Keonn

Barcelona, 
Spain
http://www.keonn.com/

• Booth: 1625

Keonn provides the most complete, seamless and advanced solution based on RFID technology 
to improve the customer shopping experience at retail stores, and to increase the sales of retailers.

Keonn supplies RFID systems, like encoding systems (based on printers or encoding stations), inventory systems (handheld readers, RFID robots and smart shelves), interactive systems (recommendation systems, interactive fitting rooms and smart mirrors), fast point of sale systems, and loss prevention systems (overhead, floor mats and pedestals).

Keonn provides also all the necessary hardware elements for setting up an RFID solution quickly and easily.

Keonn also provides a cloud-based software platform for managing remotely Keonn products and for collect relevant customer behaviour data that is later used for business intelligence purposes.

At Keonn we create the future of retail!

 Press Releases

• H&M Group pilots smart mirrors in Cos US stores (Jul 28, 2022)

  H&M Group says the launch of its new in-store technology-based shopping experience is part of its wider aim to build more relevant and meaningful relationships with consumers.

  “The entire retail experience is rapidly changing and we see increasing customer expectations for broad choice and exceptional convenience. Our customers expect retail experiences that are smooth, creative and fun while also catering to their individual, unique style. That is why we continue to challenge ourselves and explore new ideas, to create true customer value and drive change,” the H&M Group says.

  It is now rolling out a pilot in Cos US stores following an initial trial in its Beverly Hills, California, store which saw fitting rooms equipped with smart mirrors that recognise products brought into the room (e.g. item, size, and colour) with the possibility to offer personalised product and styling recommendations. On the store floor, other types of smart mirrors can be used for virtual try-on and styling.

  H&M Group is also testing new checkout solutions and ways to provide enhanced sustainable delivery and return options.

  “We are developing and imagining how COS retail spaces can inspire our customers, both now and for the future. Our ambition is to pilot new technologies that allow us to meet and exceed our customers’ in-store shopping expectations. With Cos Beverly Hills, we have seen first-hand how our customer experience can be elevated with tech enhancements. As a result, these innovations will be rolled-out in more of Cos’ US stores this year,” says Lea Rytz Goldman, managing director, Cos.

  H&M Group’s chief technology officer Alan Boehme, adds: “Throughout 2022 we will test a new frictionless and personalised shopping experience — from the fitting room to checkout. This initiative is a natural next step in H&M Group’s long history of innovation, where we use technology to discover new ways of enjoying fashion.

  Other tech-enabled in-store shopping solutions on H&M Group’s agenda include seamless payment options, faster checkout and upgraded delivery/return options.

• RFID Tracks Inventory, Sales, Security at Unmanned Modular Smart Store (Jul 28, 2022)

  Startup retail technology company  Ghop has deployed an unmanned smart convenience store the size of a small shipping container, which can be installed in Spanish neighborhoods or at busy commuter sites where larger, fixed convenience stores are unavailable. The retailer is offering a variety of snacks and beverages for individuals on the go, with no employees onsite to accomplish the sales. Customer simply use an app to enter the store, then select and pay for items within a matter of minutes or seconds.

  The unmanned functionality is provided by RFID technology in the form of tags affixed to products, readers in the store and a software platform, all provided by Catalan RFID company  Keonn Technologies. The idea behind Ghop is to bring convenience shopping to places retail previously couldn't reach, without the expense of sales personnel and the need for permanent facilities. For the solution to work properly, the company needed transactions to be easy, without requiring queuing for payments. Customers could simply select an item, place it in a scanner, approve the sale and walk out.

  By automating the store, the retailer makes its products available at any time of the day or night. The 15-square-meter (165-square-foot) modular structure was first launched at a pilot site in July 2021, at the  Moraleja Green shopping center in Madrid's Alcobendas municipality. In the long term, the company intends to expand its stores throughout Spain, particularly in Madrid. Many of the targeted sites are at gas stations. Ghop expects to see its stores deployed in places such as college campuses and airports, and it plans to expand outside of Spain by 2023.

