Urban Outfitters Pilots In-Store Mobile Point-of-Sale Technology

Urban Outfitters CEO Glen Senk has confirmed that the retailer is testing mobile point-of-sale technology in its stores, and he foresees starring roles for consumers' own mobile devices in the near future.

"We believe it will be just a few short years before customers walk in the store, scan a product to learn about it or locate a size or color, perhaps share the product with a friend or read a review, then walk out of the store with a product in hand, automatically charged to the account that links with their mobile device," said Senk during a recent conference call.

While Senk did not provide details on the mobile POS tests, Urban Outfitters has been working with Starmount to develop a mobile POS solution since mid-2010, and the in-store pilots began late last year. According to a Starmount statement released in June 2010, the mobile POS solution includes the full functionality of a fixed-base POS system as well as integration with in-store databases. Urban Outfitters' store POS, Oracle Retail Point-of-Service, features open interfaces that simplify additions such as mobile technology.

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