The largest trade fair dedicated to retail equipments and solutions, held in Düsseldorf between 16-18 February, proved once again that retail success is in the details. The industry is shaping up based on innovations and customized solutions. By Mihail Tănase, deputy-editor Progressive magazine in Romania.

More than 109.000 visitors from 110 countries attended EuroShop 2014 - the world’s No.1 trade fair in Düsseldorf, Germany – in February. Retailers’ currently high propensity to invest gave rise to justified hopes for a positive outcome of the trade fair. And people’s high expectations for EuroShop 2014 were actually far surpassed over the five days of the trade fair. From the first day of the event an outstanding atmosphere prevailed thanks to many new leads and an unexpectedly high number of business deals closed.

Organized by Messe Düsseldorf, EuroShop trade fair, which takes place once every three years in this format, brings together four exhibitions under the same roof: EuroConcept – equipments needed for stores, from coollers, shelves and shopping carts to flooring and lighting systems; EuroSales – visual marketing and merchandising; EuroCIS – retail hardware technology and software; EuroExpo – solutions for exhibitions and fairs. The 2014 edition meant a record of participants for EuroShop, with 109,000 visitors from 110 countries, two thirds of these coming from outside Germany.

The fair brought together both renowned suppliers of the large chains of stores in Germany, Italy, Sweden or France, which relied on the quality of the products, on solutions and innovative ideas, as well as companies from emerging markets like Turkey, Russia, China or Taiwan, that brought products with competitive prices and the enthusiasm given by the growth potential of their markets.

Among both the exhibitors and the visitors there was a clear interest for the markets with high potential in modern retail development. Romania’s presence at this fair increased in 2014, both in terms of visitors, as well as participating companies. These were: Idezio, Licofrig, Display Solutions, Graphtec Design, Hontov, Plametco, Plexiron, Pietta Glass Working and Romvitrine, four more than those who participated in the 2011 edition.

EuroConcept: focus on lowering costs

Having the largest dedicated space within EuroShop, the exhibition dedicated to equipments for stores, EuroConcept, brought together large retail equipment and solutions providers and “challengers” from emerging markets.

The world's largest manufacturer of shopping carts, the German company Wanzl, exhibited its latest models of carts and the new materials used in their production . Some niche products that the company is offering are carts for children with disabilities, for the elderly, who need to sit down from time to time to rest, or for disabled people, immobilized in wheel chairs. Another innovative product is the recycled plastic cart, which passed the same resistance tests as those made of, but is more expensive. “One of the advantages of plastic carts is that it allows the products placed inside them to be more easily detected through electromagnetic waves compared to the ones made of metal wire, such models being recommended to retailers who own self- checkout terminals”, said Markus Fischer, Export Sales Manager at Wanzl.

Regarding refrigeration equipments, many suppliers brought vertical coolers, designed for fresh or refrigerated products, closed with sliding doors or hinges, provided that reduction of energy costs has become a priority for more and more traders. Contronics company presented a spraying solution of water as vapors, for fresh fruits and vegetables in the stores. The evaporators, which use ultrasound technology, helps to reduce the temperature by a few degrees for the products around such an installation.

The Americans from Miatech brought to EuroShop a sprinkler installation for shelves with fresh fruits and vegetables, as well as the fish stand. “The permanent wetting of the fruits and vegetables is necessary because they dry out, losing weight and changing their appearance. Regarding the fish ice bed, on which it usually lies, it contains carbon, which burns the skin of the fish”, said John Matthew, International Field Manager at Miatech. The equipment uses timed sprinklers, starting one at a certain time. The maintenance is done at 9-12 months, while the filter is changed depending on the water hardness. Miatech came to the exhibition with Bioturbo, a device that removes ethylene and destroys pathogens (fungi, mold, spores), thought for warehouses of fruits and vegetables, for cold rooms of stores who keep the merchandise stored for 3-4 days or for the trucks transporting fresh food.

Regarding the lighting of the products in a store, Austrian company Lumitech offers LED lighting for each type of product. Thus, the cheese needs yellow lighting, the cold cuts and wrapped meat need a red to pink light and the fresh meat should have light red lighting.

EuroCIS: Technologies for monitoring the shopping behavior

More and more technology providers come up with solutions that allow customers to buy, scan and pay for the goods themselves, without interacting with store personnel. In these circumstances, the automation of the purchasing act had allocated a generous space within the EuroCIS exhibition which is held annually in Düsseldorf.

