Article
Shopper marketing show heavy on innovation
November's In-Store Marketing Expo proved to be grounds for new retail digital signage and kiosk technology.
December 1, 2008 by James Bickers — Editor, Networld Alliance
LAS VEGAS — With customers more mindful of their spending than they have been in years, retailers are reaching out for new ways to differentiate themselves. And according to Peter Hoyt, executive director of last week's In-Store Marketing Expo in Las Vegas, shopper marketing is where the action is.
"Shopper marketing is red hot right now — they're actually hiring in shopper marketing right now," he said. "It's moving to a strategic level. It's merchandising, but merchandising with strategy."
Hoyt likened the current trend in retail thinking to Gale Sayers' book "I Am Third," which popularized the concept of "God first, then family, then self."
"Today, for brands, it's shopper first, then retail chain, then brand," he said. "So, figure out what's good for the shopper, then what's good for the retailer, and you'll succeed."
More than 300 exhibitors comprised the show floor, which was heavy on innovative and new ways to put the good of the shopper above all else.
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Illinois-based Digital Aisle had two interactive selling agents at the show, one of which is already established in its niche, the other fresh from the drawing board. The "Virtual Bartender," which is already installed in more than 500 liquor and party stores, guides customers through the various attributes and lifestyle images associated with premium spirits.
The "Virtual Beauty Consultant," a joint effort between the company and Proctor & Gamble, is currently being tested in 20 Kroger locations. A virtual expert invites shoppers to touch the screen, then enter all of their pertinent information — age, skin tone, color preference. It then offers suggestions on exactly which products to buy in each category. View video.
The show took place Nov. 12 to 14 at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Attendance figures have not yet been released.
Another "virtual expert" was nearby, this one much larger and more in-your-face. At the Modernistic booth, the Minnesota-based company projected moving imagery of a shopper's assistant onto a life-sized piece of half-inch-thick polymer — which had been cut into the shape of a man. Equal parts creepy and brilliant, the technique netted a DIGI Award for the company for its work for Best Buy.
At the Inventive Media booth, focus was on a metallic pedestal with a digital screen built into the top. Covering the front of each unit was a full-color skin, attached by magnetic strips. In about ten seconds, the unit can be totally repurposed with new static graphics by peeling off the skin and popping on a new one; as for the dynamic graphics, those are just as easily changed by swapping out a flash card.
The Microsoft FutureVision Gallery offered a half-dozen different tech implementations, but the emphasis was on a consistent user experience — the same assets were used, no matter what the delivery method or point of interaction. "Why should the customer experience be something that looks like X here, but like Y over here?" asked Steve Sparrow, senior retail marketing manager for Microsoft.
On one side of the booth, a giant touchscreen used simple, intuitive controls to let the user browse through product options. View video. On the other side, the Media Cart system allowed retailers to track shopper movement through the store and offer relevant ads and enticements on a cart-mounted screen. View video.
The hardware that was running at the iSign booth earned its keep during the show. The system automatically scans for Bluetooth devices within range and sends all of them an invite to view a special offer. (You can only imagine how many it found over the course of the show.) The device is currently in use at a Canadian restaurant, where it pings nearby Bluetooth users with an offer to come in and get a free appetizer.
The giant iPhone-esque displays at the Ecast booth tantalized attendees with the promise of on-demand music videos and interactive games. The company currently has 10,000 machines deployed, primarily in hospitality and nightlife locations, with an increasing emphasis on using the technology for interactive product demonstrations at retail. View video.
Madix Store Fixtures offered demonstrations of its ShelfCast interactive branding shelves. Each shelf contains a small touchscreen, flush with the surface of the shelf. Content on the screens ties in with the printed graphics on the shelf and the surrounding merchandise areas. View video.
The Capital Networks booth was also massive, but probably the most crowd-catching thing in it was very, very small. Staffers wore the company's "personal digital signage" device on their lapels — a 2.5-inch, high-brite screen that loops content and grabs eyeballs. Aimed at retail sales teams, the devices get 8 hours of life on a single battery charge; those batteries are charged up on a docking station that also uploads new content and new scheduling rules each time the devices are plugged in.
One of several smart carts on the floor, the entry from Cabco stood out thanks to its inclusion of a tiny TV set inside to occupy children while parents shop.
The massive booth of PRN by Thompson contained several industry-specific solutions, all aimed at making mundane shopping trips spectacular. The company's well-known Checkout TV was represented, but nearby was the up-and-coming multimedia shopping cart from Cabco. The colorful carts, aimed at harried parents who just want to do some shopping in peace, are built around a car-like sitting area for the kids — which contains a tiny display that shows content like "Dora the Explorer" and "The Wiggles." A control panel on the top of the cart lets parents control what is being shown on that screen — and future iterations will bring more functions and features to the "parent-facing screen."
Elsewhere at the PRN booth, eight displays shared a wall; a nearby kiosk allowed shoppers to pick which ones they were interested in, then showed the same bit of content across the selected screens. The result is an easy and intuitive way to test different brands of screens against one another with real-world content.
Nearby, startup Springboard Retail Networks demonstrated its own smart cart, its "Concierge Cart." A large, bright touchscreen on the handle of the cart allows shoppers to search for items in the store, then add them to a shopping list, complete with aisle numbers and pricing. The first Concierge Cart recently launched at a Food Lion location in North Carolina. View video.
For merchandisers, few things are more valuable than real data on what product assortments and arrangements pull shoppers in. The technology featured at the Tobii booth aims to provide that data. The company's elaborate camera systems, employed during specialized testing sessions, follow shopper eye movements when presented with a particular shelving pattern; it then distills those movements down into visual hotspots, showing instantly what items and arrangements attract the human eye.
About James Bickers
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