2013.17 | cookies | kiosks | 51 co’s | eBay | purchext

May 5, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Picture of Product as Tender – Weetabix in the UK recently had an offer where consumers can obtain a free Weetabix On The Go in a retail store by merely showing the cashier an image of the product.  And I thought retailers had fun with regular old coupons.  While it’s kinda fun, it seems somewhat pointless.  Effectively it’s the same as telling clients just to ask for a free sample – and that’s what will happen in stores as we all know.

Google ‘Kiosks’ - Google has announced a managed public sessions feature for chromebooks.  Google envisions this as a simple way to enable chromebooks as public internet kiosks for stores to offer customers a way to purchase things online that may not be in stock at the store or other ‘kiosk-type’ solutions.   As a retail technology professional I find these sorts of announcements interesting because it seems a bit like looking for a reason to have a feature.  It’s been possible to lock down kiosk terminals, notebooks, tablets, and even regular old pcs with kiosk mode on browsers or with special software packages for some time.  While a chromebook is a bit cheaper than a full fledged notebook, this kiosk feature seems a marginal benefit.

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51 Companies – Business Insider has an incredibly exhaustive list of 51 Retail Innovators that is a must read list for retailers. I’ve covered a number of the companies using technology for retail, but this a great list to provide some inspiration.  Some of my favourites: fab (curation), hointer (using your mobile for catalog like shopping in a store), and stylitics (track your wardrobe – think fashion only pinterest with what you have, not just what you want).

eBay Pop-up Store – eBay is apparently moving into real world retail as a part of a partnership with Kate Spade.  Unofficially, a pop-up Kate Spade store in NYC will be outfitted with a large touch screen window, presumably to allow purchases of items in the store.  eBay wish to provide a platform to assist real world retail sites to meld with the online.

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Purchext – A new Canadian app shown at Disrupt NYC 2013 provides parents the chance to remotely validate purchases of their children for release of funds to their bank account.   Interesting idea that I could see grocers considering within their own systems to ensure that family’s keep their purchases in the chain!  So much for the party run to the grocery store on dad’s card.

 

Filed Under: food & drug, general merchandise, retail Tagged With: , , , ,

2013.16 | #music | curation | pizza

April 27, 2013 By Leave a Comment

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Twitter Music – It’s difficult to believe that iTunes turned 10 this past month.  The way that music is purchased and consumed has certainly changed drastically in that time.  Perhaps the way we discover new music is about to change as well.  Twitter recently released their twitter music service which allows users to see and sample top and trending music as well as music that interests the people you follow on Twitter. Accessible online or via mobile, subscribers to rdio and spotify can even link to their accounts to be able to hear the complete tracks.  It’s a clever way to leverage data at their fingertips to provide value for their users and to monetize their system.

Curation – It’s interesting that the focus on so many things retail is moving from price and selection to curated experiences.  It makes a great deal of sense to move the retail experience away from commodity items that can be obtained from the lowest bidder to becoming the sales agent by providing clients a window into what they like.  Leveraging data and taste to sell stuff is a natural move and we can expect to see a great deal more of this.

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Two of the most interesting retailers I’ve been following are Frank & Oak and JackThreads.  Both of these retailers are blurring the lines between online retailer, a social club, and a mens magazine.  Email marketing missives from these organizations are as fun to open as messages from your friends – because they read like they are from friends.  Recent messages from JackThreads parent company Thrillist included gems like roomba like mini bbq cleaners, a walking hexapod and HD video glasses.  Frank & Oak’s first email to me was an invitation for me to join from an actual real life friend of mine.   On registration they asked me to categorize myself by selecting how I dress at work, what kind of clothing elements I like etc.  From that, they show me my store when I get online.

The communications from these organizations don’t feel like they are constantly trying to sell with discount offer emails like more traditional retailers.  They all but force you to get a login so that we can be identified, and yet they feel more like the promise of the ongoing conversation we’ve all been looking forward to with omnichannel retailing – with an actual conversationalist.  Online, mobile, email, and apps in JackThreads case, all seem to provide a single view to the client.  There’s some work to be done, but there is a promising future for these sorts of new retailers.  Perhaps like Amazon and Warby Parker, stores will be in the cards for these retailers as well.