  The system was the brainchild of three Spanish engineers: brothers Juan Miguel and Victor Manual de Haro, as well as cofounder Lino Monteagudo Fuentes. They designed the store as an opportunity for shopping that would not require ATMs onsite, but instead allowed users to set up credit card payments in an app. The store is designed to be easily moved so that it can be installed at one location, then be taken down and deployed elsewhere within a matter of a day.

  Ghop began working with Keonn on a solution in August 2020, Fuentes reports. "To launch the first version of our store," he says, "we focused on providing a good user experience above all else." That meant piloting at a single site and learning from sales and shopper behavior. "We wanted to optimize the solution by learning from users and their needs." The RFID technology provides three features, he explains: mobile payments, loss prevention and inventory management, all aimed at serving the primary requirement of a good user experience—namely, offering a simple and secure purchase.

  Keonn Technologies provides the loss-prevention, inventory-management and mobile-payment solution in the form of its AdvanPrint system for tag encoding, AdvanScan for inventory and tracking, AdvanGo for self-checkout and AdvanGate for loss-prevention, according to Ramir De Porrata-Doria, Keonn's cofounder and CEO. As goods are stocked at the store, Ghop employees apply an  Avery Dennison Smartrac UHF RFID Flag Tag to each item. By scanning every tag as it is encoded, the system updates the inventory data regarding what goods are onsite and available for purchase. Those products are then put on display in store shelves or coolers.

  To use the system, customers would first need to download the Ghop app on their Android- or iOS-based device. In the app, they would store their ID number and payment account information, along with their phone number. When they approached the storefront, they could then input their phone number which would uniquely identify them. In the future, app users may receive a QR code that could be displayed on the phone and be scanned at the door, prompting the door to automatically open. The customer, once inside, could then select from a variety of goods on the shelves, including drinks, chips, sandwiches and other snacks.

  Once shoppers have selected everything they intend to buy, they can place the items in an AdvanGo RFID reader terminal that is insulated so that it will not pick up stray reads from products not being purchased. The reader antenna reads the tag IDs, then a screen displays those products and prompts the customer to confirm whether those are the items being purchased. Once customers approve their purchase, the cost is deducted from their credit card account.

  Once this is done, customers can simply walk out of the store. At the exit, an AdvanGate RFID reader, with antennas built behind the walls around the door, serves as an RFID loss-prevention system by reading all tags and detecting if any items were not purchased. If any unpurchased items are detected, De Porrata-Doria explains, the system will display a notice on a screen requesting that they go back inside and pay for them.

  Periodically, an employee conducts a stock count using a dedicated handheld UHF RFID reader, then restocks all depleted items. The AdvanNet firmware inside Keonn's handheld RFID readers interprets products' ID numbers and forwards that data to the AdvanCloud platform. That inventory data is integrated with Ghop's software platform, De Porrata-Doria says. Initially, Ghop is tagging products at the store as they are received. The Flag Tag can be applied to metallic packaging, as well as to liquid goods, such as beverages.

  While the Ghop application is a new one for Keonn, De Porrata-Doria says, the RFID company expects to see similar deployments going forward. "We think unmanned stores will proliferate in the future," he states, "especially in places where a conventional store with staff is not profitable." Since the first doors opened in Madrid, Fuentes reports, Ghop has found consumers responding well to this new smart-store model.

  "Our focus has always [been] on the user experience to make the purchase easier and faster for the customers than the traditional stores," De Porrata-Doria states. "Nonetheless, we still have to improve, and our customers are the ones guiding us in the right direction," by providing feedback about their experience. Fuentes adds, "In Ghop, we chose RFID technology as an innovative and solid solution. Although new interesting technologies are arriving, RFID is still our best option."

