Wake Forest, NC (Jan. 17, 2012) — By the summer of 2012, Best Buy Canada customers will begin to experience the speed and convenience of mobile point-of-sale (POS) in select Future Shop and Best Buy pilot store locations. Implemented on the service oriented architecture (SOA)-based Stella Nova (www.sntinc.com) Mobile Retail Framework, the new Mobile POS solution is architected to keep POS functionality independent of the mobile device and its operating system. This will enable the company to adapt seamlessly to future shifts in mobility trends and technology. The system will also allow the company to manage all aspects of customer interaction via a simple, intuitive user interface, keeping employee training to a minimum.

”Over our four-year-plus relationship with Best Buy Canada, Stella Nova has come to appreciate the unique expectations of tech-savvy shoppers like Best Buy’s customers. Mobile POS is vital to ensuring that these customers’ experiences with Best Buy remain on the cutting edge,” said John Kenney, senior vice president of business development, Stella Nova Technologies, Inc.

Stella Nova is currently demonstrating its Mobile Retail Framework, along with the company’s full suite of Mobile POS solution products, at the 2012 NRF Annual Convention and EXPO taking place January 15-18 in New York City. NRF attendees are invited to experience these technologies at the Stella Nova booth (#2383) as well as at the Motorola Solutions booth (#1702).

More About the Mobile POS Technology:

Mobile by Stella Nova is a cutting edge, multi-platform enabled m-commerce solution that allows retailers to seamlessly transact between traditional brick and mortar and e-commerce environments. Utilizing either in-store wireless networks or global wireless communications through the cloud, retail associates are enabled with access to key functionality required to create, transact, and finalize complex retail transactions anywhere, anytime. Mobile by Stella Nova can also be extended directly to the customer, enabling self-checkout functionality from consumer mobile devices including; phones, handhelds, and tablets. The Mobile by Stella Nova solution is comprised of two key components:

• The Mobile Retail Framework (MRF): Suite of core transaction services architected and built on the Microsoft .NET Framework, employing the latest Service Oriented Architecture design standards – and completely reusable across any core retail enterprise applications requiring transaction-enabling functionality.
• The Mobile Client User Interface: Offered on multiple handheld, phone and tablet formats and enabled on multiple client operating systems including Apple iOS, Android, and Windows Phone 7 – each maximizing the unique user experiences offered by the respective technology.

For more information, please contact John Kenney, vice president of business development, Stella Nova Inc. (www.sntinc.com), by phone at 612-220-7366 or by e-mail at john.kenney@sntinc.com.

For media information or to arrange for an interview with a Stella Nova subject matter expert at the 2012 NRF EXPO, please contact Katie Hendrick, Koroberi, Inc. (www.koroberi.com), by phone at 919-945-0548 or by e-mail at katie@koroberi.com.

ABOUT STELLA NOVA TECHNOLOGIES

Stella Nova Technologies, Inc. (www.sntinc.com), an innovative retail POS and web application provider, is committed to creating transacting solutions that work to meet the unique requirements of today’s largest retail enterprises and their customers. Stella Nova was founded in 2001 with the goal of providing national retailers with the software capabilities needed to grow their business.

Stella Nova offers products as well as custom solutions that allow retailers to manage the needs of their transaction system. Their latest product suite, the Stella Nova Mobile Framework, was developed to provide local and global retailers with a fast, secure and flexible answer to omnichannel, multi-geography transacting operations. Stella Nova’s headquarters are located in Wake Forest, NC. Stella Nova also has offices in Minneapolis and in Hyderabad, India. Additional functional locations have been established along with an offshore development facility that provides easy access to a large resource pool of experienced professionals.

