As Bonnie Raitt would say, let's give them something to talk about! And, that is exactly what our retail team intends to do this week at Cisco Live! 2018 (CLUS) in Orlando. While planning for this week's events, we intentionally placed innovation at the heart of our design process to encourage the team to think differently about how Cisco positions Retail IT to our CLUS attendees.

It is important to recognize that the retail industry is evolving so quickly in part due to consumers being at the center of the digital eruption that's surrounding us. This has created new pressures for retail startups and traditional retailers to do more with less. But keep in mind - increasing employee productivity, connecting with customers, simplifying store operations and securely improving digital capabilities can be powered by the strong foundation of a modern network. Let's dig in a little deeper for a sneak peek at what you can expect to see at CLUS.

The Cisco Store

Looking for a new Cisco shirt? How about a Cisco water bottle or some headphones? If you love sporting your Cisco gear, then this is the place to visit. And, as expected, technology is at the core of The Cisco Store experience. Our customers and own Cisco employees will be inspired to shop when the Cisco Vision digital screens located throughout the store catch their attention.

Try this year's virtual reality demo if you're interested in being transported to our newly remodeled campus store in San Jose and learn about a number of retail solutions we have deployed there. Be sure to look up while shopping -we will be watching you on one of our 15 cloud-managed Meraki Video IP cameras installed throughout the store. When you are ready to make a purchase, find the closest store employee who can take your payment on the secure, wireless network using the Clover mobile Point of Sale (mPOS) platform.

Mini Cisco Store in the World of Solutions

In the mood to shop between sessions, but you're in a rush? Our 'Grab and Go' experience with DeepMagic has you covered! Combine frictionless shopping with artificial intelligence and you will surely be impressed with this one.

Swipe your card, walk into the mini retail space and grab what you need. When you have finished shopping then you can leave the store and your payment method is automatically charged for whatever you picked up. It's quick, convenient and customer-friendly while eliminating theft entirely. Disruptive retail concepts can be just that simple!

Get Hands-On in Dev Net

Are you the type of person that prefers to play with technology so that you can get a feel for what is possible? Head over to our ToyBox in the DEVNET area to see how Cisco Vision and sensor technology come together for an elevated customer experience. To make this possible, we have pulled together a powerhouse partner ecosystem consisting of Impinj, MishiPay and Sato Global Solutions running in parallel with our Cisco Kinetic IoT platform.

Pick a toy from the shelf, scan the barcode with our iOS mobile app and make your purchase without needing to interact with an employee. The sensor technology deployed provides all the intelligence required to keep the ToyBox functioning so store employees can focus on the customer. In the future, you will continue to see our retail industry team pulling together diverse partner capabilities and making those capabilities easier for our retailers to deploy and manage at scale.

If you're attending CLUS then makes plans to visit The Cisco Store in the main hall, the Mini Cisco Store in the World of Solutions and the ToyBox in DEVNET. We have retail experts on hand to answer your questions and to help you navigate the in-store experience. But, if you are not in town this week, visit the Cisco Store website for full access to Cisco merchandise and Cisco Retail Industry website to learn more about our retail solutions.

A virtual tour of The Cisco Store located at our San Jose campus is also available here!