Integration in Retail IT environment is crucial subject. Supplay chain, POS, Customer Loyalty, Self-Service …. but also very specific retail hardware like scales, price checkers, people counting …. and all of them have to be integrated. This is not easy taks at all. But there are solutions which can make the life easier. If you like you can follow or contact me at Twitter @PavicDarko

1. www.serviceplus-it.com
Service Plus Group
INTEGRATION IN RETAIL – MAKE IT BETTER

2. CREATIVE RETAILING
Dimensions of Retail Environment
Multichannel Retailing
POS, Kiosk, online
shop, mobile phones,
home delivery …
Product Type
Traditional items, Music,
Movies, Games, eBooks,
Retail Formats Insurances, Travel Deals,
Hypermarket, C-Stores, Services ….
Petrol Stations, drive-in
store, self-service store ….
Process and Cost Optimisation

3. CREATIVE RETAILING
Typical Retail Environment
• Supply Chain Management • ERP Top 10 IT Initiatives
• Customer Loyalty • Financial Systems Started in 2011
• Self Check Out • Electronic Shelf Labels
• Kiosk • Label Printing
• Scales • Home Delivery
• Online Shop • Mobile Payments
• Point of Sale • RFID
• Reverse Vending Machines • Mobile Processes I
• Cigarette Dispenser • Parking Ticket Machines
• Security Equipment • Stock and Warehouse
• People Counting • Personal Shopping Assistants
• Self Scanning Systems • HR systems
• Money Counting Machines • Forecort
• Digital Signage • EAS
• Video Surveillance • EDI
Source: Gartner
Additional systems and solutions depend on the verticals ( e.g. Restaurants,
Petrol Stations … ), country requirements and business processes

4. CREATIVE RETAILING
Typical Retail Project (Macro Integration)
Retail Chain: • “No Mans Land” between solutions
• C-stores, • Different Formats
• 220 stores • Different structures (for example per
• Each store has 1-3 POS and BO store – splitter is needed)
• In average 1000 Transactions per
POS and per day • Implementation of middleware
(Websphere)
• Implementation of customer (retail)
Financial Supplay Chain specific add-ons
System Solution • Implementation of data structures
• Implementation of data formats
• Implementation of data comparison
processes
BOS BOS BOS
POS POS POS POS POS POS
The customer learnt to live with the existing situation

5. CREATIVE RETAILING
Integration – Reality today
Online
Shop
Customer ERP BI
ESL Loyalty
Kiosk
SCO
Scantech
Price verifier
POS Tomra
Avery Mettler RVM
Scales Scales Wincor
Digital Motorola
RVM
Signage Price Verifier Money
PSA Counting
Not integrated at all
Integrated (somehow)
ATMs Cigarette People Parking
Dispenser Counting Systems

6. CREATIVE RETAILING
…. and your management decided to open
petrol stations

7. CREATIVE RETAILING
…. and to sell products via mobile phones

8. CREATIVE RETAILING
…. you would feel like this

9. CREATIVE RETAILING
What is the right way to go?

10. CREATIVE RETAILING
Integration
The needed information is somewhere around
but:
… at the right place?
… in the right format?
… at the right moment?

11. CREATIVE RETAILING
Integration
Know where the information is,
use it as you need it
Use it in the right format,
at the moment, when you need it

12. CREATIVE RETAILING
Integration – Demands
• Data Exchange - online and real time
• Guaranteed data delivery
• Data Conversion
• Data Consistency
• Central Master Data Management
• Usage of many different proprietary hardware devices
• Fiscal law requirements and fiscal devices in some countries
• Easy and fast adaptation of new retail concepts without exchange of existing
environment
• Central Control of the complete infrastructure at any time
• Independence from hardware/software manufacturers and solution providers

13. CREATIVE RETAILING
Integration – Demands
• Easy and fast integration of new hardware and software
• Open strategy (Standards) and independence from resources
• As little interfaces and interaction between systems as possible
• Simplification of infrastructure
• Investment protection

14. CREATIVE RETAILING
Integration – Service Plus Approach
Communication and integration platform with
Clear focus on Retail - Solving exactly the problems of the
retail environment
Modern technology - Latest Microsoft technology, proven in
thousands of projects around the world
Scalability - From integration of one of the smallest barcode readers
up to the enterprise integration with thousands of transactions
Robustness - Guaranteed delivery of data and provision of
functions
Openness - Open interfaces and data model with strategy for
partner eco system
Standards - ARTS Data model, OPI for EFT, UPOS for retail
devices