ABOUT BEST BUY CANADA

Best Buy stores in Canada are a division of Burnaby, BC-based Best Buy Canada Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY). We are Canada’s fastest-growing retailer and e-tailer of consumer electronics, computers and entertainment products. With 77 Best Buy stores across Canada, we offer a unique shopping experience with the latest technology and entertainment products, at the right price, with a no-pressure (non-commissioned) sales environment. Every day our employees are committed to helping deliver technology solutions that enable easy access to people, knowledge, ideas and fun. We are keenly aware of our role and impact on the world, and we are committed to developing and implementing business strategies that bring sustainable technology solutions to our consumers and communities. For information about Best Buy Canada, visit www.BestBuy.ca

Wake Forest, NC (Jan. 17, 2012) — Stella Nova Technologies, Inc. (www.sntinc.com), an innovative retail point of sale (POS) and web application provider, launches a new social media campaign at the NRF 101st Annual Convention & EXPO, currently taking place at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City.

The campaign, consisting of newly launched Twitter (@StellaNova_mPOS) and Facebook pages, aims to engage and interact with convention-goers at a more direct and personal level by offering exclusive, advance news and resources to its social network communities. In addition, Stella Nova invites attendees to qualify for a complimentary mobile POS deployment consultation to be redeemed at any time following the conference. To take advantage of the offer, attendees can visit Stella Nova on Facebook, where they’ll be prompted to “like” the company page and RSVP to a brief demo of Stella Nova’s new Mobile Retail Framework at booth #2383.

“The Stella Nova Mobile Retail Framework was developed to provide retailers with a fast, reliable and flexible answer to omni-channel, multi-geography transacting operations,” said John Kenney, senior VP of business development at Stella Nova. “This campaign gives us an opportunity to show NRF 2012 attendees that robust POS solutions like the Mobile Retail Framework don’t have to involve complicated deployments. Selecting and deploying a solution that streamlines store operations and enhances customer experience should and can be a positive experience for every retail organization.”

For more information, please contact John Kenney, vice president of business development, Stella Nova Inc. (www.sntinc.com), by phone at 612-220-7366 or by e-mail at john.kenney@sntinc.com.

For media information or to arrange for an interview with a Stella Nova subject matter expert at the 2012 NRF EXPO, please contact Katie Hendrick, Koroberi, Inc. (www.koroberi.com), by phone at 919-945-0548 or by e-mail at katie@koroberi.com.

For access to exclusive news and promotional offers, follow Stella Nova on Twitter (@StellaNova_mPOS) and join the company on Facebook.

ABOUT STELLA NOVA TECHNOLOGIES

Stella Nova Technologies, Inc. (www.sntinc.com), an innovative retail POS and web application provider, is committed to creating transacting solutions that work to meet the unique requirements of today’s largest retail enterprises and their customers. Stella Nova was founded in 2001 with the goal of providing national retailers with the software capabilities needed to grow their business.

Stella Nova offers products as well as custom solutions that allow retailers to manage the needs of their transaction system. Their latest product suite, the Stella Nova Mobile Framework, was developed to provide local and global retailers with a fast, secure and flexible answer to omnichannel, multi-geography transacting operations. Stella Nova’s headquarters are located in Wake Forest, NC. Stella Nova also has offices in Minneapolis and in Hyderabad, India. Additional functional locations have been established along with an offshore development facility that provides easy access to a large resource pool of experienced professionals.

Wake Forest, NC (Jan. 5, 2012) — Stella Nova Technologies, Inc. (www.sntinc.com), an innovative retail point of sale (POS) and web application provider, will demonstrate its latest product suite, Stella Nova Mobile Retail Framework, at the NRF 101st Annual Convention & EXPO January 15-18, 2012 at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City.

Stella Nova will be in booth #2383 as well as in the Motorola Solutions booth (#1702). Stella Nova’s booth will feature the latest Mobile Retail Framework capabilities including the power of anywhere, anytime, on any device transacting. In the Motorola Solutions booth, Stella Nova will showcase an HTML 5 Cloud-enabled mobile POS application developed on Motorola’s RhoElements application enablement framework and running on Motorola’s new Enterprise Tablet (ET1) and MC55 mobile computer.

“We are pleased to be exhibiting for the first time at Retail’s BIG Show,” said John Kenney, vice president of business development, Stella Nova. “Teaming with Motorola Solutions, one of the biggest names in the industry, promises to make the experience that much more engaging for our visitors.”

