Retail technology: which will make the cut?

Technology will undoubtedly feature heavily in the ‘store of the future’, but the nuts and bolts are yet to be determined.

With the retail world changing at an unprecedented pace, what’s in vogue today might be yesterday’s news in a matter of weeks – but that hasn’t dissuaded two of the UK’s biggest retailers from trialling what they perceive to be significantly customer-enhancing technologies.

Firstly, this week Tesco unveiled Augmented Reality technology in the form of huge screens at four of its locations. The concept enables customers to pick up entertainment products such as DVDs and books, and show the item to the screen to see a trailer and obtain more information. By making the customer experience more interactive, Tesco believes that you will be more likely to purchase items once you’ve ‘used’ them – and thus, in effect, you no longer have to judge a book by its cover.

Meanwhile, HMV has opted for a more tried-and-tested approach with the addition of QR codes – the square barcode icons – that have been pinned up on bus stop posters around the country to help promote the latest DVD and Blu Ray releases. By using a smartphone to scan the code, the user is automatically directed to HMV’s online store where the item can be purchased.

The latter of the two concepts has, in fact, been prevalent in Asia for some time now, and has been a huge success especially on the underground system – where it’s perceived, like bus stops, to be a good opportunity to engage with potential customers whilst they’re twiddling their thumbs and looking for anything to help pass the time of day.

While these technologies are by no means ‘hot off the press’, there is nothing to yet suggest that they can’t prove successful here in the UK. After all, the modern day consumer is also smarter and more tech-savvy than ever before too, but they’ll only invest the time in technology that makes a difference, not that which is simply the most novel.

- Simon Rowley

Posted November 2011