The product and service as it is positioned for retail, acts as an electronic sales associate. The handheld device is used by the retail customer to provide information and guidance through a complex sale. A complex sale could be a complex decision (home electronics), a relatively simple decision for a costly product, or a product that requires advice and guidance for after-sale use (home improvement). To serve these purposes using automated tools or techniques, the retail industry currently relies on several types of offering. Historically, the only type of automated in-store sales assistance a customer could find was a telephone placed on the floor to call for assistance, answered by a sales associate in the building. Here is a summary of alternatives.

The first and least expensive initiative is the in-store demonstration kiosk. It is essentially a television set and VCR playing a continuous-loop promotional or instructional video about a single product or product family. A solid promotional value for the marketing dollar, these devices are effective at calling attention to - and selling - products in certain environments. However, they are clearly limited in their ability to reach the audience with an appropriate message. In addition, a retailer may tolerate a few such kiosks around the store, but will not populate the entire floor space with them.

The next category of in-store promotional methods is the interactive kiosk. With a 10-year history of intermittent starts and failures, this medium simply does not attract the attention it deserves. Reasons given by retailers who have used this medium include placement (one cannot fill the store with kiosks), information density and queues at the kiosk, library maintenance, and costs. Industry magazines have recently documented revivals of the medium using wireless technologies and combining them with Internet content, but the medium itself demonstrates serious shortcomings.

Another in-store method closer in nature to the Genieomics product and service was a handheld device and radio receiver, deployed to provide performance support to the sales floor staff. One notable US pilot of the technology ended when the costs spiraled out of control, and failed to solve one of the core problems addressed by the RetailGenie: the lack of qualified, knowledgeable and personable sales staff on the floor.

Finally, there is a device currently in circulation that is handed to the customer upon entry, so that they may scan articles into the device and use them to create "wish lists" to store or send to friends. This class of technology is being offered to mall developers to deploy throughout a mall location. Its use targets the teenage and young adult category, and holds some appeal for holiday shopping periods, but the functionality and potential of such devices are limited. Second generation deployments are done entirely in concert with Internet application promotions - the Sony Memory Stick has been adapted for that purpose, as well.

Many other retail technologies are being considered, from Internet e-commerce catalogues, novel call center designs, rapid checkout tools and technologies, and the latest craze in wireless retail entitled "Mobile Commerce." The latest and most frivolous mobile commerce application alerts the cell phone user when they pass within range of a retail outlet, along with sales and promotional offers. Although not strictly within the competitive scope of the RetailGenie, these examples illustrate the desperate need for innovation in the retail industry.

Also in the news:

• Payless Shoe Stores is launching a kiosk-based product-finder service, which allows the customer to search for a matching size, color or style against the huge inventory of shoes in stock at any of their locations. This type of extended inventory search is a planned use case for the RetailGenie but will depend on the retailer's ability to do comprehensive inventory searches. This kind of inventory research may impress the customer, but our research indicates that many kinds of inventory reports are not accurate enough for low-cost items to produce a meaningful report. To make the point, in any given shoe store, a product that should be in inventory 5 times may have zero on the shelf - one stolen, two replaced on the wrong shelf, one set up as a floor demonstration unit and now unsellable, and one lost as damaged goods taken out of inventory.
  
  
• Sony is currently designing a device based on their controversial "robotic pet" design which would follow the retail customer around the store providing information. This is an expensive (~$2000) device with substantial maintenance and power requirements. When the device is near prototype availability in two years, we will reassess the competitive threat.
  
  
• Symbol Technologies has released a ruggedized Windows CE device with a ring-finger bar code reader. Like all of their products, Symbol's intentions for the device are for deployment among warehouse employees; as such, the product itself costs more than $5000 per unit and includes no applications. There is also no audio capability, so redeploying these units against the RetailGenie would require some engineering. Genieomics does not perceive this line of products or this company as a competitor; rather, as a potential partner in producing the Genie handheld devices themselves, and in the integration of other Symbol point-of-sales technologies.
  
  
• A well known drugstore chain in the Southeastern US has launched a service for customers where they collect a custom pager with a 3-line display as they enter the store. As they shop or browse, the pager periodically sounds, showing them an advertisement or a coupon. The pager is meant to be returned at the end of the shopping trip. Since the device is not branded for the store, is not sensitive to the position of the shopper to show relevant details, has no connection to inventory to stop promoting out-of-stock articles, and does not know the shoppers needs, we do not see this service as a current or future competitive threat to the Audio Couponing application under development.