BANGALORE, INDIA: Infosys Technologies Ltd has launched ShoppingTrip360 to help retailers and consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies achieve visibility into in-store activity.

ShoppingTrip360 is a platform that enables a suite of managed-information services to create a 360-degree view of real-time in-store shopper and shelf activity.

ShoppingTrip360 leverages a network of wireless sensor-based applications within the store that allows people (shoppers), places (retailers) and products (CPG companies) to collaborate in real-time by creating an information ecosystem. This permission-based, implicit and seamless exchange of information delivers value to shoppers, retailers and CPG companies.

"Companies around the world continue to recognize the need to transform themselves in order to be more competitive," said S. Gopalakrishnan, CEO, Infosys Technologies. "Infosys remains the partner of choice for global brands in this journey because we are creating a new generation of services like ShoppingTrip360 that enable them to innovate closer to their customers."

By gaining insights into shopper and shelf activity throughout the store, ShoppingTrip360 delivers a paradigm shift in the in-store shopping experience and enables:

* Retailers to know the total number of shoppers and their shopping trip paths, allowing them to gauge in-store energy demand based on occupancy, or open new checkout counters when lines start forming. They can also monitor shelf-level inventory of fast moving products without using expensive RFID tags.

* CPG companies to make choices on the right locations in the store to place their promotional products. They also gain greater visibility on the efficacy of their promotional spend through an analysis of shoppers who interact with a promotional display or shopper traffic to a particular area and actual purchase.

* Shoppers to use a concierge service on their cell phones to organize their shopping trip. While at the store, they may access their shopping list, locate products, retrieve recipes, and download coupons, with personalized promotional offers that could be redeemed electronically.
 
The patent-pending technology behind ShoppingTrip360 is based on Infosys' intellectual property and designed to operate with existing store and information technology infrastructure. Infosys fully invests in the platform infrastructure, protecting clients from the risk of capital investment and technology obsolescence thereby eliminating the traditional barriers to adoption of in-store technologies within the industry. Clients subscribe to ShoppingTrip360 services and pay for the information that enables business benefits.

U.B. Pravin Rao, senior vice president and head of Retail, Consumer Packaged Goods and Logistics, Infosys Technologies, said: "Retailers and CPG companies are seeking new ways to collaborate seamlessly in order to better understand and engage their shoppers in today's hypercompetitive landscape. ShoppingTrip360 answers this need."

Infosys has developed a roadmap for the ShoppingTrip360 platform to enable future applications based on the real-time collaboration between shoppers, retailers and CPG brands. With select customers in pilots, Infosys has established a business model that leverages the scalability of a platform to reduce the cost per application to clients.