and globalisation are changing the retail landscape, and successful retailers will be those who can respond and adapt to those changes, attendees of the National Retail Federation's annual convention were told on Monday, reports English people's daily online.

National Retail Federation president and CEO Tracy Mullin, Metro AG CEO Hans-Joachim Koerber, and Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said technology and the Internet have altered how consumers shop and what they expect from retailers.

"Through blogs and consumer reviews, customers are letting the retailer know how they feel about shopping at their store or Web site, and whether they like the products they bought," Mullin said.