Screen Shot 2013-04-27 at 7.04.23 PMPizza Hut on Xbox 360 – You can never have too many ways to order pizza.  Over the years we’ve seen pizza ordering from websites, fridge magnets, augmented reality, tablets, facebook, and now Xbox 360.  The ability to order pizza via a video game console makes perfect sense.  It’s just another touchpoint, and provides another channel through which the target market spends their time.  This is yet another example of a savvy organization noting where their potential customers spend their time and making it easy and fun to do business with them.  Other organizations would do well to take note.  With a proliferation of channels, it’s important to be selective, but picking the right channels to suit your business and your customers could result in a perfect match.

Filed Under: general merchandise, retail, social networking Tagged With: , ,

2013.15 | Tables, Glass, Showrooming, Holographic Shoes

April 21, 2013 By Leave a Comment

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Interactive Table Menu – Inamo in London’s Soho has been providing a menu on the table that enables orders to be placed directly to the kitchen.  The projection system powered by e-table interactive allows the menu, table themes and games to be shown directly on the table.  It’s gimmicky, but the restaurant’s been in business for years, so they are definitely doing something right.

Google Glass Apps – Now that Google Glass is starting to make its way into the real world, we can look forward to some specially developed android powered apps to appear.  Wired has a few interesting ideas for initial apps.  Scanning apps seem a natural fit for a camera enabled solution like glass.  It would be a short jump to enabling Evernote to remember things you want to buy.  Also expect showrooming with products like RedLaser or Amazon to become even easier to use if people start wearing these kooky glasses.

Showrooming - Speaking of showrooming, that term is increasingly being turned on its head as e-tailers move into the real world.  Stylish and innovative online glasses seller Warby Parker recently opened a real world shop in NYC. Given the recent findings from Forrester that indicate visiting stores is what matters most to consumers, is it only a matter of time until we have stores from pureplay e-tailers like Amazon and JackThreads?

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Holographic Shoes -  A recent ad campaign for Nike Free 5.0 made use of a holocube that realistically portrays an actual 3 dimensional shoe inside of a box that moves and flexes on its own, showcasing the flexibility of the design of the shoe to advantage.  The ad, installed in some bus shelters in Amsterdam has been effective in capturing the attention of passersby if the video is to be believed.

Filed Under: dining & qsr, food & drug, general merchandise, retail Tagged With: , , , ,

2013.14 | Buses, Scanners and Vinyl

April 14, 2013 By 1 Comment

tesla+wireless+electric+bus-300x181Conductive Charging  Bus – Utah State University students have designed and built a conductive charging platform for an electric bus.  The system puts chargers at bus stops so that the buses can be constantly recharged as they follow their routes without plugging in, effectively extending their range while behaving as their petroleum powered counterparts do.  It’s not a stretch to imagine these sorts of charging stations being made solar and installed in parking lots so that electric cars can be charged while visiting a business.  This changes car usage in a way that retailers need to consider.  No fuel required which means a change in business model for fuel stations.  If it gets that far, they need to remember marketing myopia – they are supporting the transportation needs of consumers and are not the petroleum business.

Electric cars may not happen tomorrow, but the wave is certainly moving in that direction.  Tesla plans to turn a profit, ranges are allegedly improving, charging is getting faster, and now cordless charging is becoming increasingly realistic.

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Body Scanners – Bloomingdales are installing body scanners from me-ality to help customers nail down the sizes once and for all! Strange that there are many who avoid the body scanners at the airport, but that others may choose to pile in to get their bottoms sized in a body scanner so their jeans fit more flawlessly.  Similar booths, different perspective.  There have been a number of these digital sizing schemes over the years, and they certainly make sense, but they are up for challenges discussed previously.  Challenges exist for any solution, but if clothing retailers can get their specs nailed down and ensure their vendors meet tolerances consistently this could reduce the returns problem for online shopping.

UPDATE 2013-04-22:  Gizmodo visited a site and tried it out.

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Amazon Records – Early in 2013, Amazon launched a service called Amazon AutoRip whereby customers that have already purchased CDs will automatically have that music added to their Amazon Cloud Player library.  The AutoRip service was recently updated to also include vinyl record purchases.

