The world’s first shop that gave a glimpse of contemporary retail was the Piggly Wiggly store which opened in Memphis in 1916. Its really disruptive innovation, as we would say today, was self-service. Before that, consumers had to hand over their shopping lists to the store counter and then wait for the shop assistants to collect and bag the goods requested. To self-service, the retailer Clarence Saunders added many of the innovations typical of the shopping experience even today: baskets, aisles and checkout lanes.

The prerequisite of the store’s existence and prosperity is in its evolution. Iconic MyTrade implements it and ensures its development over time, as future-proof as possible. Consumers are increasingly willing to use technology to interact with the store at every stage of the purchase process, in addition to improving it. All internal or external operations, preliminary or consequential to this, must be adapted to the objective pursued with maximum efficiency and at the lowest possible cost.

Self-retailing

For the retailer, self-scanning and self-checkout are steps of the same path of the customer autonomy within the store and a precondition for his loyalty. This applies all the more during the health emergency, where independence and speed of purchase are among the most appreciated variables in evaluating the shopping experience.

Iconic MyTrade boasts full functional coverage in the most diverse operating contexts and according to the most advanced industry standards. As a result, it ensures full integration with all customer interaction devices: kiosks, self-scanning systems, self-checkout terminals, traditional checkouts, mobile apps. It is organized according to a distributable structure that allows standardizing the management criteria of the various points of sale by implementing their diversities and needs according to different degrees of centralization.

Centralized management is aimed at solving any complexity or malfunction of the network in all its active components and reducing the response, recovery and updating times to a minimum. Furthermore, offline support eliminates the risk of sales blockage in the event of unavailability of the communication network.

The low cost of ownership is made possible by the integration of the most common specialized equipment, from scales to payment terminals, ensuring its full functionality and limiting the investment needs that otherwise would be necessary to update and align a number of machines managed unevenly and with different software. The integration of different systems, from electronic tags to smart shelving, enables a highly personalized shopping journey.

Thanks to the access to the various online platforms and cash management functions, payments are managed in total security and with different possible options for the customer. The cash-point thus become the point of contact through which to provide additional services such as gift cards, coupons, payment of utility bills, bookings, management of fidelity programs.
To these must be added the extensions available for different needs: ingredients management, ristopoints, fuel distribution, shop assistants, coordination and control of the click & collect service. Furthermore, mention must be made to the use of reporting tools that allow maximum flexibility in data extraction.

Ultimately, a wide range of integrative services can significantly increase the value of Iconic MyTrade. The Help Desk team for user support is available every day throughout the year: with the Application Management services all management and maintenance activities are ensured in keeping with a conservative and evolutionary approach.