The Stella Nova Mobile Retail Framework was developed to provide retailers with a fast, reliable and flexible answer to omni-channel, multi-geography transacting operations. Deployed on WCF 4.0 Framework, the Stella Nova Mobile Retail Framework provides a secure and extensible mobile transaction platform for global retailers.

“Visitors to the Stella Nova or Motorola Solutions booths can experience an agile customer- and associate-facing mobile POS solution that will get employees out from behind the cash wrap and create an improved shopping experience for the customer,” said Kenney.

As an SOA solution, Stella Nova offers seamless operability between register, mobile, kiosk and dot com, providing retailers the flexibility of embedded or cloud hosting for easy configurability and extensibility. Straightforward integration with other Stella Nova and third-party applications ensures ongoing productivity and long service life.

Visit Stella Nova at the NRF 101st Annual Convention & EXPO in their booth (#2383) or the Motorola Solutions booth (#1702) to see a demonstration and discover the functionality of Stella Nova Mobile Retail Framework.

NRF attendees are also invited to earn a free POS deployment consultation from Stella Nova experts. Visit the company’s new Facebook page at www.facebook.com/stella.nova.inc to learn more and receive live updates from the Expo floor.

For more information, please contact John Kenney, vice president of business development, Stella Nova Inc. (www.sntinc.com), by phone at 612-220-7366 or by e-mail at john.kenney@sntinc.com.

For media information or to arrange for an interview with a Stella Nova subject matter expert at the 2012 NRF EXPO, please contact Katie Hendrick, Koroberi, Inc. (www.koroberi.com), by phone at 919-945-0548 or by e-mail at katie@koroberi.com.

ABOUT STELLA NOVA TECHNOLOGIES

Stella Nova Technologies, Inc. (www.sntinc.com), an innovative retail POS and web application provider, is committed to creating transacting solutions that work to meet the unique requirements of today’s largest retail enterprises and their customers. Stella Nova was founded in 2001 with the goal of providing national retailers with the software capabilities needed to grow their business.

Stella Nova offers products as well as custom solutions that allow retailers to manage the needs of their transaction system. Their latest product suite, the Stella Nova Mobile Framework, was developed to provide local and global retailers with a fast, secure and flexible answer to omnichannel, multi-geography transacting operations. Stella Nova’s headquarters are located in Wake Forest, NC. Stella Nova also has offices in Minneapolis and in Hyderabad, India. Additional functional locations have been established along with an offshore development facility that provides easy access to a large resource pool of experienced professionals.

Five years from now, the least likely place a transaction will be completed is at the cash wrap. In the past, customers and retailers have experienced a single channel touch point via the brick-and-mortar store. Today, this single channel touch point has evolved into a complex and multi-channel experience — where customers interact via multiple, independent touch points that function through retailers in technical silos, including e-commerce, catalog, and brick-and-mortar. Building off the multi-channel approach, retailers are scrambling to deploy a high-function, high-touch cross-channel approach where customers view multiple touch points across one brand, and retailers have one single view of the customer as they still operate out of technical silos. But the future, and what some are calling the “nirvana” of retail, will be the age of the omni-channel. Omni-channel entails customers enjoying a seamless brand experience independent of channel, as opposed to channels within brands, and retailers use strategic ways that leverage their single view of the customer.

A survey by Lightspeed Research in April 2011 reports that 59% of today’s customers are the omni-channel customers of the future. Lightspeed broke that 59% down into three categories, including: value-focused followers, data-hungry tech enthusiasts and tech-savvy social shoppers. Retailers must ask themselves two questions in order to empower this 59% of customers as well as enhance the customer experience and enable store associates. The first is: How will new and emerging mobile technologies affect customers? The second: How will the retailer be able to support these initiatives?

Mobile point of sale (POS) is a key enabler of omni-channel functionality. Mobile POS allows the customer to conveniently research options, search for deals and check out without going to a central POS. It also empowers retail associates to assist the customer while he or she is considering a purchase. These aspects of mobile POS demonstrate the retailer’s commitment to customer satisfaction.