While it sounds like a small service addition, this is a clever and relatively simple automation for Amazon that provides music lovers one more reason to buy from Amazon.  Music lovers who prefer to purchase actual media copies of music can also leverage soft copies now, and Amazon can offer a service not available from iTunes and other online music stores that only offer digital copies.  At the same time, Amazon makes themselves even more attractive than traditional record stores.

 

Filed Under: general merchandise, retail Tagged With: , ,

2013.13 | Immersive Experiences via Gaming Tech

April 2, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Screen Shot 2013-04-02 at 10.35.26 PMOculus Rift – Gamers are in for an upgrade of the virtual reality sort thanks to the Oculus Rift.   This Kickstarter driven set of head tracking 3D goggles are poised to be at big deal in the future of gaming with some key game developers signing on to develop games for this user interface.  While it is impossible to get a feel for the immersive nature of the experience without actually trying it for yourself, the videos indicates that a much wider field of view (full peripheral vision) and almost instantaneous responsiveness differentiate the headset from the VR we knew and hated in the nineties.

Screen Shot 2013-04-02 at 10.01.19 PMIf the experience is as exciting as those using it seem to indicate, and these devices become as common in homes around the world as the xbox kinect, retailers will be looking at yet another channel for customers to buy goods and services.

While a shopping mall or store in a Second Life like environment might seem an obvious idea, more immersive and interesting experiences would be possible in this space.  Imagine a virtual tour of a new car where a potential customer can get in the car and move their head all around to get a complete idea of the layout and size of the vehicle, and even take a virtual test drive before even visiting a showroom.   The potential uses for immersive brand experiences are incredible.

Screen Shot 2013-04-02 at 10.50.21 PMIllumiroom – Microsoft Research has also posted a video of a concept for gaming that could change the experience of interacting with a screen.  The Illumiroom concept scans the room and then projects visual elements within the room to expand the viewing area from just the TV screen to the entire room – effectively making the entire room you are in part of the experience.  The demo shows the system scanning the room to calibrate projection and then expands the background video across the room.  The video even appears to show books shaking on shelves in response to explosions on the screen.

Once again, while gaming has already shown some utility in consumer facing environments with various retail Kinect hacks the Illumiroom concept in the hands of creative types could drive a whole new type of online or even store environment to provide some unique experiences to customers.

Many have lamented that shopping for music and books is just not the same in a virtual world.  What if instead of windowshop, Amazon could project a more traditional bookstore across your living room?   You could walk through and look at virtual displays of curated books and select them for download to Kindle.  It not only provides a novel experience, but provides the potential for purchasing in the more serendipitous way that always seems to be missing from online shopping.  More first person browsing might occur than first person shooting.

Filed Under: general merchandise, retail Tagged With: , ,

2013.12 | Retail Tech Miscellany Too

April 1, 2013 By Leave a Comment

w680 (1)Unusual SXSW Tech - SXSW had some crazy technology on display at their 2013 event.  The best thing about events like SXSW is they let imaginations run wild.  My favourite idea was a solution at the portable toilets.  When someone entered the facility, a projector showed a life size traditional washroom stick person either standing or sitting directly on the door along with a timer indicating how long they had been in there.  While this installation is completely crazy, it may actually help with equitable distribution of temporary washroom facilities like this one by helping people queue in the right places.  A similar installation in a change room environment could be a great way to jazz up the experience of trying on new outfits.

Grocery Crowdsourcing – I’ve found that if you are willing to track down the manager at a grocery store and tell them you want a product they don’t have, they will try to get it or you.  Danish Supermarket Superbrugsen makes that even easier by putting a form on their website, where customers can request new local products and suppliers.  This eases the process for consumers to ask for what they want, and it provides free scouting to the buyers.

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No Barcodes Needed – Tokyo bakery Donq has been testing a point of sale system that identifies products without barcodes.  Customers put their items on a white tray, and the tray is placed under a camera that can recognize the shape of the products and quickly and automatically tally the total cost of the items. As imagers get smaller and cheaper and the image recognition improves, we can expect to see more of these sorts of systems. via Wired Magazine – April 2013

Fake Fingers – There is a report that some doctors in Brazil have been beating their time clock by using silicon fingers moulded from colleagues fingers.  Many retailers use biometrics for workforce management and logging into systems, and while it seems unlikely that employees would go to such lengths, it doesn’t hurt to know that these sorts of scams exist.  It also  highlights a reason why fingerprint payment systems like Paytango may have had a hard time getting off the ground if their solution doesn’t address these issues.

