Press Release

January 05, 2000

5 May 2000: With analysts predicting that Internet sales will at least double -- to $6 billion -- the 1999 holiday shopping season will long be remembered as the first embrace of online shopping by millions around the world. But a quiet in-store Internet revolution (you can also call it an in-store Internet solution) is about to bring the Internet to a check-out stand near you.

by Jane Christophersen

The Solutions Behind the Solution Interested in how @pos.com put their enterprise-strength solution together? Don't miss our related feature, @pos.com: Tools of the Trade for its closeups of two companies whose products enabled @spos.com: Microware and Espial Group, Inc.

The iPOS TC (interactive point-of-sale transaction computer), developed by a San Jose company by the name of @pos.com, is about to forever change the way you shop -- whether in a store or online. The posPortal -- a Java^TM technology-based application for the iPOS TC product -- is an interactive tool that lets customers select their preferred payment method, view line-item details, participate in surveys and be treated to targeted color display and banner ads -- including animated applets with sound -- all in the time it takes to process the customer's payment transaction. The ads and messages "fill up" the processing time that the customer would be waiting anyway to pay for the purchase using a credit or debit card; they do not lengthen the actual transaction time. The ads that any buyer sees are based on demographics, as well as the profile of current and past purchases.

"Our services do not pit brick-and-mortar merchants against Web merchants," explains Anne Knight, marcom manager at @pos.com. "We start this transaction on the physical countertop. Once you've selected something, you may order more through the Internet." Take blue jeans, for example. Once you've tried them on in the store and found the pair that fits,

Point of Sale Point of Sale (POS) refers both to the hardware used at in-store pay stations, such as the cash register or terminal, monitor and keyboard, and to the marketing concept of calling products to the shopper's attention while the customer is standing in the check-out line (that's why numerous magazines, candy and other "impulse purchases" are stocked near grocery store check-out lines).

ordering another pair off the Web is simple. "Our services enable retailers to extend customer relationships through the Web, into customers' homes," she says.

What the Customer Sees

The difference between the green-text screens common to today's debit cards and the multimedia shopping experience of the iPOS transaction terminals is as great as the difference between watching "Leave it to Beaver" on black and white TV and watching Pay-Per-View on high-definition TV.

At the point of sale, customers see their purchases presented in line-item detail on a vibrant color screen. This information is simultaneously sent to a computer that instantly tailors ads and promotions to each customer and displays them on the screen while the customer completes the purchase transaction.

More than 180,000 @pos.com point-of-sale (POS) transaction terminals are operating today, executing more than 8.2 million transactions daily. @pos.com's interactive technology offers a

POS Multifunctional Portal The @pos POS Multifunctional Portal can display: • Banner and display ads • Surveys and questionnaires • Line-item transaction details • Electronic coupons • Loyalty and co-marketing programs • Promotional messages • Electronic signature capture • Debit PIN pad security

unique opportunity for delivering highly targeted advertising and promotions at the best place and the best time -- in retail stores, where additional shopping is convenient, and when customers constitute a captive audience during the 1.7 minutes, on average, that they are engaged in the payment transaction. The opportunity is enormous: in the United States alone, 300,000 retailers offer 2 million POS locations where 30 billion transactions are conducted annually, holding consumer eyeballs captive for a whopping 50 billion minutes. Eventually, biometrics -- such as fingerprints or iris impressions -- may be applied to make the security and privacy features even more compelling.

Behind the Scenes

Here's how the system works. Using uncomplicated connectivity, the iPOS TC connects via a high-speed communications PCMIA card to a LAN/WAN, which connects to a Web server. Once a card is swiped, the customer's profile is accessed in the data center and ads, surveys, in-store promotions and discounts, targeted directly to that individual customer based on previous buying patterns, are served up in full color.

"You could discount car washes, free meals at Denny's, you could connect it to almost anything!" - @pos Focus Group Member (Shopper) "This is good for customer satisfaction surveys. Then you don't have to take home a little card and never mail it back in." - @pos Focus Group Member (Shopper)

posPortal, a Java technology-based application, supports multiple types of sales transactions and provides ready-to-integrate templates that facilitate transaction voids and product returns. What's more, it offers an easy-to-customize solution for migrating to a Web-enabled paperless and electronically secure POS environment. Residing independently on the iPOS TC, posPortal operates in dual-channel mode to interface with both its register-host application and a Web-host.

posBrowser -- a Java technology-based browser -- makes it a snap to use HTML, JavaScript, and applets to build unique and hugely appealing applications targeted at customers and ported to the iPOS TC. For example, posBrowser can be used to create in-store promotions -- including animated applets with sound -- that entice customers to consider making one more purchase.

posClassic -- a single-mode application -- offers many of the posPortal benefits, including signature capture, card reading and simultaneous display of purchase detail, as well as ads, surveys and promotions.

posBuilder, @pos.com's software development tool, contains drivers and libraries for retailers' legacy Windows 95, 98, NT and IBM 4690 operating systems, providing all the tools needed to keep HTML graphical display forms in

"Once you've got somebody's real purchase patterns, then you've got gold -- somebody's real actions rather than somebody's supposed actions." - @pos Focus Group Member (Advertiser) "The wonderful thing about online is that it's instant. It's imminently trackable." - @pos Focus Group Member (Advertiser)

synch with rapidly changing retail environments. @pos.com's complementary services, offered in conjunction with its application service partners AdForce, Prio, MarketTools, Systech, PenOp and Signio, offer fully integrated, ready-to-deploy solutions for payment transaction, advertising, promotions and market research.

E-Receipts: The Wave of the Future

At long last, men's pockets and women's purses have competition for the warehousing of receipts. @pos.com's POS system provides electronic receipts -- and can even verify electronic signatures. Soon, through ReceiptCity.com, receipts from electronic transactions will be sent over the Internet into @pos.com's secure storage vault, ReceiptCity.com.

Using any Web browser, shoppers will be able to review their receipts multiple ways: by retailer, credit card used, date and purchase category (e.g., gifts, tax expense, warranty items). As a result, customers will be able to manage their private, protected e-Receipts online.

About @pos.com

A pioneer in bringing the power of the Internet to the point-of-sale technology, @pos.com gives retailers the opportunity of providing one-to-one customer marketing both in the store and at home via the Web while streamlining operations and reducing costs. Through its iPOS transaction computer, @pos brings the Internet to retail businesses, enabling them to create Web-based relationships and deliver a one-to-one, personalized shopping experience to retail shoppers.
(http://www.atpos.com)

See Also @pos.com: Tools of the Trade

About the Author

Jane Christophersen is a free-lance writer based in Northern California who specializes in making complex information easier to understand.

About Microware

Microware (NASDAQ: MWAR) is the technical leader in real-time operating system (RTOS) software for embedded systems. Microware's OS-9 is the fundamental control program managing critical microprocessor functions. Microware's leadership with OS-9, leading components, development tools, support and consulting has been implemented in millions of high-tech applications, including consumer devices, factory automation, wireless products, medical instrumentation, digital television/digital video and multimedia devices. Headquartered in Des Moines, Iowa, Microware was founded in 1977, and has technology and sales offices throughout the United States and in England, France, Germany and Japan. Microware, the Microware logo, OS-9 and DAVID are registered trademarks of Microware Systems Corporation.