Mobile POS must be seamlessly integrated for a positive customer experience. This is also important to remain competitive in the market. Retailers that ignore or wait for the mobile POS movement will be left behind as customer demand and market trend drives competitors to move ahead with deployments. Keeping the customer in mind with every decision made as retailers move forward with mobile POS and omni-channel is important. Customer expectations are higher than ever and the current economy demands that retailers listen to the customer.

Smooth mobile applications, customer awareness, efficient and trained staff, and a myriad of other considerations are essential to successful omni-channel and mobile POS deployment. The most important factors to success in mobile POS and the future of omni-channel are: a proper seamless integration for a consistent positive customer experience, and moving ahead and deploying your program.

Please contact Kim Zdanowicz, PR, Koroberi (www.koroberi.com), at (919) 945-0548 for more information or to schedule an interview with John Kenney regarding these issues.

The Issue is:

Mobile POS Development & Application

John Kenney is available to comment or serve as a guest blogger on this topic.

Stella Nova Technologies is: Stella Nova Technologies, Inc. (www.sntinc.com), an innovative retail POS and web application provider, is committed to creating transacting solutions that work to meet the unique requirements of today’s largest retail enterprises and their customers. Stella Nova was founded in 2001 with the goal of providing national retailers with the software capabilities needed to grow their business.

Stella Nova offers products as well as custom solutions that allow retailers to manage the needs of their transaction system. Their latest product suite, the Stella Nova Mobile Framework, was developed to provide local and global retailers with a fast, secure and flexible answer to omnichannel, multi-geography transacting operations. Stella Nova’s headquarters are located in Wake Forest, NC. Stella Nova also has offices in Minneapolis and in Hyderabad, India. Additional functional locations have been established along with an offshore development facility that provides easy access to a large resource pool of experienced professionals.

John Kenney has over 20 years of retail and retail IT experience. Kenney has experience directing POS and returns capability for a Fortune 50 retailer, directing POS and store system outsourcing and offshoring initiatives, and managing global IT delivery teams. He has worked with companies such as Best Buy and Accenture. His additional skills and experience include POS consulting and advisory, and sales development with retail business intelligence and analytics. Kenney holds a degree in Computer Information Systems from the University of Wisconsin.

Retail stores are in a push for customers to drive their shopping experience—from selection to checkout. At the same time, customers are looking for a cross-channel shopping experience that can encompass the digital shopping cart, combining all channels from in-store to at-home to mobile that can be saved, comparison shopped, recommended, stock-checked and purchased/delivered as and when desired. Keeping pace with consumer technology is also a big drive. Despite these drivers, disconnects still exist between the retail mobile point-of-sale (POS) planners, and the reality of the customer’s world.

In our experience, we’ve heard Tier 1 retailers stating that the Apple and Android operating system (OS) are not “retail hardened”; yet, survey after survey of consumers indicates that these mobile devices and their associated OS will continue to dominate the smartphone market for the foreseeable future. One of the biggest oversights a retailer could make is to believe they know what’s best for the customer, and not the other way around. The mobile POS solution therefore needs to allow application build out on any mobile device OS no matter what hardware and OS have been selected for store associates. In addition, we strongly advise that for every associate-facing application, a customer-facing application also be developed.

Getting in the holiday spirit

The customer-driven POS is infiltrating every aspect of retail. New seasonal trends such as pop-up retail with temporary locations, holiday stores, special events, etc. can be very costly to set up and enable transactions using a traditional POS model. With a mobile POS system, all transactions can be completed over 3G using the retailer’s or the customer’s hardware, reading and writing to the enterprise database. Not only are the cost-savings a good retail driver, it is also true that with the proliferation of smartphones, customers are demanding mobile transactions for the convenience and time savings offered—especially around the upcoming holidays. Retailers who don’t empower their customers and their associates via mobile devices risk facing a slow erosion of sales to savvy customers, as well as the hurdle of battling competitors already rolling out their mobile POS solution.

Depending on store size and configuration, a mobile POS solution can eliminate one or more checkout positions and, at the same time, increase customer satisfaction with POS (line busters, self-checkout, etc.). Additionally, the ability to assist the customer at the point-of-decision and to enable suggestions of associated items and potential upsell products makes each associate more productive. Empowering associates with the same data search options as those enjoyed by the customer will also assist to keep associates close to the customer, rather than force them to access a remote workstation in order to answer a price or in-stock question. With customers driving mobile POS, it’s a win-win.

