Design + Visual + Motion + Audio

Greater emotional appeal is a big driver at retail. It’s a challenge to break through and connect with people – particularly in a store. Sight, sound and motion are increasing in importance. With a combination of design, location and effective content, it can be done. And it doesn’t always require a 60” LCD. That’s impact.

The value of an engaged shopper.

Impression is the value of an engaged shopper. It can be active or interactive or better yet – adaptive. The interaction part is how you greet the consumer and attempt to engage them. What is the feeling you create when you ask a shopper to give you more attention? This isn’t creating a PPT or a website. Getting someone’s attention is work. People are distracted, so the invitation needs to be compelling but not “salesy”. This includes all elements of the interface – the initial attract screen – from colors to fonts, to buttons, to motion. It also clearly articulates what you want – “Touch me to learn more”. Once you have their attention, it’s time to deliver on the promise that you have something worthwhile – education, information, a special coupon, etc.

Active content is a one way communication which we are accustomed to. It’s the traditional media model and it’s one of the challenges of creating a quantifiable ROI for digital signage. For some retailers the environment is so crucial to the overall experience that they need something impactful to make it work. A large single screen display may be the answer – it is in retail now. Going forward, in Retail 2.0 display size will be one component. It will also include display shape, configuration, multiple screens and a whole new canvass for creative marketing to reach out to consumers.

The invitation plus valued content.

In Retail 2.0 the next step up from an active impression is an interactive impression. By aligning impact and interaction, we now have an opportunity for a shopper to “opt in” and choose to invest time in establishing a relationship with the brand. It’s another “moment of truth” to provide greater value around the product or service being provided. It’s also a shopper saying "I need help and I’m choosing this vehicle (a kiosk) to help me in my purchasing decision." So it better be useful.

The last impression is what we call the adaptive impression. This is when the brand and consumer have established a relationship and there is trust. When a shopper arrives at the kiosk, it remembers past interactions and asks questions or make suggestions based upon past history. Think about Amazon.com and how they suggest books. It could also be a way for people to share their experience and then information and/or opinions can be collected at the point of purchase about the product or service.

Insights into consumer behaviors.

Throughout all the first 3 elements of Retail 2.0, all of this information is being collected. Every piece of content shown, every consumer interaction, and every email captured, it’s all there. If a brand wants to understand when most of the shoppers are interacting they can capture it. All of this information can be aligned with sales data to determine effectiveness of content. It helps to shape more targeted messaging based upon region, time of day, most popular products, most desired option (think hair, skin, clothes, etc.).

All of this information is collected and available on the web 24/7. It provides a whole new window for brand and retailers to peer into what is taking place in the store – what people are interested in, when they are interested and what type of communication is impactful. These insights show how to generated the most effective impression to influence shopper behavior.