July 29, 2011 | Categories: Signage & Wayfinding

According to a recent report, the majority of retailers are using new technology to make the in-store experience better for customers and help cut down on queuing times.

The RSR Research report, cosponsored by Hewlett-Packard, revealed that 70 percent of merchants are using some kind of technology-based touch point to allow customers to take advantage of a wide array of information about products and services, while also getting checked out more quickly.

Fifty-seven percent of those surveyed said that they believed using devices such as tablets, smartphones owned by the store and PDAs were valuable, significantly higher than the 21 percent who answered the same way last year.

"Customers have raised the bar, and successful retailers realize that the traditional means of educating employees and interacting with customers is no longer enough," said Ray Carlin, vice president, Retail Solutions Global Business Unit, HP, in an announcement. "We provide a flexible store platform to help retailers deliver multichannel selling opportunities and a more engaging shopping experience."

In addition to HP, the study was also sponsored by Intel, NCR, RedPrarie and Sales Force, and aimed to find out how retailers felt about emerging high-tech machines such as self-service kiosks.