4 multi-sensory retail technology ideas to help your retail business stand out

There’s growing excitement now that the high street is reopening but as a retailer or brand how do you stand out from the crowd and take advantage of the influx of shoppers?

We believe that creating multi-sensory experiences through the use of interactive technology will help. 

In this article we’ll show four multi-sensory retail technology ideas you can begin using today to help your retail business stand out. 

1. Create a gaming experience, controlled by phone 

Gamification has always proved popular for customers in store, but as retail technologists we’ve had to adapt to the new normal and find ways to still provide gaming, without the sharing of controllers or seats.

A branded game provides interaction, additional branding and can be merged with an easily-recognisable classic, like Tetris or Block Breaker. 

To create this, two QR codes are placed on either side of a large screen. Once scanned on a smartphone camera, this gives the user access to begin as Player 1 or Player 2. You could also create more players, depending on the type of game chosen. 

The user can then control the ping pong paddle, or where the block moves on their side of the screen.

Creating a fun, multi-sensory experience for shoppers while in your store.

2. Provide deeper product information to customers

Thanks to QR codes now being adopted to let people access everything from menus to track and trace, this is now a powerful and viable way to enable customers to engage with your products.

Customers can simply scan a QR code using the camera on their phone, which will trigger an interaction with any screen in your retail store. One example would be allowing customers to swipe between or view products.

Once a product is selected (on their phone - for an entirely touchless experience) this can trigger a video to start on screen. Providing additional information, in the moment, as the customer shops. 

What you choose to show on screen can be completely customizable, inviting creativity!

There’s also an option to add a data capture element. For example if the customer wants to receive more information they can then enter their email address to request a call or follow-up email. 

3. Touchless, gesture-controlled window displays

Interactive screens have always proved hugely popular with shoppers. In fact, for a long time customers would attempt to touch a screen even when it wasn’t a touchscreen! However, in the new normal it’s important to consider how you can create screens which are interactive, without any touch being needed.

Enter touchless, gesture-based screen control.

This is a unique way to create interaction.

Taking a large screen, the customer can interact with the screen using hand gestures or whole body movement. One example is inviting users to wipe away all of the coverings to reveal an image behind or move an item around a maze. You could also use this type of display for gamification, inviting customers to get rid of a series of images, logos or items as fast as they can.

This example has proved hugely popular with some of the children testers in our R&D team! Great if your store is family-friendly. 

Simplicity is key and the content can be pretty much anything you like. We can also use the tracking as an input for other applications if they exist already, almost any content can be used.

4. Object recognition for products

RFID (which stands for Radio Frequency Identification) is a wireless system created using tags and readers. The tags can be applied to almost any product, with the screen acting as the “reader” to provide a detailed user experience. 

This works extremely well for retail as it enables the user to delve into the details of a product using technology.

The customer can pick up and place any RFID-enabled product onto a surface. This would activate the surface, and can even change its colour or effect, while also activating content to begin playing on screen.

Alternatively, the user could lift the product from the surface and this would trigger the activation on screen. The triggered content could be anything that shows product specific information including images, videos or a webpage.

If the on screen content is video the object can even be used to control what happens, allowing the user to play, pause and restart the video.

You can then measure key analytics such as which product was picked up the most or viewed for the longest amount of dwell time. 

The RFID reader could also be replaced with a barcode reader and be programmed to respond directly to a product barcode. For example someone could scan a product from the shelf and see an advert or overview video for that product.

Bring multi-sensory retail technology into your store today.

Could you see your brand using these technologies to enable an exciting user experience as customers return to the marketplace? 

To discuss any of the ideas mentioned, get in touch with our team on 020 8159 9999 or info@vastuk.com.