Las Vegas convention highlights tablets in retail environment

Tablets aren’t just for personal use anymore.

As GlobalShop 2015 descended on Mandalay Bay Convention Center Tuesday, the merchandising display and design show conveyed how technology will help improve the consumer experience in retail environments across the country.

Boston-based Bouncepad has been integrating the hand-held computers into retailers since 2010 and the technology is benefiting store associates and customers alike.

“Customers can access the store’s website, search new specials and product offerings, and even play games on the in-store tablet computers,” said Marcus LaRobardiere, assistant marketing manager for Bouncepad. “Store associates can complete a sale, check inventory and schedule a delivery to a customer’s home.”

At McDonald’s restaurants throughout Europe and Canada, diners can play games on the tablets, while shoppers at Tommy Hilfiger can send selfies to their friends and family from the dressing room or create their own polo shirts on Bouncepad at Ralph Lauren stores.

“People that are playing games are sitting longer and therefore are buying more products,” LaRobardiere said. “Through GlobalShop we want to get our products out there and help retailers find solutions.”

Chris Frankowski of Vancouver, British Columbia -based Peregrine, a custom designer and fabricator of retail, display, furniture and architectural features, was looking for companies like Bouncepad that are integrating technology into retail displays.

“I’m looking for new trends and vendors for us to use to build our products,” he said of GlobalShop. “There’s something for everyone here.”

According to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, GlobalShop is expected to draw 10,000 people and generate a nongaming economic impact of $13.1 million.

At Prolitec’s GlobalShop booth, the scent of grapefruit wafted through the air.

The air treatment and indoor air quality technology company demonstrated how it uses microdroplet technology to infuse pleasant smells into retail stores across the country.

“We diffuse fragrance into microsized particles, which are able to reach a larger surface area,” said Ken Redding, senior vice president of sales. “You only need a little of it to get the job done.”

Redding said Prolitec scents are floating through the air in Las Vegas at Caesars Palace, Aria, Bellagio, Circus Circus and the Polo Towers Suites.

“Smoke is the number one customer complaint but smokers are also the biggest customers at casinos so they don’t want to get rid of them,” Redding said. “They want to improve the experience for nonsmokers.”

He added that Prolitec’s scents reduce the smell of smoke in the air by as much as 75 percent.

“We offer hundreds of scents and we make custom scents as well,” he said. “Vanilla tends to be popular in Las Vegas and citrus scents are also big because they’re lively.”

If you’ve ever wandered by an Abercrombie &Fitch store, you’ve likely smelled the clothing store’s men’s cologne, Fierce, drifting out of the store and into the hallways of the shopping mall.

You can thank Prolitec for that.

“A fragrance becomes part of a brand,” Redding said. “Retailers want customers to stay longer because when they do more things are sold. It’s all about creating a nice experience for the consumer.”’

PD Tempo, a Minneapolis-based company that prints and designs temporary displays for retailers, said it prides itself on making point-of-purchase displays that have a bigger impact.

Greg Clark, a national salesman for PD Tempo, said the company makes custom designs for brands such as Apple and Sony.

“Whatever you want to do, we’ll bring to life,” he said as he stood near a 20-foot tall silver rocket ship made out of paper substrates.

GlobalShop, Clark said, is the perfect platform for PD Tempo to showcase its work.

“We make great retail deliverables,” he said. “And we want people to know who we are and what we do.”

GlobalShop isn’t a new venture for Judith Von Hopf, a Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.-based designer and manufacturer of custom props and display packages.

The company has been an exhibitor since the show’s inception in 1993.

“We know so many people here because we’ve been around for so long,” CEO Judith Von Hopf said. “It’s like visiting with family.”

This year, the company decided to change things up a bit and bring more of its products such as paper flowers, palm trees, a lifeguard stand and other visuals to stand out from the crowd.

“We’ve changed our positioning on custom work so we have greater coloring capabilities and we can work with everything from paper to leather,” Hopf said. “We want people to know we’re here.”

GlobalShop 2015 will be held through today at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center.

Contact reporter Ann Friedman at afriedman@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4588. Find her on Twitter: @AnnFriedmanRJ.