Fujitsu came with its application, Fujitsu Marketplace. The company aims that, through it, there would no longer be any customers that leave the store without buying something, even if they don’t find the desired product. The application monitors in real time the stocks from the warehouse and the chain of stores and can be used for subsequent delivery to the doorstep of the product that is unavailable at a certain moment. The company also presented its self-checkout solution (a terminal through which you scan and pay your one product). The terminal is equipped with a special spot for placing shopping bags, provided with a scale that has memorized the weight of all the items in the store, thus it can detect an eventual replacement of the scanned items. Another technology that shortens the shopping duration are self-scanners. They allow the client to scan products, within the store, with a scanner based on the loyalty card or even with their own smartphone. Finally, the scanner is given to an employee of the store and the customer can either pay the shopping by himself or goes to a cash register where an operator collects the pay.

One of the leading scanner manufacturers is the Italian company Datalogic, which offers, besides the Joya equipments, the Evolution Shop app. This can be used by the shoppers both through scanners and smartphones, and provides extra information such as what promotional products are available at a certain time. The number of shoppers using scanners is increasing, Datalogic having contracts for such terminals with over 500 stores in Europe and North America; the self-scanners and self-checkouts came to be used in some stores by 30% to 40% of the shoppers - as claimed by Luigi Frison, Senior Group Manager EMEA at Datalogic.

For retailers who want to highlight certain products on the shelves, Epson brought to EuroCIS color printers for shelf labels or shopping vouchers which may include a product’s image. With its latest innovations also came the Japanese manufacturer of scales – Digi – its digital scales with two color displays, for the operator and the customer. They can be connected to the retailer’s server and allow a price change directly into the system.

Amid the development of digital technologies, retailers want more interaction with their customers within this channel. The French digital agency Phoceis brought at EurCIS the My Auchan app - Shopping Companion, developed specifically for the French retailer Auchan and which will be launched soon. The application is compatible with smartphone terminals or tablets and is designed for families, each member having a “user” through which he can create his own shopping list. When a family member uses his mobile terminal when shopping, he can also see the shopping lists of all the family members. The application may be used in the same way by a group of friends who want, for example, to throw a party, thus being able to create a common shopping list that can be updated in real time.

Another app, developed by French company Smart Flows, allows obtaining data about the shoppers’ behavior through a signal transmitted through their mobile phones. The application, which can only track customers that have their mobiles active when shopping, does not use any personal data, identifying only the serial number of the mobile terminal. Based on this, retailers can obtain data on a customer’s number of visits in the store, the duration of a visit, the route taken by the customer and the time spent at the shelf.

EuroSales: new experiences in shelf interaction

With solutions offered at the point of sale, the companies participating in EuroSales demonstrated once again that direct interaction, at the shelf, with the consumer can be one of the most effective levers for promoting both the retailer and the brands.

With a presence in 46 countries, the Swedish company HL Display is a leading provider of innovative solutions designed to increase shelf visibility and sales. Among the solutions that increase sales and reduce costs with store personnel are inclined shelves and roller or streak based systems that always push products in front, while the magnetic elements do not allow them to move to the left or right.

Magnetic elements can also help with the shelf offer segmentation in categories and subcategories. In the same time, the accessories announcing a shelf lack show the customers that the product is unavailable for the moment. Increasing the shelf space is available thorough these systems that bring the products in front and adjust according to their width. On another hand, the “L”-shaped stops (because over 90% of the shoppers pull the product from the shelf from the right side) contributes to a lower coverage of the product’s “shelf front”, being recommended for stores with large turnovers in products that don’t stand, like packaged sliced ​cold cuts or seeds. Among the most interesting solutions presented at EuroCIS are the electronic displays for shelves, designed by HL Display, and also the differentiated shelf lighting solutions, that use LED technology and that can increase highlighted products’ sales by 15-20%.

Another Swedish company that came to the fair with innovative technology is Motion Display. As its name says, the company is a provider of price tags and shelf displays based on animations that use e-ink electronic ink (which is used by Amazon's Kindle eBook Reader). According to Martin Skoog, Sales Vice-President of the company, animated prices can attract buyers without disturbing them visually, allowing retailers to use them as a marketing tool. The Swedish company’s research shows that an animated price may increase the sales of a product by 20-30% without the article being offered in a promotion. On the other hand, although the colors used by the e-ink are just black and white, applying a colored interfaces over the e-ink screen can create the impression that the entire display is color.