In 2020, the escalation of the pandemic severely impacted the global retail and food service industries. In order to survive, most businesses have adopted digital technology to enhance consumer experience and attempted new business models to address labor shortage issues. To date, although the pandemic has officially ended and in-store shopping has gradually resumed, the wave of smartization and self-service in retail equipment, along with the rising AI boom, remains a prominent trend in the industry's future development. DataVan (stock code: 3521), which has worked to take root in the point-of-sale (POS) industry for many years, markets its products worldwide under proprietary brands. At COMPUTEX this year, which was held for the first time after the pandemic, DataVan showcased a variety of smart retail, catering, and service equipment integrated with AI technology under the theme of "Smart Airport." The exhibition managed to attract many domestic and overseas buyers.
Big Business Potential for GPT-integrated Kiosks
The first thing one would see upon entering the "Smart Airport" exhibition area was DataVan's newly-launched slim kiosk "Genius," which incorporates the DataVanGPT AI intelligent recommendation system. The kiosk will assume the role of an information hotspot for domestic and international travelers, offering smart recommendations of travel information through its text and image interface and built-in generative AI voice. Travelers can input their needs by text, or allow DataVanGPT to identify their gender and age with the camera on the kiosk to provide the best travel recommendations based on the results. For the management, DataVanGPT can also provide statistics and big data on passenger inquiries for subsequent analysis and application. In terms of commercial application value, according to DataVan, the kiosks can also be used by venue operators in collaboration with travel agencies, museums, handicraft stores, restaurants, as well as in other tourist attraction spots. Apart from providing information, they can serve as a one-stop service operator to enhance the travel experience, because coupons can be printed and scanned using the printer and 2D barcode scanner on the kiosks.
AI Helps Retailers in Precision Marketing
The on-site airport scenario also included a duty-free shop, which used a duty-free store rack display to demonstrate the "AI Vision Intelligent Visual Service System" as the core solution of smart retail. AI Vision mainly consists of the eye-tracking analysis technology and AI Vision Snapshot, the real-time rack management system, which can help retailers determine the age and gender of customers standing in front of the racks, and record the position and duration of their visual focus. Analysis of the data will help determine hot zones in a store for more effective product placement, or make personalized recommendations during special holidays and promotional events, thereby realizing precision marketing and optimizing sales per unit area. In addition, the AI Vision Snapshot system will update the quantity of products on the racks in real time and notify store personnel to restock immediately after customers remove items from the racks. It can also be integrated with the inventory management system and the AI Robot Arm (an intelligent robot arm developed by DataVan that can be installed on racks to attract customers). Moreover, it can be applied in unmanned stores to enhance the convenience of self-checkout, thereby saving labor costs.
New Multi-Functional POS, Highly Efficient and Light Weight
Another DataVan's featured product is a new POS device with the latest platform. It offers not only high performance to duty-free shops, but also has extremely flexible expansion features, providing consumers with a thoughtful design, such as a second display to confirm purchase items and amount. Meanwhile, DataVan has also developed a conceptual model with a multi-functional slim tablet design. It can be placed vertically as a mini-kiosk or horizontally as a regular POS. If officially commercialized in the future, the model could be used in the food service industry, serving as a digital signage placed in a commercial space. Alternatively, it could be combined with a Box PC for medical use or automated production lines. The operation status of POS and kiosk terminal devices can be remotely monitored and their fault alerted through the DataVan Central management platform to optimize efficiency. In addition to comprehensive POS product lines comprising desktops and mobile devices, DataVan also has its own production and excellent research and development capabilities, which allow it to provide customers with more customized designs and OEM services options.
Smart Ordering System Opens Up New Opportunities in Food Service Industry
In the meantime, DataVan also simulated an airport lounge, primarily to demonstrate its AI Waiter, an intelligent ordering service system. The system has an intuitive interface, and offers voice ordering function to help the elderly or people with mobility issues to verbally place orders and check out. Those still unaccustomed to the voice ordering system can fill out a paper order form, which will then be scanned by DataVan's MenuSync menu recognition device. The front-end intelligent ordering system will also incorporate the KDS (Kitchen Display System), allowing kitchen staff to receive and prepare the orders as soon as possible. This can reduce customer waiting time and increase the restaurant's table turnover rate.
In the lounge, DataVan's smart beer dispenser system was also on display. Through the touch screen, it can dispense beer automatically and adjust the amount of beer dispensed according to the volumes of different glasses and maintain the best liquid-foam ratio. The beer tap at the top of the machine and the refrigerator below can be customized so that the dispenser can be aligned with the decoration of the store. Meanwhile, its software can be integrated with the membership system to allow businesses to analyze member information and personalize marketing.
DataVan Targets Smart Retail with Hardware and Software Planning
From DataVan's exhibition this year, it is evident that AI is playing an increasingly important role in the retail and food service systems. DataVan pointed out that all AI-driven solutions and software-hardware integration have been developed by its teams. In the future, DataVan will continue to explore more potential solutions for AI and smart retail applications, and make more diverse planning for potential industrial applications and customers. At the same time, DataVan will work to provide more comprehensive smart software and hardware integration solutions to help customers improve management efficiency and reduce operating costs, thereby creating a quality experience for consumers.