Filed Under: dining & qsr, general merchandise, retail Tagged With: , , ,

2013.11 | Retail Tech Miscellany

March 27, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Screen Shot 2013-03-26 at 10.17.52 PMWaste Elimination – Check out The Disappearing Package – a Masters Thesis based on eliminating the packaging part of consumer packaged goods altogether.  Not sure how realistic these are, but eliminating packaging is a welcome concept, and there are some interesting options shown.  via Fast Company

Mobile Selling Across Platforms - There has been lots of talk about mobile retailing, but Gucci took it to heart and redesigned their mobile website to provide a unique experience suited to buying on a smartphone or tablet as well as a traditional pc or notebook.  One can’t help but notice that Gucci chose to update their mobile website instead of an app.  Given the increasing pile of mobile os ecosystems and flavours (iOS, Android, Windows) and devices (smartphones and tablets of various shapes and sizes), setting up a great website with mobile optimization seems the way to go.

IBM retail AR appShelf Overlay - Augmented Reality is another concept that has been touted as a game changer for retail.  IBM has a conceptual mobile app that allows users to use their mobile device’s camera to capture items on the shelf with image recognition and then allow shoppers to sort through the assortment based on various parameters as they would on a website.  Customers could find gluten free items, or see what items are on sale.  I love the concept, but I’m not sure if most people today will have the patience to search a store this way.  If they do, everyone will be bumping into each other and trying to stand back from the shelves.  It could get a bit awkward walking down the aisles!

Data elements are likely to be a challenge for this.  If a retailer doesn’t have a fully populated database with all the elements needed to filter, a significant effort will be required to update systems on the back end to support this effort.  Apparently it’s being tested in the UK.  Some fun additions in my mind: highlight items from my shopping list on the shelf in green in case I can’t find them, highlight my usual items as I walk by them, put blinking green on items that may interest me, and finally integrate this into Google Glass to make it less awkward to use.

Loyalty Apps – I’ve always hated those little loyalty cards that you got stamped for a free coffee.  My sushi place has a terrible version of this that you can’t even read.  I also hate carrying paper cards and I’m not alone.  Check out this recent blogto profile of a number of smaller loyalty programs that are trying to take this niche into the smartphone age.

CapturePinterest Analytics – Pinterest is one of the most interesting social media stories to come on the scene for some time, and it got a bit more interesting as their Web Analytics have been released.  Now pinners including retailers, will have a better idea of what people are pinning.  It’s unclear if that changes much for retailers that pin, but at least some gauge of reaction is possible.  Perhaps the ability to tag whether an item was purchased would help.  I’ve always thought Pinterest would be a great social media network for retailers to add to a client profile.  When I visit higher end retailers or am looking for something fashion related, staff always ask about my hobbies and style.  It would be nice to just let them glance through a few Pinterest boards to give them a flavour for what you like. Not only that, but the retailer sees what you like at other retailers.

Filed Under: dining & qsr, food & drug, general merchandise, retail, social networking Tagged With: , , , ,

2013.10 | Customs Kiosk | Starbucks Square Issues

March 26, 2013 By Leave a Comment

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Canada Customs Self Service – After traveling out of the country recently, I had the opportunity to use Canada Border Services Automated Border Clearance solution in place at Pearson Airport and Vancouver Airports.

The system works very similarly to the original method used in speaking to an agent.    Canadians coming home to Canada fill in the customs form by hand on the plane as usual, and proceed to the customs area at the airport.   Instead of proceeding to an agent, the handlers in the area will ask you if you wish to leverage self service.   If you opt to use the kiosks, you approach, select your language, and follow the instructions on the screen.  Users insert a completed customs form in the slot below the screen, and then scan your passport(s).  The kiosk will categorize travelers with a code indicating whether you may proceed, or speak to an agent.  Then a printed copy of the populated form with the code as a watermark over the form is produced.  In my case, I had indicated I had nuts with me, which required intervention, and had to speak to an agent who passed me through quickly on my way.