• Cisco Stores Showcase RFID for the Future of Retail (Jul 28, 2022)

  Hardware and software company  Cisco has deployed an RFID solution at its technology-rich  Cisco Store at its corporate headquarters, as well as in a traveling store that pops up wherever Cisco conferences take place. The system, consisting of an RFID-enabled robot and fixed RFID readers, is designed to collect accurate inventory data, detect when products leave the store and provide fitting rooms with intelligence to help customers access content regarding the products they try on.

  The solution, provided by RFID company  Keonn, is now live at the company's Cisco Store in San Jose, Calif., as well as at the traveling stores. It enables automated inventory data capture in real time, and with that information, the retailer can ensure that products are available for shoppers whether they enter a physical store or shop online. The system is designed to enhance the customer experience in fitting rooms, through access to content about a garment and related products, as well as through analytics about merchandise that is tried on or purchased. Thus, the company can be sure the most popular products are available for customers.

  Cisco stores sell its own Cisco-branded merchandise and apparel. The company's retail model is unique, in that it comes in two distinct formats: the traveling stores and the permanent headquarters-based location. Both are live retail sites where shoppers can purchase Cisco merchandise, and each format showcases technology from Cisco and its partners that allow customers to learn about and interact with the technology in a live environment.

  The San Jose site was launched in 2018, when Cisco revamped a small, outdated retail space and reimagined the shopping experience by implementing technologies intended to enable the retail store of the future. The vision, according to Cisco, is to provide its employees with a store that has personality. The company wanted to be able to offer fun merchandise and a shopping experience, while also piloting new technologies.

  Cisco Store also manages a temporary traveling store that pops up at the Cisco Live US and Cisco Live Europe conferences. To date, the pop-ups have been featured twice, according to Brian Domine, Cisco Store's tech expert—once in Barcelona, Spain, and again in San Diego, Calif. At the San Jose store, all merchandise is tagged as it is received. A Keonn AdvanPrinter prints passive EPC UHF RFID tags, which can be adhered directly to an item or be attached to a hangtag. The unique ID number encoded on each tag is linked to its corresponding product's description or stock-keeping unit, and is stored in the AdvanCloud software.

  At the traveling stores, tags are applied to goods before they reach their temporary site. An RFID-reading AdvanMat serves as an electronic article surveillance system at the doorway for each temporary installation, Domine says, which can be adjusted according to the site specifications at each travel show location. As individuals carry tagged items out the door, they pass over the mat, which reads the tag ID numbers and can prompt an audible alert, as well as transmit the details of what has been removed, based on the tag IDs, to the inventory-management software. In that way, the company can restock all items being removed.

  The firm uses an AdvanShelf reader in the back of the San Jose store to monitor inventory in its stock room, Domine explains, "so we know what is available but not out on the floor." In the store front, the company has installed an AdvanSafe overhead RFID reader, which captures tag IDs in real-time near the store's entrance to prevent theft and update inventory levels if an item is stolen. The company also employs Keonn's RFID reading Robot, known as Robin. The robot can be deployed to move around the store space, or throughout a low-ceiling warehouse, to read the tags attached to all items, thereby capturing a full inventory count without requiring staff members to walk through the space carrying a handheld reader.

  The robot operates autonomously, says Craig Schlecht, Keonn's VP of sales for North America. "The user indicates when inventories should be taken," he explains, "and the robot starts when it is scheduled." Once the full count is completed, he adds, the robot goes back to its docking station to recharge. "Robin also reads each tagged item in two dimensions, x and y," Schlecht says. "This information can be processed to generate a planogram of the items inside a space."

  The inventory data generated by Robin's counts can help employees detect misplaced items, as well as accelerate picking and return management, by identifying exactly where within the store each item's tag was interrogated. The robot's speed is synchronized with tag reads in order to maximize the read rate, Schlecht explains. The robot comes with eight RFID reading antennas, four on each side, to achieve high read rates and location accuracy, as well as Keonn's AdvanReader 160 RFID reader.

