Richard Shotton, Head of Insight, ZenithOptimedia:
As e-commerce captures an ever-increasing proportion of sales, retailers are responding by re-energising their in-store offerings. Many retailers are creating innovative experiences by merging the digital and physical spaces.
The key to success here is two-fold. Firstly, creating a genuinely new experience. There’s a danger that connected glass, used without imagination, could merely replicate the website experience. If this happens it won’t deliver a motivating reason for consumers to engage with it – they’re more likely to turn to the ever improving experience of browsing and buying via their smartphones. However, the experience of TopShop, which livestreamed London Fashion Week events on its store-fronts, showed what can be achieved when store fronts are used in a genuinely innovative manner.
Secondly, there’s a need to create experience in line with the brand’s essence. Sometimes breaking technology seduces brands to behave in a generic manner. They’re happy with just being the first to do something. It’s far more powerful to use technology in a manner that feels unique to a brand. Coca-Cola’s “Invisible Vending Machines” created on Valentine’s Day were a great example of this. These vending machines were invisible to singles only appearing when couples passed by. A brilliant piece of tech but more importantly completely in line with Coke’s take on the world.
It’ll be the brands who create new experiences in a manner which befits their brand essence who will have the greatest success.
Tom Salmon, Group Marketing Director, Epiphany:
Connected glass is one of many interesting developments when it comes to connected technologies and personalised retail experiences. By definition it’s the most visual so it’s no surprise to see retailers and merchandisers starting to use it to enhance customer experiences in store. There are similar connective technologies that can offer benefits beyond glass.
For example, Ericson’s announcement of the Connected Me concept at CES earlier this year provided an interesting example of connective tech that doesn’t require a purchase or download. They demonstrated capacitive coupling, where the human body acts as the capacitor for any signal from an object to a mobile in contact with the body, at speeds of up to 10Mbps. Printed electronics is another field that we’re following with interest. The costs around printed electronics are falling, set alongside the growing ubiquity of Nearfield Communications (NFC) we believe that there is an interesting future for the relationship between product packaging, consumer search, wearable tech, personalised retail and a marketer’s ability to give their customers exactly what they’re looking for. The potential of connected technology is almost unlimited.
Matt Gordon, COO of Limited Space Media Group:
The retail environment is the perfect home for connected glass touchscreen technology, because it marries bricks and mortar store presence with the excitement of interactive technology, enhancing the retail experience overall. In the case of Westfield rolling interactive shop windows out across their estates, connected glass is bridging the perceived barrier between in-store purchases and e-commerce.
Our retail landscapes are ever more digitally integrated; in the UK alone, 24 out of the top 30 malls around the country have free wifi. Moreover, they are leisure environments where shoppers come together to enjoy down time. Some 86% of shoppers would rather visit a shopping mall than the high street, due to the availability of restaurants, coffee shops and entertainment venues.
What’s especially exciting about connected glass, iBeacons, mall WiFi and other emerging digital technologies in retail units is how it brings physical places alive. The mall space, which is the last place consumers visit before entering a store to reach point of purchase, is now full of new opportunities as a result of digital offerings and WiFi.
This is particularly valuable for mall retailers because today's consumers no longer think online-only, or in-store only; they see a range of touch points with a brand. By introducing connected glass, activated with e-commerce capabilities, retailers are responding to this channel-agnostic approach and matching consumer expectations and behaviour. Through the seamless integration of physical and digital spaces, retailers can offer innovative experiences for shoppers, and that’s something that neither a physical store or online shop can provide on their own.
Rupert Cook, Director, g2 Field Marketing:
Connected glass presents retailers with yet another channel to reach consumers and can turn any surface into an extension of their store. Investment in such multi-channel technology, which includes things like virtual mirrors and in-store facial recognition to tailor offers can help retailers build valuable relationships with consumers. Given the wealth of technology available to retailers to help improve the in-store experience, not enough are taking advantage. New research from eBay shows that 66 per cent of retailers think current investment in in-store technology – such as connected glass – is insufficient. Furthermore a worryingly high 85 per cent of retailers say they don’t even know which technology to opt for.
This lack of investment from retailers is at odds with three quarters of the population who want to see more technology in-store. Retailers have the opportunity to turn their physical stores into a multi-channel, multi-sensory experience, with shoppers able to pull up an immersive catalogue of products via connected glass and then see and interact with the items in the flesh. Retailers who supplement this with highly-trained, knowledgeable staff, able to demonstrate the products in-store, engage with customers and offer specialist advice, will reap the rewards of consumers who increasingly want to experience products prior to purchase.
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