EuroCIS, The Leading Trade Fair for Retail Technology, held from 31 May to 2 June 2022 in Halls 9 and 10 of Düsseldorf Exhibition Centre is the international communication forum for innovations and trend themes, especially for technology in the retail trade. In 2022 the five Hot Topics are:
1. Customer Centricity
Focus on the customer and his needs. Many retail companies are seeking ever closer direct contact with end consumers/shoppers in order to offer them personalised and individualised digital customer services. The shopper’s smartphone plays a major role in this context. Keywords are digital advice assistants, personalised digital offers based on the individual shopper profile, digital personalised coupons, digital loyalty cards, etc. The smartphone plays a major role in this context. For many retailers, it is crucial that digital services are devised “from the shopper’s point of view”.
2. Analytics
The use of artificial intelligence and machine learning is one of the most important technological challenges for many retail companies in the coming years. Especially in the area of data analysis, machine learning already plays a major role and supports retailers in sales forecasting, assortment management and pricing. In the future, retailers will rely even more on AI-based applications, which will then also use technologies such as image recognition and sensor technology. In the course of the expansion of digital pricing, dynamic pricing, which has been common in online retail for a long time, will gain in importance.
3. Payment
The Covid pandemic has permanently changed consumer payment behaviour and caused a boom in contactless payment methods. Apple Pay & Co have ensured that many customers have become accustomed to paying by smartphone in a short space of time. In the coming years, the touchpoints at which shoppers pay in bricks-and-mortar retail will move further away from the traditional checkout environment. Scan & Go solutions enable shoppers to pay directly via smartphone app, mobile checkout solutions enable sales staff to make the payment process via tablet or smartphone without customers having to go to the checkout. The merging of payment channels from the online and offline worlds will also increase, so that shoppers will also be able to use online payment methods in physical retail, for example.
4. Connected Retail
The merging of online and offline retail, often referred to as omnichannel, has received another major boost from the Covid pandemic. Click & Collect services have become the norm for many shoppers, and other services such as Click & Reserve are also becoming increasingly popular. Many retailers have also merged their loyalty systems from the online and offline worlds, giving shoppers a 360-degree view of the purchases they have made. In the future, it will be more essential than ever for every retailer to seamlessly connect digital and brick-and-mortar sales channels.
5. Seamless Store
Since the launch of AmazonGo, a variety of automated store concepts have developed in which the physical shopping process is largely digitalised. Food and convenience retailers in particular will continue to invest in the further development of such “cashierless” formats in the coming years. This will involve various forms, from Scan & Go and Tap & Go to the use of sensor technology and image recognition. Implementing a seamless store strategy often requires extensive investment in the technological infrastructure. In this context, cloud-based applications are of great importance, as they enable a flexible and quickly scalable implementation of innovative applications.
Trade visitors from retail and wholesale, consumer goods, IT and security industries, online retail, system and experience hospitality as well as financial services and banking will meet international suppliers of highly specialised developments and solutions at EuroCIS, including from the following areas: Omnichannel Management, Business Analytics/Big Data, Payment Systems, IoT (Internet-of-Things), E-Commerce-/E-Business Solutions, ERP/Supply Chain Management, Mobile Solutions & Technologies, Checkout Management, Digital Marketing/Digital Signage Robotics, Workforce Management and Weighing Technologies. Many well-known players have already registered.
Specials
In 2022, trade visitors will once again have the chance to take part in 90-minute Guided Innovation Tours in the exhibition halls (D/GB).
Start-ups are young, creative, flexible and future-oriented and especially stand out with their innovative problem-solving ideas. With the Start-up hub, EuroCIS offers newcomers specialising in the development of state-of-the-art IT systems and solutions in retail their very own presentation area. With 15 young companies participating, the area is fully booked.
EuroCIS Digital Extension
Digital Extension is the virtual world of EuroCIS where all members of the EuroCIS community connect: from live streaming of the stages, product videos and white papers to web sessions and new networking.
The EuroCIS Stages are hotspots for trends and innovations – not only in the exhibition halls, but now also online! For the first time, the presentations featured on the Stages at EuroCIS 2022 will also be available on the Internet as live streams and will even be available as videos on demand after the trade fair. Both the Retail Technology Stage and the Connected Retail Stage in the heart of the trade fair will offer retailers direct practice-based experience via topical case studies presented jointly by exhibitors and their customers (bilingual D/GB). The programme for both stages is available here.
The new Online Profile service extends the physical trade fair stands into the Internet making it possible to experience the brand world of our exhibitors virtually as well. And this extends even beyond the live event! Here you will find comprehensive online presentations of the exhibiting companies, enhanced, for instance, by product videos, presentations, manuals and white papers, web sessions, events, demos and news from the exhibitors.
With the networking tool, the full potential of EuroCIS can also be leveraged online and successful business contacts can be forged. In Virtual Meeting Rooms, exhibitors and visitors can communicate in real time, plan appointments and swap industry knowledge.
Trade Fair Itself becomes a Medium – EuroCIS 365
EuroCIS 365 stands for the comprehensive range of services available to the EuroCIS community to connect digitally. “Nowadays, the trade fair is itself becoming a medium, so it is only logical to supplement the line-up with digital services. Direct contact and on-site experiences are essential, but it is just as important to use digital formats with all their possibilities, even beyond the live event,” explains Elke Moebius, Project Director of Retail & Retail Technology at Messe Düsseldorf. While the community can exploit the enormous potential of industry connections via the EuroCIS social media channels and always receive the latest information from the international industry through the EuroCIS Newsletter and EuroCIS.mag, the industry-specific “Retail Salsa” webtalks facilitate interactive exchange along with efficient lead generation – all 365 days a year.
Retail Salsa – Spice up your Community
The Retail Salsa feature was successfully launched at the end of 2020. The ingredients for these monthly webtalks are retailers, solution providers and independent industry experts who regularly talk about successful customer journeys and use cases from the field.
mag 3|6|5 community news
The EuroCIS online magazine mag.eurocis.com sees itself as a communication platform for industry topics, news and insights and is firmly established as an industry meeting place. The EuroCIS community will find all the relevant news and stories about trade technology here.
PROTaction – Holding Trade Fairs in Safety
The trade fair company ensures visitor safety by means of a comprehensive hygiene and infection protection concept for events at the Düsseldorf location that has already proven its worth during numerous trade fairs and which is constantly being adapted to current circumstances.
The trade fair is open daily from Tuesday, 31 May, to Thursday, 2 June 2022, from 10.00 am to 6.00 pm. Tickets are available online only. Day tickets cost Euro 25 while the full event ticket costs Euro 45.
The last edition of EuroCIS in February 2019 welcomed 482 exhibitors from 39 countries on 13,900 m² of net exhibition space. Over 13,000 trade visitors from 94 countries came to the event on the Rhine. For further information on all things EuroCIS visit www.eurocis-tradefair.com.
