The growing power of the online consumer seems to be a recurring theme in the retail industry this week, with HP Inc. unveiling a series of products on Jan. 17 that when combined will give retailers the ability to safely process their customers’ personal data while allowing them to pay from wherever they happen to be standing.
“We certainly appreciate… the growing empowerment of the customer and their need for real-time access to information, and the challenges and opportunities that it’s creating for retail,” Cory McElroy, HP Retail Solutions’ director of product management, told reporters during an online press conference. “You can start a shopping experience [on a mobile device] at home, and then take that shopping experience in store… and at the end of the day the customer wants a consistent experience.”
With HP’s Pro Tablet 608, Pro Tablet Mobile Payment Solution, and Pro Tablet Mobile Retail Solution, retailers will have an easier time incorporating mobile technology such as credit card chips and NFC-based apps such as Google Wallet and Apple Pay into their customers’ shopping trips, while the RP9 Retail System utilizes data protection technology from Intel to mitigate security risks without compromising speed.
The company’s goal, McElroy said, is to help “level the playing field” between a retailer’s customers and sales associates, by empowering the latter to help the former in whatever way they need, whether it’s by providing information, comparing in-store prices with those listed online, or helping complete a sale – all with the high level of security that tech-savvy consumers demand.
“Without a secure solution, everything else you do is pretty irrelevant,” McElroy said.
The Windows 10-based RP9 (top image) features a 15.6-inch or 18.5-inch touchscreen display, a compact M.2 SSD and M.2 Wireless LAN with an optional Bluetooth component, and is powered by sixth-generation Intel Core processors.
With the mobile devices, HP is emphasizing adaptability: the Windows 10-based Pro Tablet 608 (below) features an eight-inch HD screen, quad-core Intel Atom processor, and up to 4 GB of memory and 128 GB of storage in an 8.35 mm package that weighs less than one pound.
The 608 fits snugly inside both the Pro Tablet Mobile Payment Solution (bottom-left), which is compatible with Verifone payment devices, and the multi-vendor payment terminal-based Pro Tablet Mobile Retail Solution (bottom-right).