Wake Forest, NC (Oct. 4, 2011) — Stella Nova Technologies, Inc. (www.sntinc.com), an innovative retail point of sale (POS) and web application provider, will demonstrate its latest product suite, Stella Nova Mobile Retail Framework, at the VeriFone Retail Payment Conference October 26-28, 2011 at the Don Cesar Beach Resort in St. Pete Beach, Florida.

The Stella Nova Mobile Retail Framework was developed to provide local and global retailers with a fast, secure and flexible answer to omnichannel, multi-geography transacting operations. Deployed on WCF 4.0 Framework, the Stella Nova Mobile Retail Framework provides a secure and extensible mobile transaction platform for global retailers.

“We’re pleased to be a sponsor of the 2011 VeriFone Retail Payment Conference,” said John Kenney, vice president of business development, Stella Nova. “We’re excited that we’ll be there to demo our newest product suite.”

As an SOA solution, Stella Nova offers seamless operability between register, mobile, kiosk and dot com, providing retailers the flexibility of embedded or cloud hosting for easy configurability and extensibility. Straightforward integration with other Stella Nova and third-party applications ensures ongoing productivity and long service life. Services include:

• Electronic journal
• Item lookup
• Promotional pricing
• Tax
• Tendering
• Transaction log

Visit Stella Nova at the VeriFone Retail Payment Conference to see a demonstration and discover the functionality of Stella Nova Mobile Retail Framework.

For more information, please contact Meagan Palmer, Stella Nova Inc. (www.sntinc.com) by phone at 919-435-5851 or by email at meagan.palmer@sntinc.com.

For media information, please contact Kim Zdanowicz, Koroberi, Inc. (www.koroberi.com), by phone at 919-945-0548 or by e-mail at kim@koroberi.com.

About Stella Nova Technologies
Stella Nova Technologies, Inc. (www.sntinc.com), an innovative retail POS and web application provider, is committed to creating transacting solutions that work to meet the unique requirements of today’s largest retail enterprises and their customers. Stella Nova was founded in 2001 with the goal of providing national retailers with the software capabilities needed to grow their business.

Stella Nova offers products as well as custom solutions that allow retailers to manage the needs of their transaction system. Their latest product suite, the Stella Nova Mobile Framework, was developed to provide local and global retailers with a fast, secure and flexible answer to omnichannel, multi-geography transacting operations. Stella Nova’s headquarters are located in Wake Forest, NC. Stella Nova also has offices in Minneapolis and in Hyderabad, India. Additional functional locations have been established along with an offshore development facility that provides easy access to a large resource pool of experienced professionals.

Wake Forest, NC (Sept. 16, 2011) — Stella Nova Technologies, Inc. (www.sntinc.com), an innovative retail point of sale (POS) and web application provider, is committed to creating POS solutions that work to meet the unique requirements of today’s largest retail enterprises and their customers. Stella Nova was founded in 2001 by Rathin Devchoudhury, Larry Gibbs and David Hawkins with the goal of providing national retailers with the software capabilities needed to grow their business.

“As more customers cross more purchasing channels, retailers need to meet the demand with a ubiquitous basket, and a seamless, cross-channel shopping experience, including mobile transactions. That’s where the Stella Nova solutions come into play,” said Larry Gibbs, president of Stella Nova.

Their latest product suite, the Stella Nova Mobile Framework, was developed to provide local and global retailers with a fast, secure and flexible answer to multi-channel, multi-geography POS operations. Deployed on WCF 4.0 Framework, the Stella Nova Mobile Retail Framework provides a secure and extensible mobile POS platform for retailers in the U.S., Canada and Europe. With seamless operability between register, mobile, kiosk and dot com, the solution gives retailers the flexibility of embedded or cloud hosting for easy configurability and extensibility. Straightforward integration with other Stella Nova and third party applications ensures ongoing productivity and long service life. Services include:

• Electronic journal
• Item lookup
• Promotional pricing
• Tax
• Tendering
• Transaction log
• Utilities /applications

“Secure, fast transactions, in the cloud and out of the cloud, in the store and out of the store, are what the Stella Nova Mobile Framework provides,” said Gibbs. Stella Nova offers products as well as custom solutions that allow retailers to manage the needs of their store system. The Stella Nova staff was instrumental in creating point-of-sales systems for some of the largest retailers in the U.S., including Best Buy, OfficeMax, Godiva, Kmart, JC Penney, Macy’s, Saks Fifth Avenue, Target, Bloomingdale’s and Dillard’s.

