If the primary purpose of retail stores is to provide customers with an enhanced shopping experience, then why not help them when they are making the choice in the dressing rooms.

Through inventory tagging, the dressing room registers the items shoppers take in to try on and produces video and images of the merchandise. A touch screen gives shoppers the option to invite friends. Through their personal cellphone or key pad, they can then send an e-mail or text message to friends. By clicking on a url and logging on to a Web site, the friends can see the items being tried on and make comments.

There are numerous ‘dry’ zones when it comes to instore shopping and all these can be covered with appropriate technology. Eg:

1. Details: Basic features of a product. It’s strange how most package designs miss the mark on this one.
2. Reviews: Customers value non-biased reviews.
   

   Some 65% of online users said they research products online before buying online, and 56% said they research products on the web and then purchase offline.

   Trust in online reviews was found to be at its greatest when readers heard both sides of the story. Read more on this.

3. Comparison: Retail experiences rarely provide us a way to compare our choices especially when it comes to feature centric electronic products
4. Saving: Saving choices in wish lists to review later.
5. Asking peers: Send to a friend for comments.
6. Pricing: Get quotes from a different store.
7. Related Products: You could make a wish list on site, check it later online and review all related products that may apply.
8. Status: You may check status of your wish list products or products you buy often before making the long trip over to the burbs.

This entry was posted on Monday, July 28th, 2008 at 12:15 pm and is filed under Innovation, User Experience. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.