While having to speak to the agent after using the kiosk was a bit frustrating, the vast majority of the times I cross the border I would have had no issue at all.  The kiosks are very simple to use, they have a huge green light at the top indicating availability and instructions are shown simply and on screen.  About the only criticism I can make is that it’s a waste of paper to print out a copy of the form which is already a waste of paper.  Moving towards electronic interfaces in these situations will take time, and this is a wonderful step towards simplifying this much loved process.

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Starbucks Square Issues - Fast Company recently reported on issues that Starbucks has experienced around implementing the acceptance of payments via Square Wallet.  The fundamental issue appears to be a challenge with communicating the ability to accept Square Wallet at Starbucks at their outlets.  I read this article with a great deal of interest.  I’ve been part of numerous deployments in retail and there are so many opportunities for a deployment with a great concept to go awry.

In order to justify a change to a retail solution, there have to be benefits:

First, there must be a benefit to the retailers’ customers.  At first glance, that appears to be missing.  At present, the benefit of using Square over the standard Starbucks mobile app is a bit of a puzzler.  If they use Square Wallet, customers don’t get to count purchases toward future free beverages as part of the Starbucks loyalty program.  That is actually a DIS-incentive to use Square Wallet.  If Starbucks want to drive usage, they should change that.

Second, there must also be a benefit to the retailer.  I don’t see a real benefit to Starbucks beyond the ability to accept another payment method.  It would seem that drawing additional traffic with additional payment options would not be a key driver at stores with long lines in place most of the time.  In fact, throughput would be more of an issue, and the acceptance of Square as portrayed in the article is actually a hindrance to throughput.

Hopefully there is more to this solution than meets the eye.  It would seem logical to assume that getting the Square Wallet in place at Starbucks is to lay the foundation for the geolocation version of Square Wallet which would allow tendering without presenting a mobile device at all.  That would provide benefits for both the Starbucks and their customers.

Filed Under: dining & qsr, retail, travel Tagged With: , , ,

2013.09 | Barclay Center App | Reddit

March 18, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Barclay Center – I find myself more than slightly jealous of visitors to Brooklyn’s Barclay Center.  The Barclay Center App has all of the nonsense we expect from all apps we download, team schedules, and pictures of the venue, but they also have some really incredible features made available from wifi in the stadium including:

  • play_e_slamcam1_gb1_576access to live in game video
  • access to the live TV feed
  • replays with rewind capability
  • up to four different camera angles
  • ordering food from your seat
  • submit messages for scoreboard display

It appears this is primarily used by the Nets, but is able to work at concerts as well.  What better way to allow fans a better view of the game from the worst seats than by leveraging the screens in their hand?  Not only that, but enabling in seat ordering is a real treat.  I’d be interested to see the operational side of the food ordering.  If it got too popular, it might be challenging to fulfill orders for delivery in a timely manner.  I’m sure the team at the Barclay Center would love to tackle that problem!

Reddit – While it doesn’t have the wide audience of Facebook, the ubiquity of Twitter or the slick visual appeal of Pinterest, Reddit represents a tremendous opportunity for retailers in two ways: to gain information and to influence customer experiences.

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While Reddit is not nearly as well known as these other online communities, they still represent a huge swath of humanity with 37 BILLION page views in 2012 alone.    I would encourage retailers to get on Reddit as I have to read through what is being said about their brands and technology and see what can be gleaned from it.  Like any other wide open discussion, you can expect incredible enthusiasm, fantastic negativity, and lots and lots of stories and comments.  Take all of it with a grain of salt, but the information may change your perspective or drive discussion in your organization and is 100% free consumer input.  Visit reddit.com and type in your company name in the search box.  Before you visit, you may want to understand how it works.

I would not recommend retailers or their representatives fake a consumer post outlining the wonders of any item or their brand.  From my many hours on Reddit I have the sense that full on commercialism will get someone downvoted to oblivion, but even worse is the commercial disguised as a post from a Redditor.

Lots of actors complete an AMA (ask-me-anything) post to shill their latest movies, and Reddit welcomes that with the understanding that for a short paragraph asking for consideration of seeing a movie or reading a book (and maybe not even that), Redditors get a once in a lifetime chance to ask a question directly of a famous person.