  The first time Robin is operated within a new space, an employee moves the device across the area using Keonn's interface app. During this first step, the reader does not operate. The navigation process allows Robin to create a map of the space. This mapping process only needs to be performed again if the space's layout changes significantly. The user schedules when the robot should perform inventory counts. At the Cisco store space, which is relatively small, the device can accomplish a full inventory count within just a few minutes.

  In the fitting rooms, AdvanFitting-300 readers are in use—one at the San Jose site and two for the traveling stores. Individuals first select the garments they wish to try on, then bring those items into the fitting room. The reader, installed behind the mirror, captures tag IDs to detect each apparel item brought into the fitting room. A customer can use the mirror's touchscreen to view information about each product (provided by Keonn's AdvanLook system), see which accessories or garments would accompany it well, and select a prompt to request another size or other items to try on.

  Sales associates receive alerts indicating what is needed in the fitting rooms via Keonn's app. All interaction events between shoppers and the AdvanLook/AdvanFitting system are recorded and stored in AdvanCloud, and that data can be exported or queried in order to generate reports. The AdvanLook user interface can be customized for each retailer by using HTML5 and JavaScript, Schlecht reports. "New content [such as] images, videos, product descriptions, cross-selling rules, etc., are easily uploaded to AdvanCloud," he states.

  AdvanCloud automatically downloads the content to all AdvanLook/AdvanFitting units installed at the stores. Content import and data export can be executed remotely via a Web services application programming interface that can be integrated with other systems. In addition, AdvanCloud controls and manages the tablets that store personnel use to receive requests from shoppers and answer these requests.

  The cloud-based AdvanCloud platform remotely manages everything from printing and encoding to fitting rooms, loss prevention and inventory data, Schlecht says. It can also accommodate point-of-sale systems, handheld readers and pedestals, though Cisco is not currently employing those features. The company considers its merchandise stores an opportunity to experiment with the retail environment of the future, Domine says, as it features a variety of technologies, including RFID. In the future, Cisco hopes to have tags applied to merchandise by suppliers before they arrive at the store.

• RFID Turns the Page for Immersive Bookstore Experience (Jul 28, 2022)

  Spanish bookseller  Ona Llibres opened a store last year that aims to offer visitors more than just shopping. The shop, located in the center of Barcelona, is designed to provide an immersive reading experience. The company is leveraging RFID technology to accomplish this goal, and is enhancing the customer experience through automated access of book content, as well as self-service purchasing, while managing its inventory to ensure books that should be on the shelves actually are.

  The solution was provided by Spanish systems integrator  Laforja, using UHF RFID reader technology from  Keonn Technologies. Keonn provides RFID printing and encoding devices for tags applied to books, along with handheld inventory readers and RFID-enabled kiosks for customer interactions and payments.

  The new store, which focuses on Catalan culture and offers books only in the Catalan language, opened last spring with the RFID technology in place. It is owned by the Ona Llibres chain, which has sold books for the past 50 years. This newest location, however, is designed to be an alternative to standard stores that commonly feature rows of shelved books and long lines at cash registers. Instead, the company wanted the space to focus on the customer experience. It includes a café, large art installations featuring a "wave of books," and specialized volumes intended to be read on site.

  The bookstore offers a dedicated area in which books are not for sale; these rare or specialized volumes can be browsed onsite only. It also hosts author presentations that can be attended at the shop or be viewed on YouTube. "Technology has a significant role in the new bookstore of Ona Llibres," says Eduard Puig, Laforja's CEO. The main goal of the implementation was inventory control, he says, and the store sought to offer "a differentiated shopping experience" to customers. "They are using RFID for everything you need in a retail store," explains Ramir De Porrata-Doria, Keonn's co-founder and CEO.

  As books are received by employees, RFID tags are printed and encoded for each product, using Keonn's AdvanPrint solution. The unique ID number encoded on each tag is linked to a specific title and author in the software. The tag is then affixed to the book. In that way, every volume can be uniquely identified as it moves throughout the store. The retailer keeps a limited amount of inventory on the sales floor, in order to maintain an uncluttered aesthetic. This means inventory in the back room and at the front of the store must be tracked closely. When a book is sold, the company employs the RFID system to ensure it can be quickly replaced where customers can access it.

