Wal-Mart to provide some in-store media measurement data

Sorry for nearly month-long posting hiatus on this blog. I've been pretty good about keeping up with the WireSpring Kiosk/Digital Signage Weblog, but that came at the expense of posting here (and to digital signage news and kiosk news) less frequently during some serious busy times.

Fortunately, I can kick things back off with a bang, since Wal-Mart recently announced that they would be releasing some retail media tracking data as part of a larger project with Nielsen In-Store to measure in-store media consumption and effectiveness in about 1,000 of its US stores, and that's seriously big news for the retail media industry. Apparently, the company's initial results with Nielsen's PRISM in-store tracking system were determined to be 76% accurate (via cross-checks with in-person audits), which was a better than expected result. Tweaks to the system have supposedly raised accuracy to about 85%, which would be pretty impressive for a fully automated system, and were good enough for Wal-Mart to commit to a larger deployment of the system.

Considering how many have bemoaned the lack of accountability and effectiveness of traditional media channels recently (myself included), many are hopeful that the results of such a wide-scale study will indicate that retail media is better at connecting with consumers and communicating brand messages. Of course, if it turns out that's not the case, we'll be in for a rough time as marketers again scramble to find something that works. Not that I think that will be an actual problem. Our internal, customer-provided (and thus potentially tainted) data clearly indicates sales boosts and high satisfaction scores correlated with retail digital media networks.

At the DSE show last week, Nielsen In-Store's George Wishart noted that CPM (or gross impressions, or something similar) is likely to be the de-facto standard for media measurement and pricing for the foreseeable future, as that's what media planners are most comfortable with. Of course, Nielsen's PRISM system, which relies on simple infrared scanners to essentially measure store traffic at different points, is suited for only capturing this particular measurement. On the other hand, while more sophisticated measurement systems that can do things like eye-tracking, gaze-tracking, and idleness tracking could generate more precise measurements, without something to compare against, retailers and marketers would have little ability to actually use the data (not to mention the privacy issues that come with that level of tracking).

As ususal, RetailWire has some good discussion on the subject, so you might want to check that out as well.

Tags: digital signage, in-store media, retail media, Wal-Mart, PRISM

Digital retailing design ideas from VMSD

VMSD (formerly VisualStore) published an article a few days ago spotlighting some of the more interesting and certainly more striking digital retailing concepts that I've seen so far. By far my favorite is that for Postbank, who really hit a home run with their clean, contemporary and very high-tech looking design (pictured left). As Sean O'Leary, VMSD's technical editor notes, "In the case of Postbank, the implementation of different types of display and interactive technologies is leveraged to create a more 'human' environment," and I'd certainly have to agree with that statement. In today's retail environment where digital solutions are often still tacked-on as an afterthought, Postbank and others have demonstrated that integrating the digital elements (which in this case are entirely functional) directly into the store design can be extremely compelling. This approach certainly beats out those who are still hanging solitary unmodified plasma screens from the rasters or tucking the odd self-service kiosk into some dark corner where nary a customer will venture.

Of course, because Postbank does rely on these kiosks to actually help process customer requests (customers can work unaided in a truly self-service fashion, or can ask the help of one of the branch's bankers and tellers who roam the floor), they have the right motivation to make sure that the devices look friendly and inviting. They're also freed from having to follow the standard format of having a queue area and teller's desks, which gives them a good deal more flexibility with the floor plan.

Bonus points for making the kiosks look like JetBlue's self check-in stations, which in my opinion still set the bar for kiosk design.

Tags: Digital retailing, Postbank, self-service

Re-thinking retail design to address consumer self-service

A few weeks ago SelfServiceWorld published an article on the "new rules" of retail design. The crux of the argument: "New technologies make it possible, for the first time, to reach those individual customers with individual experiences. Digital signage, self-service — and, perhaps most importantly, the rise of multi-channel retailing — are demanding a new holistic view when it comes to the design of in-store experiences."

As I read through the rest of the article, which talks about retail media, shopper traffic monitoring and even shelving, I couldn't help but think: the rules are still the same. Ever since that first shop keep decided to put a sign outside his door advertising the arrival of fresh produce, biscuit mix or bolts of fabric, the rules have been largely the same. Make the store pleasing to the eye, ensure that shoppers feel comfortable, and (in the US at least), make sure that there's plenty of room to navigate. While there are arguments both for and against making products easy to find and convenient to purchase right away, these are more merchandising questions rather than design ones. Likewise, the addition of digital signage systems and other in-store media augment, not replace, current design considerations.

