Microsoft Tag – Endless possibilities for Retailers
In the recently conducted Consumer Electronic Show, Microsoft launched Microsoft Tag, real innovative concept to connect mobile barcodes (or tags) on physical objects to online content (opening mobile content, videos, music, contact information, promotions etc). The tag appears as shown below (this one will tag you to my blog, Retail Technology Blog).
From Microsoft Tag website:
Microsoft Tag creates unlimited possibilities for making interactive communications an instant, entertaining part of life. They tranform physical media (print advertising, billboards,product packages, information signs, in-store merchandising, or even video images)—into live links for accessing information and entertainment online.
With the Microsoft Tag application, just aim your camera phone at a Tag and instantly access mobile content, videos, music, contact information, maps, social networks, promotions, and more. Nothing to type, no browsers to launch!
The sophisticated technology powering Microsoft Tag, High Capacity Color Barcodes (HCCBs), was invented by Microsoft Research. It was designed from the ground up for maximum performance with the limited cameras on most mobile phones. Advanced image-processing techniques decode even out-of-focus barcode images, which means Microsoft Tag works with the fixed-focus camera lenses common in most mobile devices.
The advanced computer imaging of HCCBs employs different symbol shapes in geometric patterns and multiple colors to provide more information in less space.
I find this technology amazing with its potential. The mobile barcode gives the customers a sense of security knowing each of the items they bought are recognized by the app. Another feature is once you scan your item a list of potential add-ons and price comparisons to help you decide better.
Source:
Publish by: Jairus Lansang
Date Published: 09/21/09
Improving the customer experience is key to surviving the downturn
A new research report from SAP and the British Retail Consortium has identified the customer experience as the key to successfully riding out the recession, and found there are no signs of retailers slowing down on planning for the future
A new survey conducted by ERP specialist SAP in conjunction with the British Retail Consortium (BRC) has found that the majority of retailers are continuing to invest in their future development, despite the recession.
More than half (51%) of respondents are looking at different channels as a way to increase revenue and 54% of respondents to the survey believe that focusing on improving the customer experience will be the key to surviving the downturn.
"Retailers understand that they must respond to the fall in consumer spending now, and get closer to their customers," say the authors. "Retailers now have the systems and technology in place to be able to understand what data they own on their customers, where and how they are spending and understand their needs. Almost a quarter of people surveyed believe that marketing correctly to existing customers will enable them to ride the storm."
"Retailers want to understand their customers better and don't think loyalty cards are the answer," the authors continue. "They believe technology will however play a critical role in reaching these goals, particularly in the areas of inventory management, customer analytics, labour and task management, online shopping, merchandising and helping to improve the customer experience."
"Retailers are also looking at staff as a way to improve customer service," says Richard Mills, retail industry principal at SAP UK. "The survey showed that 35% of retailers are using technology to automate processes, not to reduce the number of staff, but to allocate their time to serving customers."
"The recession will drive some players out of the market, but those that capitalise on their investments and opportunities have a chance of coming out of the recession stronger than they ever were," he added.
Source:
Some people finally understood that it’s the people who make them the profits and not the money. Despite the recession we still strive to make a better living for everyone. Everyone wants to succeed and everyone wants to develop and thrive in jobs we all have. A good start would be to communicate with the customers, and let them know you take top priority in their needs.
Publish by: Jairus Lansang
Date Published: 09/21/09
Virtual Shopping, Real Results
April 16, 2009
- Todd Wasserman
Despite the flash-in-the-pan success of virtual reality mediums like Second Life, marketers are flocking to VR—for research purposes.
Computerized store simulations—in which consumers “shop” in on-screen environments that look very close to the real thing—are now standard for the larger packaged goods firms like Procter & Gamble, Frito-Lay, ConAgra and Intel, which have been using them for years.
But now there are several factors speeding the adoption of VR shopping research among other, smaller players including better technology, lower prices, the expanded use of brainwave and EKG measurements on consumers to hone results, more emphasis on shopper marketing and the ubiquity of broadband.
While firms like P&G tend to do such simulations in-house, IRI, the Chicago-based market research firm, began offering the program to clients about a year or so ago. Earlier this month, Staci Covkin, vp of consumer and shopper insights at IRI, gave a presentation on the subject at the Advertising Research Foundation’s Re:think conference in New York.
IRI’s simulation program, which uses software from Vision Critical, presents a close approximation of the interior of a Wal-Mart as well as the prepared foods aisle of a supermarket, among other locales. IRI taps its base of 60,000 or so consumers to virtually shop such locales to see what pops on shelf and what doesn’t.
“We instruct respondents to shop as they normally would and ask them which displays capture the most attention,” said Covkin. “Because it’s virtual, you can change things on the fly.”
Testing new products in a real store environment would be too expensive and time-consuming, Covkin said. “In the perfect world, we’d be testing everything in a real store environment. However, due to the time it takes to implement an effective test and get compliance with retailers, the cost is enormous.”
In contrast, Covkin said the range of pricing for a VR store similation runs from about $30,000 to more than $1 million.
Meanwhile, the quality of such simulations is much better than even a couple of years ago, said Raymond Burke, a marketing professor at Indiana University in Bloomington, Ind. “The quality is getting so close that you couldn’t tell diff between it and a photograph, except when they put people in—they can’t do them that well yet,” Burke said.
Burke, who has been studying VR shopping technology since early '90s, said that such environments offer the best simulation possible to real shopping, except for one area: “If the product relies on a tactile experience—like how heavy it is—it won’t be that accurate.”
As a tradeoff, Burke envisions a day not too far away in which VR shopping technology will redefine shopper marketing and create tenets of conventional wisdom (like, segment products on shelf by category, not brand) that will increase its efficacy. “We could better learn how to turn demand into purchase, which is the whole point,” he said.
Source:
This is to help the development of retail marketing. Like said in the article, “Because it’s virtual, you can change things on the fly”, the computer can easily adapt to the changes at any given time. Unlike in the real life, when changes are to be made there will be a lot of tedious work. A good example would be rearranging the shelves. Virtual reality could do this task in a matter of seconds while physically it would take hours. This technology was developed to further develop the progress of retail technology.
Publish by: Jairus Lansang
Date Published: 09/21/09