  The store is using Keonn's AdvanCloud platform to manage the collected data, De Porrata-Doria reports. The software allows catalog management, as well as control of RFID devices and inventories. "It is very powerful," Puig explains. "In addition, it has a very useful API that allows us to integrate with the client's systems." On a regular basis, employees can perform inventory counts using a Keonn AdvanScan handheld device with a built-in  Chainway C72 RFID reader.

  As personnel walk among the shelves carrying the reader, it captures the IDs of all tags in inventory. That data is then updated in the AdvanCloud software to identify all items located onsite. This information helps the store manage inventory replenishment, as well as understand information about historic sales patterns. The handheld is used not only for inventory counting but also to seek specific products on the store shelves. Staff members can input a given book title or author, then use the reader to seek the related tag ID while walking around the store.

  In addition, the RFID system provides multiple features for customers. Six Keonn AdvanLook kiosks come with 10-inch touch screens, as well as the company's RFID readers to provide details regarding books for customers at the store. Users can take a book off the shelf and place it near the kiosk, then the AdvanCloud software will capture data about that title and display related content on the screen. Customers can learn about that book or receive recommendations for others that may interest them as well.

  When patrons are ready to make a purchase, they can use one of seven AdvanPay RFID reading kiosks installed at the store, where they can place the books they wish to buy on the counter. A built-in reader will capture all of the tag IDs and the screen will list the products being purchased, along with the sales price. Shoppers can provide their payment information and finalize the transaction.

  The AdvanCloud software was integrated with Ona Llibres' enterprise resource planning software for catalog maintenance and inventory management. In addition, for the interactive data at the AdvanLook kiosks, Laforja custom-designed content in accordance with Ona Llibres' corporate messaging, Puig says. The store employs specialized UHF RFID tags for books that do not leave the room in which they are viewed, with fixed readers capturing their IDs and alerting management to any problems that may arise.

  Applying RFID tags to merchandise throughout the store posed some challenges, the company reports, since books that are not sold must be returned to suppliers without tags on them. To that end, Laforja worked with the bookseller to identify tags that could be removed from books without causing any damage to the covers. The firm chose  Dipole RFID's removable label based on  Avery Dennison Smartrac's Web inlay.

  The store opened last spring and has maintained operation throughout most of the COVID-19 pandemic. The main benefits, Puig says, have been inventory control and the customer shopping experience. "Thanks to RFID," he states, "all books are uniquely identified, stock is fully controlled, queue times are minimal and customers have extended information on all books with interactive screens."

  Keonn has provided RFID technology solutions to retailers since 2011, including to fashion sellers in Spain and worldwide. It provides tag encoding, automatic inventory and tracking, interactive retail systems, points of sale and loss prevention, along with its AdvanCloud and AdvanNet software. The company has also served libraries with book-tracking RFID systems. However, De Porrata-Doria says, the Ona Llibres deployment is unique. "Bookstores traditionally are not focused on image," he explains. "This one is—this store is really something spectacular."

• Luxury Notebook Maker Uses RFID for Loss Prevention (Jul 28, 2022)

  Creative writing products company Moleskine has adopted a radio frequency identification solution that prevents loss and ensures inventory accuracy at its stores. The solution, which consists of RFID readers at the doorway and tags on all merchandise, is provided by InfinityID and uses the company's LOGIC software suite, as well as RFID reader hardware from Keonn.

  Moleskine makes luxury notebooks, planners and pens, as well as bags and gifts. The Milanese company, founded in 1997, sells its products worldwide at several hundred stores, as well as online, and it has approximately 500 employees around the globe. Its notebooks are based on the handmade notebooks that were distributed in Paris during the 19th and 20th centuries. The products are vulnerable to theft at stores, so the company sought a solution for loss prevention using technology that could alert stores if something was being taken, as well as indicate what that product was.

