Infosys Technologies joins METRO Group future store initiative

Global cash and carry etailer Metro Group, has selected Infosys Technologies as a partner in its Future Store Initiative (FSI) for the advancement of innovative shopping concepts.

Infosys was chosen as a Metro Group FSI partner on the basis of its ShoppingTrip360 solution, an managed service that offers retailers and consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies visibility on shopper and shelf activity with unprecedented granularity.

"The real, Future Store is our real-life R&D laboratory where we are able to test and develop new technologies that form the basis of new innovations in retailing," said Dr. Gerd Wolfram, head of CIO-office, Metro AG and leader of the Metro Group Future Store Initiative.

Infosys has implemented its ShoppingTrip360 Smart Shelf Pad in the 'real,- Future Store' located in Toenisvorst, Germany. Smart Shelf Pads are unobtrusive add-ons for existing store shelves that allow a retailer to monitor inventory levels of merchandise and provide actionable insights like out-of-stock alerts.

"The concepts and technologies that prove successful in the 'real,- Future Store' are then introduced successively at stores belonging to our other brands," says Dr Wolfram. "As a result, the work we do in Toenisvorst with partners such as Infosys is vitally important for the future development of the entire group and the retail sector at large."

ShoppingTrip360 was designed by Infosys to create an information system where retailers and CPG companies can achieve a truly differentiated method of engagement with in-store shoppers and gain greater visibility into in-store activity. The solution delivers a suite of services, including personalised mobile marketing and creating a 360-degree view of real-time shopper and merchandise activity.

Based on a network of tiny wireless devices that are deployed with minimal impact on existing store layouts and operations, specific feature sets may be introduced into services incrementally and with minimum back-end infrastructure requirements.

The information system is offered by Infosys as a managed service where CPG companies and retailers can subscribe to specific insights without having to risk large capital investment or future technology obsolescence.