The German company EXPRESSO is on its way to becoming the innovation leader in smart retail. At the EuroCIS trade fair EuroCIS, which takes place in Düsseldorf/Germany from February 18 to 20, 2025, it will be presenting its expanded product range for the digitalization of sales processes and sales management in retail and wholesale for the first time.
Its particular appeal lies in the fact that retailers can put together their own individual Smart Retail solution, depending on their sector, store size and objectives. EXPRESSO thus offers flexibility and planning security that many other systems currently lack.
Online-on-site (OvO), omni-channeling or Retail 4.0 – the digitalization of retail now has many names. Karsten Grötecke, Head of the Smart Retail unit at EXPRESSO, has clear words on the subject: “The solutions that will establish themselves are those that are easiest to use, grow with retailers‘ experience and offer them the best opportunities for individualization.” Visitors to EuroCIS, will be able to see what this looks like in practice. Karsten Grötecke's team will be presenting EXPRESSO's new Smart Retail solutions for use in retail and wholesale stores as a world premiere at stand 10B50 in hall 10. As in the company's other product worlds, everything here follows the principle of modularity. This means that retailers can choose between three system solutions called EO Smart, EO Go and SmartShopper® EO Complete, with the latter including all SmartShopper® models as well as the technologies of big data specialist CYREEN. “We serve up a rich Smart Retail buffet from which the customer can choose what meets their wishes and expectations. As consultants and system partners, we make sure that everything fits together perfectly,” says Karsten Grötecke.
Entry-level software or retrofit kit
With EO Smart, EXPRESSO offers retailers the easiest entry into the world of smart retail. The software solution is inexpensive, quick to install and quickly adapted to suit requirements – including the corporate design of a brand or promotion. Customers scan and pay via smartphone. “This reduces waiting times at the checkouts and gives shoppers a high degree of independence and flexibility,” says Karsten Grötecke. The system is suitable for all modern smartphones with a camera. Among other things, it enables the retailer to send targeted advertising messages and manage their staff more efficiently than before.
The EO Go retrofit system goes one step further, transforming the retailer's shopping carts into smart shopping assistants.
Customers use a barcode scanner on the cart to record their purchases, which saves them having to take their shopping off and put it back on the checkout conveyor belt and reduces waiting times. The system shows the customer the current status of their purchase on a touch display, allowing them to keep an eye on their spending. Staff freed up from checkout work can take on other tasks. The software used in EO Go can be customized and the system's hardware can be adapted to all standard shopping carts.
Complete retail media solution
Finally, SmartShopper® EO Complete is EXPRESSO's all-in-one solution. It uses the company's SmartShopper® models as a system platform and can be expanded to include CYREEN's retail media technology. “This means that the retailer can equip our digital shopping cart with a highly innovative and patent-protected Connecting Ad Impressions with Purchase (C.A.P.) solution in addition to its integrated scanning, sensor and display technology. It offers retailers considerable added value as it makes sales processes more transparent, more attractive and more profitable,” says Karsten Grötecke.
The SmartShopper® features scanning and weighing of items, the display of shopping lists and cashless payment. For customers, this means shorter waiting times at the checkout and convenient shopping. The system supports retailers in optimizing their sales and personnel management: stock and inventory discrepancies as well as disruptions to automatic ordering routines are avoided; theft is virtually impossible, checkout staff can be flexibly deployed for other tasks and operating costs in the checkout area are reduced. “Experience shows that a SmartShopper® EO Complete solution often pays for itself in less than a year,” says Karsten Grötecke.
EuroCIS: This will be presented
At EuroCIS, EXPRESSO will be showcasing various SmartShopper® models for use in food retail, beverage and drugstore chains, DIY and cash+carry stores and other markets. The company is also presenting a digital shopping cart with integrated retail media applications from CYREEN. “They provide retailers with extensive options for recording, measuring and evaluating the consumer behavior of their customers and for the targeted use of modern media for targeted campaigns,” explains Karsten Grötecke.
All Smart Retail solutions from EXPRESSO are GDPR-compliant and do not require access to sensitive ERP and POS data. They are also based on modern real-time data integration and do not require a constant internet connection. They are compatible with all common POS systems, have a largely modular design and can be easily integrated into existing system environments and various store organizations.