  The store has an open, sleek aesthetic and so it wanted its doors to reflect that same appearance, says Enrico Mattioli, InfinityID's CEO. Any loss-prevention system thus needed to be discreet. Therefore, the paper company began working with InfinityID to create a system that would be effective yet invisible. InfinityID selected Keonn's overhead Advantenna-p33 antennas, which are connected to Keonn's AdvanGuard RFID alarm unit with a built-in UHF RFID reader.

  Development of the system began in 2019, Mattioli says. "The main challenge was to have a complete antitheft system" in its stores, he reports, despite wide-open entrances at each of its 30 European locations. For InfinityID, the main challenge was to hide the antennas so they would be highly discreet. "That's why we choose [Keonn's] thin and white hardware," he recalls, and why the antennas were installed overhead.

  The Advantenna P33 offered circular polarization, with a patch antenna that is about a half-inch thick, for use in the ceilings above the entrance with a 40-degree beam width. Data is captured by the AdvanGuard unit and is forwarded to InfinityID's software, Mattioli says, "so that we could guarantee the possibility to set the antitheft system according to their needs." UHF RFID tags are attached to each product. Some goods use adhesive labels, while the store employs hard tags for other items, which can be removed at the point of purchase. The unique ID number encoded on each tag is linked in the software to the product's stock-keeping unit.

  Each store's single AdvanGuard reader is deployed above the wide-area entrance. The Advantenna P33 antenna radiates a pencil-beam shape that concentrates the beam around the entrance. In that way, the company explains, the stationary beam can detect only those items that are leaving the store, thus preventing stray reads from products located near the entrance. Once individuals have paid for a product, they can walk out the door, where the reader will capture any unique tag IDs. If the software determines that a tag is on an unpurchased item, the AdvanGuard unit will automatically trigger an audible signal that can be heard by others within the store.

  A notification can be sent to store associates on their smartphones to indicate that an item is being removed, as well as which one. Workers can then, in some cases, speak to the shopper and ensure that the product has been purchased. They can also select options in the app on their phone, such as "false alarm," or indicate that the theft has been thwarted, as well as request replenishment. What's more, the technology can be temporarily disabled via the app when new inventory is brought into the store.

  Retailers using InfinityID's cloud-based software can select from features that will help them capture inventory data, Mattioli says, along with shipping and handling information for omnichannel sales. The company's 4.0 Retail suite consists of 11 configurable standard modules and customized projects, for which users can set their own parameters.

  When setting up the system, InfinityID offers customers a feasibility study to identify the necessary features, which it builds into the appropriate solution for each use case. Such modules include label printing and configuration, inventory-management applications and dashboards for identifying where goods are stored. It can also be used for pick-and-pack operations to meet omnichannel orders. In addition, some retailers use the technology for automatic purchasing, label deactivation and anti-theft efforts.

  The readers that Moleskine is employing offer a high rate of read accuracy, despite the wide area being covered. Keonn's RFID readers come with software algorithms for maximizing the read rate and minimizing false alarms, according to Ramir De Porrata-Doria, Keonn's cofounder and CEO. While Moleskine's solution relies on stationary antennas, he says, other retailers employ Keonn's AdvanSafe-200, which uses beam steering to maximize read rage and minimize false alarms.

  For Keonn, a recent trend has been underway to leverage RFID for loss prevention at stores. By using RFID technology data at retail entrances and exits, the loss-prevention system not only alerts store management to a theft, but also creates an automatic record of what is being taken. Many of those deploying the technology are using what De Porrata-Doria calls "invisible systems" (RFID floor mats) or "almost invisible systems" (RFID overhead systems) for loss prevention at retail stores.

  "Retailers' priority," De Porrata-Doria states, "is now to have unobstructed entrances in order to increase the number of customers entering the store." The technology helps to prevent loss at each store, while also updating data with each read event so that when goods are removed, the software knows which products may need to be replenished. In that way, he says, the company can be sure it has inventory on hand at every location.

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