The evolving retail landscape involves redefining the purpose of physical stores for more customer connections and creating seamless omni-channel experiences.

1. VIRTUAL SHELVES - A FRONTIER OF INNOVATION IN RETAIL TECHNOLOGIES
WHITEPAPER

2. 1
Global retail e-commerce sales 2014-2026; statista.com
INTRODUCTION
Brickandmortarretailersareundertremendouspressurefromthee-commerce
boom and ever-evolving customer expectations. Globally, online shopping is
projected to continue its strong upward trend1
. A lack of physical constraints
has enabled e-commerce sites to innovate often and act quickly in terms of
marketing and customer experience. Further, their lower cost of operations
has translated into better pricing for customers. As a result, „offline“ retailers
are suffering from a drop in sales, lower footfalls and a dire need to reinvent
themselves to stay relevant.
Retailersarerespondingwithnewconceptsanddigitalinnovationstotransform
their role from transactional outlets to experiential destinations. Interactive
smart retail technologies are playing an increasing role in this journey, with a
variety of tools for retailers to choose from and a broad range of benefits.
In this whitepaper:
Smart Retail: What Customers Want
How Virtual Shelves Work
Virtual Shelf Case Studies
3 Ways that Virtual Shelves Benefit your Business
Retailers‘ Guide: Transitioning to Virtual Shelves

3. 2
Six things you need to know about the future of retail, Wired
3
The future of shopping: connected, virtual and augmented, Periscope by McKinsey
4
Industry insights survey (july 2018), euromonitor international, forbes.com
INNOVATE, OR
RISK IRRELEVANCE
First, is a reinvention of the purpose of the offline store. „Future retail is moving
from transactional to relational. Brands will use the offline space to create more
opportunities for people to connect with the products“, says Emilie Colker2
,
executive director at IDEO.
For example, brick & mortar retailer Ikea is introducing smaller stores to reach
urbanshoppersinabidtocompeteagainste-commercesites.Ikeaisalsoexpe-
rimenting with different ways to enable customers to experience products,
both in real-life via pop-up cooking classes and virtually via virtual reality apps
in Ikea stores.
Second, is the development of a seamless customer experience across online
and offline. Over 60% of customers in Germany, the United Kingdom and the
United States shop across both physical and digital channels3
, and research
suggests that omnichannel shoppers account for a larger percentage of sales4
.

4. Customers consume personalized digital content across interactive touch screens (i.e. their smartphones) on a daily basis.
Familiar with this technology, they have come to expect smooth user experiences across all facets of life. When it comes to
retail experiences, customers expect access to up-to-date product catalogs, detailed product information with supporting
rich visual content (like videos), product reviews, price comparison, personalized offers and coupons, and seamless one-click
payments.
Customers are also hungry for contemporary technology-fueled experiences, such as virtual reality, nowadays rebranded
as the “Metaverse“. In a study on “The Future of Shopping“ by McKinsey4
polled customers in Germany, France, the United
Kingdom and the United States, and unearthed the following insights:
A seamless experience can be as simple as ensuring product pricing is consistent across the retailer‘s stores, e-commerce site
and mobile app. It can also be more complex, where access to online shopping features, like reviews, price comparison and
personalized offers, are delivered in-store.
TOUCH SCREEN TABLE SOFTWARE
Virtual Shelves are in demand - respondents believe these interactive signage solutions will improve their in-store
shopping experience (54% of German respondents felt this way).
Browsing products, exploring products „virtually“ and receiving similar product recommendations were the most
popular activities (over half of German respondents felt this way).
In-store virtual reality and augmented reality experiences drew in predominantly online shoppers, giving them a
reason to visit brick & mortar stores.

5. HOW VIRTUAL SHELVES WORK
Customers can touch the display to see more information about the product, add it to their shopping cart, and complete the
transaction digitally or through their smartphone - for instance by scanning a QR code.
Virtual shelves can also play rich media content and can be customized to offer specific services to customers, such as personal
assistance. These interactive solutions can also be equipped with product recognition technologies, enabling customers to
display relevant additional information when a product is scanned.
A content management system and an array of touchscreen apps and features allow retailers to update content in real-time
and ensure the offline store is in ‚sync‘ with their online promotions. All touch interactions can be tracked and analysed to
gather intelligence around customers. Virtual shelves can be set up as large multitouch screens, kiosk terminals, tables or
even super-sized video walls of different sizes.

6. 7
Award-winning pos software solution for zwilling, eyefactive.com
6
Polaris transforms retail experience with interactive digital signage, digitalsignagetoday.com
5
Technology drives growth for quick serve restaurants, evoke-creative.com
VIRTUAL SHELVES, REAL RESULTS
Interactive technologies point to an exciting future for retail. Several brands have already embraced these technologies and
seen positive impact, encouraging others to explore the use of interactive digital signage to find their own sweet spots.
leveraged virtual shelves within its stores to provide customers with accurate detailed information about its
range of specialised vehicles, leading to a 26% increase in vehicle sales and a 44% increase in accessory sales6
.
POLARIS
created an award-winning retail experience, with the use of a bespoke solution from eyefactive, by enabling
customers to seek personalised product recommendations from a catalogue of thousands of different items
with the use of interactive touch screens and a virtual assistant.7
ZWILLING
has embraced interactive touchscreens at its point of sale, to allow customers to skip the queue for the cashier
and place their orders quickly and seamlessly. According to one case study, the results were faster service time
per order and a 30% increase in the average order size5
.
MCDONALD‘S

