From Bottle Caps to Basketballs, Xerox Came to Play at Retail’s BIG Show

Attendees embrace technology that inspires brands to innovate and customers to buy.

By Kerry Sanders, senior vice president, Commercial Excellence, North America Operations, Xerox

Although the holiday shopping season is behind us, it’s still the most wonderful time of the year for all things retail. The National Retail Federation’s (NRF) Annual Convention and EXPO – dubbed “Retail’s BIG Show is in full swing in New York, January 15-17, where retailers and vendors from around the globe are showcasing their latest and greatest technologies.

Retailers are increasingly savvy about “what’s next,” and so are we. That’s why we’re excited to feature Xerox’s Direct to Object Inkjet Printer in the NRF Innovation Lab (iLab), a hands-on experience where attendees can learn about and interact with products and technologies that inspire brands to innovate and customers to buy.

In less than 90 seconds, the Direct to Object Inkjet Printer quickly personalizes a product on most surfaces including plastic bottles and caps, boxes, shoes, bags, wrappers and even basketballs.

Personalization in retail is key – as a recent study from Infosys revealed that almost a third of consumers wanted more personalization in their shopping experiences, and this device helps retailers uncover a number of opportunities.

But you don’t have to hear it from us. The buzz around the Direct to Object Printer from show goers and attendees at NRF has been exciting – here are a few of their reactions:

• “We have a large wide-format printer that prints mainly on wood, leather and plastic. With the Direct to Object Inkjet Printer, the results are endless and you can use the printer for specific applications that we can’t handle on our large printer. From what I saw, the quality of the printer is great!” – Enrique Franco, Franco Graphics

• “The Direct to Object Printer’s size, ease-of-use, speed and visibility are important to keep in mind, as well as the process to engage customers. What most surprised me about the printer was the capacity in terms of what objects it can print on. It seems to be a great promotional tool for customizing at events. Customization is increasingly important for consumers. While I was growing up, my name was never on anything personalized – they never had my name on anything in the store. Now I can finally get my name printed! It was a neat and fun experience to see an object printed on this printer!” – Kirsten Mogg, Trends Magazine, Canada

• “It’s really interesting to see the printer’s speed. Under one minute – it’s too easy. If you need to produce a number of personalized items – it’s great for that!” – Isabelle Py, Manutan

• “I think that we could implant this printer in our stores to do more personalization. It’s a very fast, good printer. My favorite part was seeing a very specific character that not many people can get printed – the ampersand. Seeing it print on the water bottle was fantastic!” – Paul Renard, Groupe Adeo

Stop by the iLab to see the Direct to Object Inkjet Printer in action and learn more how Xerox is helping retailers capitalize on consumer personalization demands and market their brand in more effective, targeted ways in booth #822 at NRF