Sahil Khanna (013-III-331)

11/22/14 IMM-GROUP(M2)

Jeans store uses QR codes to make shopping

easier for men Shopping can be a trial for some, and it’s a widely held belief

that many men can find it more of a chore than women. Aiming

to improve the experience for men, Hointer added QR codes to

their jeans so that customers could simply scan the code in

order to get their desired size delivered to a changing room

ready for them to try on. This streamlined process saves

customers from having to wade through piles of clothing to find

their size, ultimately speeding up a shopping trip for those who

would rather be elsewhere.

Facebook app lets runners pay with

kilometers completed We’ve seen apps that reward their users with motivational

phrases when they exercise. However, Nike Mexico took this a

step further with their Facebook auction, Subasta de

Kilometros, which allowed runners to accrue points for every

kilometre run and then use these points to bid on Nike-branded

running gear in the auction. Through this app Nike Mexico

cannily provided an extra incentive for runners to keep fit, at

the same time as promoting their products.

In China, virtual reality stores turn open

spaces into a supermarket

With the aim of providing a more interactive shopping

experience, Yihaodian in China developed augmented reality

stores that can only be accessed in certain public locations.

When customers point their smartphone in the right direction at

locations such as public squares, a virtual store is displayed

where items sit on shelves or hang from the walls. This app

provides a simulation of a physical retail store so shoppers can

feel more immersed in their online shopping trip.

In Denmark, supermarket crowdsources

suggestions for local products

As concerns grow over food air miles, and more consumers

want to buy local, SuperBrugsen in Denmark has come up with

a novel way of ensuring that the produce they stock will appeal

to eco-minded consumers. Through their website, customers

can suggest particular local items they would like the store to

stock, after which managers will taste-test the items to ensure

their quality. A clever way to use customer crowdsourcing to

ensure that the store only stocks items that will sell. The crowds

have also been put to good effect in the Netherlands through

the Avoid The Shopping Crowds app that analyzes social

media feeds to tell the user how busy a shop is before they enter

it. Both businesses use crowdsourced data to improve real life

experience.

Mobile app lets retail store shoppers skip the

checkout lines

The convenience of popping to the shops for a few grocery

items can be hampered by long queues. This was something the

brains behind QThru recognized when they developed their app,

which allows shoppers to browse, scan and buy products all

through their phone. Skipping the queues is an appealing

prospect for many, and with that in mind we also saw SoPost,

which uses customer’s email addresses to deliver purchases,

rather than the traditional home or work address. An interesting

idea that reflects the increasingly mobile lives many lead.

Brazilian fashion retailer displays Facebook

‘likes’ for items in its real-world stores

We’ve seen those involved in retail adjust impressively to the

increasingly online world we live in. C&A provided a good

example of how the real world and the online can converge to

create a modern shopping experience. By displaying Facebook

‘likes’ on small screens embedded in articles’ hangers, the

retailers showed the increasing tally of ‘likes’ different items of

clothing were receiving from web users. The hope was that

approval from the online community would encourage shoppers

to purchase an item of clothing.

Machine accepts cards for tips

Increasingly, cash is being passed up in favor of card payments.

This makes for a lighter purse, but can also mean that cash

rituals such as tipping can be left by the way side. DipJar aims

to remedy this by offering an easy way for cardholders to tip, in

the form of a machine placed near the till that customers need

only place their card into quickly for a USD 1 tip to be taken. If

they wish to give more they can just place the card the desired

amount of times. A simple innovation for the retail industry that

encourages generosity in a world where plastic is paramount.

Calming UK store campaign includes quiet

shopping areas and debranded products

Facing the shops can be a fraught experience, particularly at

busy times such as seasonal sales or the lead-up to Christmas.

Nowhere are the staff more aware of the stress involved in

shopping than at Selfridges, a huge UK department store, and

they decided to lessen the burden for customers by introducing

the No Noise campaign. Specifically, when customers entered

designated silent areas they had to remove their shoes and hand

over their phones. All products in these zones were de-branded.

Concern for customers will rarely go unappreciated, and

Selfridges may well have earned themselves a few life-long

customers with this campaign.

In New York, bedroom furniture store lets

customers nap for free

Making customers feel comfortable can only increase the

likelihood that they will make both a purchase and a return visit.

COCO-MAT took this truism quite literally, and offered a try-

before-you-buy approach for their beds. Visitors to the store

were allowed to nap in the beds for a couple of hours and

received a free glass of orange juice, but were not obliged to

buy after trying. The idea behind the campaign was to spread

word of the bed store and consequently increase footfall.

At Brazilian retailer, RFID tracks

merchandise from manufacturer to customer

Shop assistants must dread the words “Have you got any more

of…?” seeing as it often prompts a trawl through the back room

to see if an item is available in a particular size. But Brazilian

Memove’s RFID stock tracking technology could consign such

headaches to the past thanks to tags stitched into the clothing

that monitor all items from manufacturing to the moment the

customer walks out of the shop with the purchased product.

Keeping track of the stock supply chain can be made much

simpler through the use of technology, and Memove provides a

fine example.

You no longer have to be a geek to pay for something with your phone.

Last month, iPhone 6 owners got Apple Pay, a free service that lets you buy things at stores and inside apps

using a digital version of your credit card and a thumbprint. Now you can walked to McDonald’s without wallet

and bought McNuggets with a wave of iPhone. It was so easy, the cashier didn’t even notice.

Apple Pay changes the way we look at our phones, not to mention wallets full of credit cards and bits of paper.

It is the first such service to be secure and consistently easy—fundamentals to taking a digital wallet

mainstream.