7. Interactive touchscreens act as a blank digital canvas for retailers to leverage as
per their specific needs, be it inventory management, advertising at point of
sale, provision of additional information or customer reviews about products
and so on. With insight into the specific on-site challenges and some creati-
vity, a diverse range of solutions can be delivered at the POS with interactive
virtual shelf solutions
Optimise costs, improve customer experience and re-invent the retail expe-
rience. The advantages of virtual shelves can be categorised into three key
benefits.
3 WAYS THAT VIRTUAL SHELVES
BENEFIT YOUR BUSINESS

8. VIRTUAL SHELVES HELP OPTIMISE COSTS
Interactivedigitalsignageempowersretailerstomaximisetheir
physical space. Virtual shelves can display the retailer‘s entire
catalog of products, freeing up space that would be otherwise
occupied and allowing retailers to put it to different use.
Free up physical space in-store
Virtual shelves give retailers the option to downsize their ope-
rations and therefore save on rent and maintenance costs.
Downsize retail space and save on rent costs
Since content and videos can be displayed digitally, there is an
opportunity to reduce or avoid printing marketing collaterals.
Avoid cost of printing marketing collaterals
With virtual shelves, stores no longer need to occupy a large
amount of space. As a result, retailers have the freedom to
explore new locations, which might typically be out of reach
or budget.
Set up store-in-store locations with higher footfall and pre-
ferred audiences

9. VIRTUAL SHELVES HELP IMPROVE THE CUSTOMER
EXPERIENCE
Customersareincontroloftheirexperiencewithvirtualshelves,
andcanaccesstheinformationtheyrequireseamlessly,without
queuing up or seeking help.
Faster fulfilment, without having to search for staff
Customers can see all available products virtually, even if they
are not currently in stock at the store. Further, they can verify
the product is available in the size they require.
Access to the entire product catalogue
Customers can access additional information about the
products they are interested in such as reviews and price com-
parison, and be assured that they are accessing the latest, up-
to-date data.
Access to information in real time
Customers can quickly scan the catalog for products they are
interested in, using search and filter functions, without having
to hunt the physical products one by one in the store.
Convenient browsing with the help of a virtual assistant

10. VIRTUAL SHELVES HELP REINVENT THE RETAIL EXPERIENCE
Interactive shop windows allow customers to engage with a brand and the respective products before even
entering the shop, and render store timings irrelevant.
Extend store timings and ‚open hours‘
The entire customer journey can take place on interactive self-order solutions providing virtual shelves - from
product discovery to virtual assistants and checkout features such as mobile payments.
Accept mobile payments
By means of object recognition, customers can „scan“ single products to access more content or to initiate a
delightful interactive experience.
Scan products for more information
Every touchscreen interaction can be tracked and measured, providing retailers with rich customer insights
and intelligence. From understanding what customers are interested in, to charting their actual customer
journey and using new technologies to sense their age, sex aned even emotions - interactive digital signage
captures data that was previously inaccessible within stores.
Track touchscreen interactions

11. Store owners should assess their readiness to transition to
virtual shelves. This should include an evaluation of current
technology, customer service needs, staff capabilities, and the
potential implications of making the switch.
ASSESSMENT
Retailers should plan the transition, including mapping out
the customer journey and developing strategies to ensure
a smooth transition. This could involve discussions between
departments, such as IT and marketing, to identify potential
challenges and opportunities.
PLANNING
3 STEPS RETAILERS CAN TAKE
TO IMPLEMENT VIRTUAL
SHELVES

12. SUMMARY
Smart retail technologies such as virtual shelves are transforming the point
of sale and enabling retailers to bridge the digital gap and go even further.
Retailers can leverage these technologies to meet customers‘ demands for
up-to-date content, personalised communications and seamless omni-chan-
nel shopping, and to delight customers with unique engaging experiences.
Virtual shelves and interactive digital technologies can play key roles in freeing
up retail space and in facilitating online shopping features in physical stores.
Retailers should clarify that they have the necessary resources
in place to ensure a successful transition to virtual shelves, such
as staff training and a plan to phase out existing technologies.
Additionally, businesses should look for technology partners
and suppliers who can help them with the transition.
IMPLEMENTATION

13. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Matthias Woggon is CEO & Co-founder of eyefactive GmbH. A pioneer in
interactive signage, eyefactive combines interactive touchscreen systems,
software and technologies like object recognition to offer innovative
solutions for businesses. Furthermore, clients and partners can create ready
to use apps with individual content and designs in the world‘s first ever app
store for professional large-scale touchscreens.

14. TOUCHSCREEN HARDWARE
Various MultiTouch Screens, Tables, Kiosks or Video-
walls in any size or format.
TOUCHSCREEN SOFTWARE
Customizable multitouch apps from the world‘s first
dedicated app store for large-scale touchscreens.
TOUCHSCREEN TECHNOLOGIES
Innovative technologies like object-recognition, pay-
ment, scanners and video retail analytics.
TOUCHSCREEN SERVICES
From expert consultation, to cloud-based content
integration and system administration.

15. INTERACTIVE SIGNAGE XXL
Find out more about our eyefactive‘s interactive
touchscreen technologies and products:
TOUCHSCREEN APP PLATFORM
Start the tour, browse apps & widgets and download
your free version of AppSuite CMS at:
www.multitouch-appstore.com
www.eyefactive.com

16. CONTACT US
TOUCH FUTURE. TOGETHER.