On the self-service front, there are basically two categories of devices that impact store design. The first are those machines that improve the store experience by making a hard process easier. I'd place self-checkout lanes, price lookup terminals and product information kiosks into this category because each provides shoppers a way to perform a standard in-store action more quickly and with less hassle than before. However, in all of these cases while store design might have to be modified slightly to make optimal use of the technology, they certainly don't require dramatic changes. The second category of self-service devices gives shoppers access to new services that they might not have had before. Loyalty program kiosks and product extension/virtual shopping terminals go here, because these kinds of activities are generally not available otherwise. These technologies have the potential to be quite disruptive when properly integrated into a store's business and design plan, and I could see the case for making significant changes to a store's layout if management thought it would drive business via these devices.

With everybody from Wal-Mart to Victoria's Secret constantly trying out new designs in an effort to improve the in-store experience, it's clear that there's no sure-fire method for winning over customers. Between changing tastes, new and diversified product/service offerings and the fickle nature of shoppers in general, the best we can do is try and keep up with consumer trends while making stores more enjoyable to navigate. While new retail media services can make the shopping experience better and even more fun, to those who have already been exposed to the fine art of store design, I think they're more likely to inspire ideas of evolution rather than revolution.

Tags: store design, retail media, merchandising

Will digitally-based customer assistance help solve store customer service woes?

That's exactly the question that the latest BrainTrust Query over at Retail Wire is trying to answer, and as usual, the participants in the discussion have some great insights to share. Using examples like Experticity's kiosk-based remote assistance platform, or the 3D avatars employed by some other self-service technology companies, Laura Davis-Taylor posits that there's a need to engage the customer at a point when she is making an active investment in learning about a product/service, which is an important part of the sales process to be sure.

The upside of such programs is that by relying on artificial intelligence and a centralized customer support staff, retailers can lower costs while improving the service experience by being able to instantly access product information, loyalty programs, etc. and tie those into the support process. Of course, the downside is that the human customer is now interacting with a kiosk, and whether there's a human or a computer on the other end of the Internet connection, it's not quite the same as speaking to somebody in-store.

While there are certainly valid arguments to be made on both sides, it seems like this technology, or something reasonably similar, will become a de-facto addition to the retail environment given the dramatic upswing of in-store self-service kiosks (for all sorts of uses), and the advent of more capable mobile devices. A few years from now, it seems like it would be more likely a customer would want to interact with a human being or really smart AI on the other end of their smartphone (a device already optimized for human interaction) rather than a self-contained kiosk. On the other hand, of course, kiosks will always be able to offer more functionality, larger screen real estate, peripherals like printers, and so on, so there's a place for them as well.

Technology aside, though, the success or failure of these services lies with their ability to connect with customers and offer them genuine value. My favorite quote from this Brain Trust survey comes from Camille P. Schuster, Ph.D., President, Global Collaborations, Inc., who suggests that, ". If the interaction doesn't really feel like talking with a "live" person it should not be presented that way. In many instances, consumers are seeking information and that source doesn't need to be in the form of a personal interaction." Both information and presentation of the information are important inside of a store, and even the most well thought-out product brochures and marketing info won't make a difference if they aren't presented in such a way that the customer will be receptive to them.

This could be the biggest challenge for companies like Experticity, whose entire business involves delivering a real-world experience inside of a real-world environment, but via an artificial, digital medium.

Tags: Experticity, self-service, in-store marketing, customer support

The Curious Shopper checks out Uniqlo

Though I first noticed articles about it back in November of last year, I still haven't found my way into the new Uniqlo store in NYC (granted I'm not exactly in the target demographic). But over at the Curious Shopper, Sara (who is), gives it a great going-over. She suggests that the retailer's difficulties moving out of its home market in Japan have been at least in part based on cultural differences:

Uniqlo has been challenged to translate its retail offering into other cultures. A first attempt at the UK market failed when big, splashy store openings were met with confusion. Now, Uniqlo is focused on bridging the culture gap, by understanding the mind of the fickle US consumer, while also maintaining a subtly Japanese aesthetic. They've set some lofty goals with that one.

When I visited the store, I had a slightly different observation. For me it was less of an American-Japanese gap they needed to bridge, and more of an Old Japan-New Japan gap that needed balancing. I saw spare Japanese discipline coupled with hip Japanese pop culture. The interplay between modern and traditional was fascinating, if not entirely cohesive. Most interestingly, the traditional was actually more in tune with the trends of American retail.

Sara also makes an excellent point about the use of repeating items/images as part of a merchandising strategy. Repetition is one of those basic Psych 101 principles that ties in to everything from short-term memory to pattern recognition, but we still see limited use of it in-store. While I could see a problem at a supermarket or big-box retailer, where trying to create repeating instances of 50,000 different brands might become a bit maddening, it seems like a natural fit for private label retail.

