Cutting edge technology woo customers to brand stores

Store owners are investing in digital technology to attract customers and give them an immersive experience. As per InfoTrends report, in-store digital technologies can increase the average purchase amount by 29.5 per cent and in store traffic by 32.8 per cent as well as creating a brand connect. Many stores have introduced digital technology such as social sharing, virtual mirrors and digital kiosks. Among the stores who have done so are Raymond, Van Heusen and Shoppers Stop.

Digital is attractive, brings more sales

Raymond’s flagship store in Bangalore, Ready to Wear, boasts of a double height ‘live’ façade with LED curtains displaying digital content. The store has an inventory light look and unique fitting room experience. When the customer clicks ‘Trial’ on the iPad, his selection appears in the desired size inside the trial room. So far, the store has generated higher than average footfalls. The store was launched last year and the company plans to open 15-20 more such stores in the next one year. Van Heusen has gone a step further by introducing Van Heusen Style Studio in Bangalore. The store has a fit suite, which suggests appropriate fits and sizes as per the customer’s body type. There virtual trials where consumers can check unlimited apparels without even entering the trial rooms. Shoppers Stop has digital touchpoints in its stores. It has digital kiosks that allow for browse-and-buy from its e-store to augmented reality-based dressing rooms in a few select stores in Mumbai. Future Group which runs Big Bazaar has started digitising its stores and has introduced virtual mirrors and digital signages on a trial basis.

Govind Shrikhande, MD and customer care associate, Shoppers Stop, points out that creating an omni-channel retail experience is the way ahead. He informs that they are digitising their stores to ‘increase customer convenience for better brand connect and loyalty’.

Innovative ways to woo customers

Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India (HMSI), Maruti Suzuki India (MSIL) and Tata Motors are some companies using cutting edge technology to connect with customers and build brands. MSIL launched Nexa, a paperless dealership, Tata Motors has set up interactive kiosks in select dealerships so that consumers can understand the technology behind their vehicles. Similarly, HMSI introduced an app so that they could engage with their younger customers when they launched Honda CB Hornet 160R last December. Plans are afoot to introduce new digital initiatives in its dealership such as providing customers a virtual experience and customising the CB Hornet app to the store level.

As Gaurav Mahajan, president, apparel business, Raymond reasons it is necessary to ‘deploy cutting edge technology in-stores to optimise on customers’ time’. After all, as he says, the ‘Complete Man’ moves seamlessly between the physical and digital worlds.