Posted by jlivingston on 30 SEPTEMBER 2009 at
Mike Bosman, CEO, One Digital Media points to the Adidas store on the Champs Elysees in France, where the shopper can run on a treadmill, and software records details about how the shopper runs, for example, and then makes suggestions about the specific shoe models that will be best for that shopper, are brought up onto the store assistant’s PDA. The customer can also customise their shoes.
“Digital mannequins” are also being used, in stores, which identify the individual garment the shopper has picked up, and then displays what it looks like, and makes suggestions about which shoes or trousers, for example, to wear with it.
The shape of the screen, says Bosman at the Marketing Mix Marketing at-Retail conference, is moving away from the stock standard rectangle shape, and we’re seeing curved shapes, for example.
In the US, cellphone stores are using intelligent surfaces, built into counter tops; the shopper places a phone onto the surface, and the surface brings up all the info about that phone, and the shopper interacts with the surface, to browse through the phone’s functionality. Place two or more phones on it, and the surface will prepare comparison charts, so the shopper can compare the phones to one another.
Locally, digital menu boards in fast food joints, are being used to make the menu board more flexible (you can change pricing daily, or promote a regional offer, for example).
In Dischem stores, Nivea is using interactive touch screens to allow the shopper to find out which product they need for their skin (and the screen reports back to One Digital Media).
American Swiss, too is using touch screens in shop windows, so shoppers can decide what sort of ring they need, and can then find out about each ring in that collection (price, materials etc). Plus, the store can then track what shoppers are interested in, for example.
For brands, this sort of approach allows them to see which stores are getting the best traffic, and what sells best in each store.
Display screens are proven to drive sales, as Bosman showed; a year on year comparison of units sold of a deodorant brand showed a 200 per cent increase in sales.
Campaign central management systems (CMS) allow the marketer to check the performance of screens, and evaluate them by store, by region etc. Accountability is thus made so much easier (you’ll know exactly which screen is playing what content, and also which screens are not working- individual store staff are pinged on their PDA, and they can then check the screen). This info is also layered onto sales data, so the marketer can see what the impact was to sales, of each campaign, or offer, so ROI is becoming easier to track, in detail. The info can be drilled down by store, or region, or brand.
What’s more, on this system, store approved templates are loaded, so individual store owners can create their own promotional content (they input their own offer into the template, and thus can make the offer relevant to their local shoppers). This content is screened before it goes live, to prevent individual store owners going crazy with offers.
Remember that a screen is different to a TV (which requires a TV licence, and is easily manipulated, so store staff end up watching soccer, instead of screening your content).
Consider the screen size, says Bosman, and understand how the shopper will be viewing the content, because this impacts sales.
www.marketingmix.com
