xplace GmbH

xplace has equipped the new Brussels Miele Experience Center with a comprehensive digital signage solution. The domestic appliance manufacturer’s own-retail-store in high street location opens officially on 21 January 2020. There, xplace once again implements an exclusive store concept for Miele: Interactive digital touchpoints deliberately replace space-intensive product presentations and enable a high-quality brand experience.

In the Brussels Experience Center, xplace puts the three decisive goals of Miele’s digitalisation concept into practice: to present the entire product range in a lively manner on limited floor space, to emphasise the premium brand image and to transform the customer journey at the POS into a 360° impressive experience. On 200 sqm, the Goettingen-based system integrators and experts for POS digitalisation installed, among other things, product advice solutions, 'virtual shelves' as well as large-format displays for animated image content. The latter are complemented by an automated ambient lighting and a powerful sound system. Highlights of the store are, like in Amsterdam, the virtual washing machine, which offers an exciting view of its interior, as well as the so-called hobs- and built-in systems. At these virtual cooking surfaces, ovens and coffee machines, for example, customers can virtually put together all cooking surface product variants in original size. The systems, individually developed in close cooperation with Miele, are setting the industry benchmark. The product content for all signage components comes directly from Miele's international product database. At the push of a button, content can be adapted to the product range of the respective country and can also be displayed in several languages – in Belgium, for example, in Flemish or French.

The direct benefit for the brand experience in the store is enhanced by valuable interaction data which the digital touchpoints continuously generate. xplace's CEO Marco Wassermann explains: "With the integrated digital signage concept, Miele has laid the foundation for the Smart Store. This is because digital touchpoints not only play out content, but at the same time can gather information on customer behaviour which can be used for conversion optimisation". Especially through comprehensive integration into existing IT resources such as the ERP system or the web shop, or through the connection of sensors or other data sources, additional insights into the customer journey and omnichannel potential are created. Based on these analyses, AI or rule-based relevant content can be played out on the digital signage elements. "All this is possible with our new biscuit POS data platform," says Wassermann. "We look forward to demonstrating biscuit's services at the upcoming EuroShop in February".

•  read press release on xplace-group.com
•  more about Miele's store concept

At their EuroShop trade fair appearance xplace will on the one hand put an emphasis on ESL solutions from a single source – the joint value proposition with co-exhibitor and strategic partner Bison Schweiz AG. On the other hand, the Goettingen-based specialists for POS digitalisation will focus on the new data platform for conversion optimisation "biscuit".

Under the motto "The Smart Evolution of Retail", both companies will present practical use cases of their POS digitalisation solutions. This includes the realisation of complete ESL projects from concept and consulting to interface development, IT integration, installation, service and support. xplace will also offer an extensive workshop and specialist lecture programme on digital retail topics at the stand and will be participating with a speech by xplace CEO Marco Wassermann at the Omnichannel-Stage in Hall 6. He explains: "Our mission is to take the POS to the next development level. By comprehensively integrating internal and external data sources, sensors and available IT and signage resources, we are taking a decisive step with our customers towards becoming a smart store. The goals include: AI-based, data-driven output of relevant content for efficient conversion optimization, a uniform omnichannel brand experience and a consistent customer journey. We are already putting all this into practice today."

xplace relies on the specially developed POS data platform biscuit, in which interaction data from digital touchpoints, sensor information, ERP and webshop data or other online trends converge. "With our portfolio we provide solutions for all applications at the POS. Since we operate independently of hardware and manufacturers, the possibilities with biscuit are only limited by the imagination of our customers”, Wassermann says. “We are looking forward to EuroShop to show how we can enhance the customer journey at the POS through digital solutions and optimize conversion". The individual platform-software modules provide an all-round view of all kinds of digital retail activities - from the technical status of the ESL infrastructure to store- and product-specific evaluation of the conversion rate. This results in meaningful analyses for optimising product assortments or promotions. These analyses can also be used for automated campaigns, which completes the circle toward digital signage solutions and interactive kiosk systems.

•  more about xplace at EuroShop 2020 on xplace-group.com

xplace GmbH has equipped more than 120 WMF Group stores in Germany, Austria and Switzerland with electronic shelf labels (ESLs). By December 2019, the Goettingen-based POS digitilisation specialist had installed around 100,000 displays.

