IT related innovations in retail sector

1. Sahil Khanna
(013-III-331)
11/22/14 IMM-GROUP(M2)

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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.