15. CREATIVE RETAILING
Integration – Solution
OCTOPUS
Retail Integration Bus
• Middleware for integration and
data exchange in Retail
• One platform for Hardware,
Application and Enterprise
integration

16. CREATIVE RETAILING
Integration – Like it is with Octopus
Customer Online
Loyalty ERP BI Shop
Integration Plattform from Service Plus Octopus
Bizerba Scantech Motorola POS Mettler Digital People Cigarette
Scales Price Price Scales Signage Counting Dispenser
Verifier Verifier
ATMs PSA Berkel Wincor Tomra Kiosk Money Parking
Scales RVM RVM Counting System

17. CREATIVE RETAILING
Integration – Octopus Architecture
Driver
Integr
ation
Styles
Octopus
MSMQ
Octopus
Integr
ation
Styles
Driver
Unique, flexible, simple and very powerful architecture

18. CREATIVE RETAILING
Integration – Major Functions
Multi Integration Projects – Integrate many different devices and solutions
Integration Patterns – use of standard integration patterns
Content Filters – change your data as needed as many times as needed
Protocols – use any standard protocol, e.g. ftp, SOAP, http, ssh …
Remote Command Engine – integrate your platform in other applications
Watch Dog – secure your platform to keep it up and running
Delivery Engine – secure, that your data is delivered
Persistency Master – store your data, until it is successfully delivered

19. CREATIVE RETAILING
Integration – Major Functions
Extended Logging– monitor every activity (function and data) of your integration
Performance Monitoring – monitor the performance of your integration
Scheduling – run integration tasks fully automated or as needed
Security – protect your data with strong crypting algorithms
Internationality– work with one platform in the store, region, country, world
Clustering – install the platform on one or more servers
Load balancing – balance the communication flow over many instances

20. CREATIVE RETAILING
Integration Example – EDI/Supplier integration
Supplay Chain Financial
Management System
Integration Plattform from Service Plus Octopus
Supplier 1 Supplier 2 Supplier 3 Supplier 4 Supplier n

21. CREATIVE RETAILING
Integration Example – Central Store Management
Head Office
3. Distribution
1. Change your data in Head Office
2. Start distribution
5. Status monitoring
Stores
4. Import of changed data

22. CREATIVE RETAILING
Integration Example – Integration of Scales
ERP, POS or
other application
Head Office or Store
Stores
Digi Avery Berkel
Bizerba Mettler

23. CREATIVE RETAILING
Integration Example – Price update for offline POS
1. Store the prices on USB stick on Server Project:
• Chain of shoe stores
2. Plug USB stick into the POS • Integration of offline
POS (update of item
3. Read and import the prices prices)
• No interaction with
4. Monitor status users
or

24. CREATIVE RETAILING
Example of Micro Integration
Offer something special to your customer
Inovative business process
With minimum investment
… with right Integration Plattform!

25. Fast VIP Checkout– major characteristicsCREATIVE RETAILING
• Any customer/loyalty or other ID card can be used
• Any checkout can be used as Fast VIP check out and
traditional checkout at the same time
• No restriction related to the POS functionalities:
• Additional items can be added at the POS,
• Void item, cancel receipt or any other function can be
used
• Transaction can be manipulated as in normal sale
• All promotions and discounts can be used as at traditional
checkout POS
• No influence on payment functions or any other POS
function
• Hardware independent - any OPOS based scanner can be used
• POS application is independent – no integration with POS
application is needed

26. CREATIVE RETAILING
Fast VIP Checkout
Wireless scanner Checkout
(e.g. USB/Bluetooth) scanner
OPOS POS application
Octopus is residing behind the OPOS driver
Transaction
Octopus integrates all devices (easy to extend e.g. mobile devices)
For the POS application it is just like a checkout scanner
… no integration/development in the POS application

27. CREATIVE RETAILING
Integration Example – Fast VIP Checkout
1.Attach any wireless scanner to the POS
2.Install OctopusQB
3.Make your customers happy with a very
special Treatment
• No integration with POS
• 0 € development
• 0 time for integration
• No changes of the hardware
• No additional expensive hardware

28. CREATIVE RETAILING
Benefits of the right integration
Better usage – Integrate even smallest devices and biggest
solutions across the enterprise
Protection of your investment – Reduce the number of
interfaces and include new ones easily
Better maintenance – simplify your infrastructure and make
it better and easily maintainable
Data transparency – secure the data delivery and if needed
run thorough data analysis
New concepts – implement new business processes easily
and fast with existing infrastructure
Independency – become independent from solution
providers (hardware and software)

29. CREATIVE RETAILING
…. and you feel like this

30. CREATIVE RETAILING
Creative Retailing