Stella Nova is headquartered in Wake Forest, NC, in close proximity to the Research Triangle Park, North Carolina State University, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Duke University. Additional functional locations have been established along with an offshore development facility that provides easy access to a large resource pool of experienced professionals. Subject matter experts are available for comment on a variety of topics.

For more information, please contact Meagan Palmer, Stella Nova Inc. (www.sntinc.com) by phone at 919-435-5851 or by email at meagan.palmer@sntinc.com.

For media information, please contact Kim Zdanowicz, Koroberi, Inc. (www.koroberi.com), by phone at 919-945-0548 or by e-mail at kim@koroberi.com.

About Stella Nova Technologies

Stella Nova Technologies, Inc. (www.sntinc.com), an innovative retail POS and web application provider, is committed to creating POS solutions that work to meet the unique requirements of today’s largest retail enterprises and their customers. Stella Nova was founded in 2001 by Rathin Devchoudhury, Larry Gibbs and David Hawkins with the goal of providing national retailers with the software capabilities needed to grow their business.

Stella Nova offers products as well as custom solutions that allow retailers to manage the needs of their store system. Their latest product suite, the Stella Nova Mobile Framework, was developed to provide local and global retailers with a fast, secure and flexible answer to multi-channel, multi-geography POS operations. Stella Nova’s headquarters are located in Wake Forest, NC, which is close to Research Triangle Park, North Carolina State University, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Duke University. Stella Nova also has offices in Minneapolis and in the HITEC City in Hyderabad, India. Additional functional locations have been established along with an offshore development facility that provides easy access to a large resource pool of experienced professionals.

We are Stella Nova Technologies, Inc., an innovative retail point of sale (POS) and web application provider, committed to creating POS solutions that work to meet the unique requirements of today’s largest retail enterprises and their customers. Our new blog will feature news, industry insights and commentary on industry trends for innovation in mobile retail.

We hope you will find our content interesting and thought provoking. Our expert authors will strive to focus on education and relevant industry topics, providing timely information.

Driven by a panel of subject matter experts, the new blog aims to further readers’ education on topics to improve their business. Topics covered include: trends in mobile commerce technology, cloud computing, and mobile POS development, architecture and solutions in retail.

A little about us…
Stella Nova was founded in 2001 by Rathin Devchoudhury, Larry Gibbs and David Hawkins with the goal of providing national retailers with the software capabilities needed to grow their business.

Our latest product suite, the Stella Nova Mobile Framework, was developed to provide local and global retailers with a fast, secure and flexible answer to multi-channel, multi-geography POS operations. Deployed on WCF 4.0 Framework, the Stella Nova Mobile Retail Framework provides a secure and extensible mobile POS platform for retailers in the U.S., Canada and Europe. With seamless operability between register, mobile, kiosk and dot com, the solution gives retailers the flexibility of embedded or cloud hosting for easy configurability and extensibility. Straightforward integration with other Stella Nova and third party applications ensures ongoing productivity and long service life. Services include:

• Electronic journal
• Item lookup
• Promotional pricing
• Tax
• Tendering
• Transaction log
• Utilities /applications

Stella Nova is headquartered in Wake Forest, NC, in close proximity to the Research Triangle Park, North Carolina State University, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Duke University. Stella Nova also has offices in Minneapolis and in the HITEC City in Hyderabad, India. Additional functional locations have been established along with an offshore development facility that provides easy access to a large resource pool of experienced professionals.

Download the Mobile POS Proof of Concept Best Practices white paper