Retail Technology Expo starting

Tomorrow sees the start of the Retail Business Technology Expo and Cards Payments Solutions event (RBTE) at London’s Earls Court - this year’s event has doubled in size from its launch last March, with an estimated 7,000 retailers, hospitality and leisure

providers expected to visit, and over 300 companies exhibiting at the show.

Innovation is going to be one of the main themes of the show, which is free to attend, with so many of the major technology suppliers to the retail industry on hand to demonstrate their latest products to the sector.

For the first time this year the RBTE will host an ‘Innovation Showcase’ allowing businesses, which were hand-picked by the event’s steering committee, to display their most ground-breaking new products to the event free of charge.

Major traders speaking include Jaeger, Marks and Spencer, Debenhams, and John Lewis.

Nick Field Event Director for RBTE 2012, said: “Our visitors told us that they love the Retail Business Technology Expo and Cards & Payments Solutions seminars. But they like them to be independent and not vendor sales pitches.

He added, ““Our free, independent seminar line up represents best practice across a broad range of subjects and disciplines for retail, hospitality and leisure organisations.

“Time invested in visiting the Expo will be paid back tenfold by the knowledge that will be taken away from our education programme.”

Technology is moving at such a pace within retail that the RBTE show represents a eye-opening look into the near future of shopping, with innovations such as clienteling, facial recognition, augmented reality and biometric voice signatures all being displayed at the event.