If a retailer wants to drive their brand in Reddit, they could have someone famous and beloved by the tech/geek/youth community speak on their behalf and not be too forward about it.    A better vehicle for leveraging Reddit is the provided messaging capability between registered users.  If retailers see a negative or positive post or comment and act to remedy the problem as many have via Twitter and Facebook, Reddit represents a vehicle for customer service.  Getting more information from a failed customer experience and resolving it can provide positive feedback from a large audience.  Combining the advice from the recent Customer Service Podcast on CBC’s Under the Influence with solving complaints and problems seen in  Reddit could drive some real customer loyalty and interest as long as the intent is genuine.

Filed Under: dining & qsr, food & drug, general merchandise, retail, social networking Tagged With: , , , , ,

2013.08 | SBUX Video | PayPal Here

March 6, 2013 By Leave a Comment

IMAG3999-Taking-my-order-at-the-Burien-DT-Starbucks-photo-taken-from-passenger-seat-on-17-Feb-2013Starbucks video drive thru – Starbucks has been quietly piloting video drive thru at some Washington and Nevada sites according to StarbucksMelody.com.  I’ve seen these sorts of video interfaces tried for years with various retail solutions, but they never caught on.  Perhaps we’ve moved past the trough of disillusionment for video interfaces for service.

Given the growing mainstream use of services such as Skype,  Facetime,  Facebook Video Calling and Google Video chat, both consumers and store staff will be more comfortable with the technology and the associated etiquette of using it.

What will be most interesting to understand is the value that can be driven.  Will video chat improve order fidelity, increase upsell, provide improved customer service, strengthen the brand, provide an improved customer experience  reduce costs, or any combination of these?  As always, that value will vary by retailer, their objectives and how the solution is used.  I would be very interested to see some data on the usage compared to the speaker only solution.

Now we just have to figure out how I can visit the drive thru with my reusable tumbler and not hold up the line by handing it in at the pickup window.

CapturePayPal Here- Paypal recently unveiled a mobile payments solution for Europe that is EMV compliant using a separate bluetooth pinpad.  For those of us in the retail world that work within an EMV system, this is welcome news.  While there are many solutions that offer mobile payments using a dongle, and even some that have a case for an iPhone with a built in pinpad,  neither have been a hit in Canada.

PayPal is offering a separate hardware pinpad that connects to a mobile device via bluetooth.  To the US market this may appear to be a less streamlined solution than sticking a dongle into a headphone jack and just swiping an MSR, the separate pinpad idea has its own merits.

  • Consumer Comfort – In places like Canada and Europe, consumers are highly conditioned to inserting their card into a separate device and entering their PIN.  Leveraging this common experience provides a simple segue to using a newer service.
  • Security Perception – From my own perspective, I’m not quite ready to watch someone scan my credit card directly into their personal mobile device.  While a case with a pinpad on the back is essentially identical to this solution, using a separate wireless device provides a helpful psychological division.  I’m not sticking my card in someone’s iPhone, I’m sticking it into a pinpad like I do every day, and this one has the logo of a major payments processor.
  • Reduced Potential for Breakage  - One of my biggest concerns with mobile experiences is handing a mobile device back and forth.  Whenever anyone is moving or passing a mobile device, there is a chance it will be dropped.   Based on the proliferation of ridiculously ugly cases on smartphones on the street, I”m not alone on that concern.   Having a separate device means it can be mounted on a cart.  Consumers can also insert their own EMV card.  The idea has always been to minimize the hands touching credit cards to minimize risk.  Whenever the cashier picks up a device to had a customer, they invariably hold out their hand for your card, insert it, and hand it to you.  This will always be the case with a single device.
  • Security – This can go either way.  EMV is much more secure and convenient for retailers to use than signatures.  Having a second device means someone could steal it without the cashier noticing for some time.  A unit physically attached is less likely to have this issue.
  • Ease of Use – I’d like to see a slightly larger interface than what fits on an iPhone screen.  Bigger buttons and information make the unit simpler to use.  A seperate device can enable that.
Filed Under: dining & qsr, food & drug, general merchandise, retail
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