After a successful planning and test phase in ten stores, xplace needed only three months to complete the rollout. xplace implemented the installation of the electronic shelf labels during ongoing business operations, including the integration into the IT systems of the shops as well as the connection to the ERP system and the web shop. In addition, xplace will be providing service and support for the entire ESL infrastructure. Lars Luck, Vice President Direct-to-Consumer-Business/Own Retail at WMF, comments: "Nowadays, integrated ESL solutions are essential components for integrated digitilisation concepts at the POS. The centrally managed output of prices offers many advantages for us. xplace provided us with excellent support accomplishing the project". 

"Thanks to our extensive experience with ESL rollouts on a large scale, we know that the biggest challenge is to develop interfaces to various IT resources such as the ERP system. We tailor these links in close dialogue with our customers according to their specific requirements. We are pleased that we were able to also convince WMF of our expertise here," says Marco Wassermann, CEO and Co-Founder of xplace, and explains: "The advantages of centralized price labelling with ESL are resource efficiency, error-proof harmonisation of online and offline pricing for a consistent customer journey as well as flexibility and reaction time equal to e-commerce. But that's just the first stept: ESL systems already have great potential today to act as digital signage touchpoints to promote sales - or even to generate valuable interaction data for conversion optimization."

Manufacturer- and hardware-independent ESL solutions
xplace has been cooperating successfully with Bison Schweiz AG for some time now on ESL projects. Only recently, the two companies announced a strategic partnership. The respective offers combine to form a comprehensive portfolio that makes it possible to implement ESL projects completely from a single source. The "ESL Manager" software from Bison establishes interfaces to various data sources, manages product and label matching and sends the product data to the ESLs in the desired format. The realisation of these interfaces for the integration of different formats and systems is the core competence of xplace in addition to all-round product service. "For us, it does not matter whether customers opt for electronic shelf labels from SoluM, Hanshow or other manufacturers. As consultant as well as integrator, we are completely independent of manufacturers and hardware. In this way, we guarantee that our customers get their optimal solution an can use their ESL-infrastructure to its full potential," emphasizes Wassermann.

•  find press release and additional images on xplace-group.com
•  learn more about ESL-projects with xplace

The two IT companies Bison Schweiz AG and xplace GmbH are entering into a strategic partnership. Together, they will be offering a complete manufacturer- and hardware-independent service portfolio for projects in the field of electronic shelf labelling.

The strategic collaboration between the Swiss business software specialists Bison Schweiz AG and the German company xplace GmbH, the expert in point-of-sale digitalisation, is bringing about the creation of a unique, complete range of services for ESL projects in the brick-and-mortar retail sector. «Our solutions and expertise complement one another optimally, so that now we can jointly realise ESL projects – creating a one-stop source providing all services,» explains Florian Bernauer, the CEO of Bison Schweiz AG. Marco Wassermann, the CEO of xplace GmbH, adds: «As we advise and operate completely independently of producers and hardware, traders can be assured that we’ll provide them with the technology that suits their needs best.»

A complete synergetic portfolio encompassing the point of sale, ERP and inventory management
This isn’t the first time the two companies have worked together – in fact, they’ve gained extensive expertise from projects which they’ve already successfully realised together. For example, they jointly carried out the world’s biggest ESL project for the Media Saturn Retail Group: twelve million electronic shelf labels were installed in approximately 1,000 stores. The two CEOs are certain that here the synergy contributed significantly to the success of the project – particularly as their core services perfectly complemented one another. They plan to make use of this aspect in future, as the collaboration creates a complete synergetic portfolio that goes beyond the ESL services and encompasses everything from advising customers on hardware and software, ERP data matching and installation to operations monitoring, service and support. At the same time, the companies continue to maintain autonomous presences in their markets.

Dynamically adjusting product prices with ESL
The importance of electronic price labels is steadily growing: due to the increasing competition between offline and online retail, product prices are becoming more and more dynamic, too. In some cases, they even have to be adjusted daily – an investment of time and effort which is quite simply disproportionate if paper labels are used for a huge number of products. Here, so-called «electronic shelf labels» (ESLs) offer a solution.

In February 2020, both companies are going to be running a joint stand at the EuroShop trade fair in Düsseldorf in Hall 6, on Stand G41, where (among other things) they’ll be presenting their ESL solutions.

•  read the press release on www.xplace-group.com
•  more about the ESL-rollout for Media Saturn