Zebra Technologies' Mobile Printing Solutions Enable Seamless Process Change and Speed Transactions for Retailers Worldwide

Zebra Technologies' Mobile Printing Solutions Enable Seamless Process Change and Speed Transactions for Retailers Worldwide Zebra demonstrates market-leading retail technology designed to reduce costs, streamline inventory, improve cash flow, and enhance customer loyalty at the NRF Annual Convention and Expo VERNON HILLS, Ill., Jan. 18 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- According to Zebra Technologies (NASDAQ:ZBRA), a global leader in delivering on-demand specialty printing solutions for business and process improvement, the world's top retailers are increasingly adopting wireless and mobile printing technologies in virtually every corner of their operations in an effort to gain market share, increase profit margins, and become more customer-centric. As a leading provider of mobile printing solutions to these retail powerhouses, Zebra will be demonstrating its latest mobile printing innovations this week in booth #139 at the National Retail Federation's (NRF) 2005 convention and exposition in New York. "Industry analysts such as AMR Research forecast an increase of nearly six percent in retail organization IT budgets for 2005 -- with investments focused mainly on retail-specific technology designed to improve the customer experience and leverage demand intelligence for competitive advantage," notes Bob Danahy, director, global mobile and wireless technology for Zebra. "Zebra is leading the trend with a wide array of wireless and mobile printing solutions designed to increase in-store efficiency and productivity, improve data visibility across multiple sales channels, and enhance the shopping experience." To help meet this retail market need, Zebra offers a host of networked and stand-alone printing solutions designed to improve back room and selling floor processes, point-of-sale transactions, route accounting and direct store delivery (DSD) tasks. Zebra and its technology partners are helping retailers gain inventory visibility, bring data collection to the data source, and achieve real-time transaction processing to improve profitability. For example, IKEA, the leading global low cost home furnishings retailer, uses Zebra mobile printers and Symbol Technologies scanners to help check customers out more quickly during busy times in its North American stores. IKEA reports benefits of the solution include increased customer satisfaction and "tremendous economic ROI." According to Forrester Research: "In response to increasing multi-channel shopping, shaky consumer confidence and intensified competition, retailers will focus in 2005 on IT projects that support a mix of cost-cutting necessities and growth-oriented innovations." Among the innovations cited are in-store kiosks, handheld computers, and improvements "that enable data visibility across processes and channels." Zebra's innovative wireless and mobile printing solutions for the following applications help retailers make this vision a reality. -- Shipping and Receiving. Wireless tabletop printers improve back room labeling tasks, such as creating UPC pricing, private brand, and promotional labels. Many of Zebra's current tabletop printers can be retrofitted for wireless use, providing optimal flexibility and eliminating the expense and safety hazard of traditional cables. -- Shelf Labeling and Price Changes. Producing shelf labels, markdown labels, and promotional tags with wireless mobile printers instead of centrally located printers can save retailers thousands of dollars per outlet annually through improved productivity and reduced media costs. One retailer with an average of 1,000 weekly price changes eliminated a 20-person, six-hour night shift after switching to wireless mobile printers for price changes. -- Shelf Price Auditing and Price Verification Kiosks. Store associates can audit shelf price accuracy using a handheld computer with a bar code reader. Inaccurate labels can be replaced on the spot with correct pricing to ensure consistency between the shelf price and the price charged at the point-of-sale. Price verification kiosks enable customers to scan UPC/EAN bar codes on items to get an accurate price check and to print a label to avoid price disputes at the register. -- Mobile Point-of-Sale. Using wireless mobile printers as temporary or mobile POS stations, especially during peak sales periods, improves the customer experience by reducing lengthy lines and wait times. -- Returns Processing. Wireless printers add convenience and security to returns processing, both in the back room and on the selling floor. Zebra printers can be used anywhere in the store to create shipping labels, return slips and inter-store transfer labels, eliminating the need for customers to carry merchandise returns to a centralized service desk. -- Route Management and Direct Store Delivery (DSD). Processing credit cards, and printing invoices, receipts, sales orders, and estimates on- the-spot saves time and increases accuracy and cash flow. Zebra's new RW 420 mobile printer is more reliable, lighter, and easier to use than traditional truck-mounted dot matrix printers, enabling route drivers to spend less time on paperwork and more time with their retail customers. -- Brand Promotion and Protection. Zebra's specialty retail supplies are the perfect fit for Zebra mobile printers. Zebra's wide variety of stock and custom tag, ticket, label and receipt supplies promote brand awareness, reduce theft and price swapping, and guard against counterfeiting. Zebra's line of retail supplies includes wing-shaped jewelry labels, colorful hang tags for large items, anti-theft voiding labels, dissolving labels for tableware, direct thermal papers for dark and 100 percent scannable bar-coded receipts, and multi-layer labels with embedded security features. Zebra was first-to-market with proprietary short range radio frequency enabled mobile printing solutions followed by the first Bluetooth-enabled mobile thermal printer, and first to offer a WLAN-based mobile thermal printer. Zebra is also at the forefront in supporting its retail customers in their integration of network management tools and new security technologies, such as virtual private networks (VPN) for mobile devices. For more information on Zebra's wireless and wireless mobile on-demand printing solutions for retail applications, call +1 800 423 0442, visit http://www.zebra.com/, or stop by Zebra's booth #139 at the 2005 NRF Show, January 16-19, at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York. About Zebra Technologies Zebra Technologies Corp. (NASDAQ:ZBRA) delivers innovative and reliable on-demand printing solutions for business improvement and security applications in 100 countries around the world. More than 90 percent of Fortune 500 companies use Zebra-brand printers. A broad range of applications benefit from Zebra-brand thermal bar code, "smart" label, receipt, and card printers, resulting in enhanced security, increased productivity, improved quality, lower costs, and better customer service. The company has sold nearly four million printers, including RFID printer/encoders and wireless mobile solutions, and also offers software, connectivity solutions, and printing supplies. Information about Zebra bar code and RFID products can be found at http://www.zebra.com/ . CONTACT: Tricia Spellman tspellman@outlookmarketingsrv.com Tel: +1 847 509 3099 Source: Zebra Technologies Corporation CONTACT: Tricia Spellman for Zebra Technologies Corporation, +1-847-509-3099, tspellman@outlookmarketingsrv.com Web site: http://www.zebra.com/ ------- Profile: International Entertainment