Tags: Uniqlo, repetition, merchandising, in-store marketing

22 year-old writes how-to manual for tray liner advertising

Man, I knew these echo-boomers liked to take matters into their own hands, but this is still pretty impressive: 22 year-old Phillip Tapia is trying to re-invent food service tray liner advertising, which, while certainly not one of the sexier sides of the ad industry, is a practical and established marketing medium. According to this press release, "Phillip and his father (Mike Tapia) currently distribute to 26 Wendy’s restaurants in southern Colorado along with dozens of Little Caesars Pizza locations in Colorado Springs, Pueblo, and Denver Colorado. Between Wendy’s and Little Caesars pizza, the Tapia family will print and produce more than 400,000 tray liners and pizza box toppers every month. Tray Display only uses soy-based inks and prints on 100% recycled paper to ensure our tray liners and box toppers are environmentally friendly." The business model features tie-ins with local radio stations and takes advantage of local advertisers and sponsors.

While still small at only 400k impressions per month, the thing that most impressed me (and most differentiates this startup company with so many others) is their willingness to share what they've learned: Tapia launched www.TrayDisplayAdvertising.com, which includes a How-To manual for others interested in the tray advertising business. Instead of keeping his findings a secret, I suppose he hopes to make a name for himself in the industry by sharing what he has learned works and doesn't work in the market.

IconNicholson's interactive mirrors bring social media to shopping

While the image above may look like something out of the Haunted Mansion at DisneyWorld, it is in fact a prototype interactive mirror developed by IconNicholson and demonstrated at an NYC Bloomingdales for a few days last week. The mirror allows a shopper to virtually try on different outfits by projecting an image of the selected item(s) "on top of" the shopper's own image. While the obvious benefit might be a new wave of efficiency that allows shoppers to try out a larger number of items without having to drag them all into a dressing room, the mirror's developers had a more social goal in mind: group shopping. As this article from the New York Times notes,

As [self-described shopaholic Tracy] Noah stood in front of the mirror, a camera relayed live video images of her to an Internet site where online participants could view her outfit. When Web viewers responded by sending her comments, their instant messages popped up on the left side of the mirror for Ms. Noah to read. They also selected items for her to try on, causing virtual images of the clothing to appear before her in the middle of the mirror, like life-size holograms.

The article notes that shopping for non-essentials (ok, what I would call non-essentials) can be a largely social experience for many, and the prospect of trading a night out shopping with the girls isn't likely to be replaced by a night in front of the computer watching one of your friends go shopping any time soon.

Augmented reality mirrors have been a hot topic lately. Other blog posts about them include:
AddMirror brings retail media to the narcissist
Adidas virtual shoe-fitting mirror

Tags: IconNicholson, Bloomingdales, digital signage, interactive mirror

Immersive Display Solutions and ZmmConnect present the Ad.mersion system

Maybe I'm starting to get old, but the more I see gimmicky advertising solutions like interactive floors, 3D holographic displays and immersive systems, the more quickly I immediately think "this will never catch on at-retail." Aside from some extremely cool-looking demonstrations, I just haven't seen many practical applications that use these kinds of things to do something unique, innovative, and genuinely useful.

Of course, every once in a while somebody like Reactrix - makers of some of the aforementioned interactive floors - will go and do something amazing like raise $45 million to place their wares into malls in hopes to sell advertising and sponsorship deals, but to me even that kind of seems like having more dollars than sense. Perhaps it's because I'm not the right target audience, and maybe getting kids to jump up and down and run after a spinning Nike logo on the floor really will help to build a connection between brand and budding consumer. But I'm going to need to see some data before buying into that.

Now on the other hand, I do think that these kinds of immersive technology may have a place in experiential shopping venues - those who put the brand and the experience front and center instead of focusing exclusively on selling products (and after doing a bit of research, it seems that David Polinchock from the Brand Experience Lab would agree).

Where's this going? Well, I started giving this area some thought after reading that a company called Immersive Display Solutions announced that a great use of their immersive graphical "bubbles" (for lack of a better word) is retail advertising. I'll be the first to say that IDS's immersive screens are extremely cool. They create a feeling of depth and motion that just can't be matched by a much smaller flat screen. However, it seems like this is a solution in search of a problem, and I'd be surprised if the Ad.mersion system, as it's called, can gain traction in the increasingly competitive out-of-home advertising market. Do the displays have the ability to attract a crowd? Yup. Will it be enough to offset the expense of the system and its ability to only address a relatively small number of people at once? Right now, I don't think so.

Granted, advertisers have a long history of latching on to the latest novelty in hopes that it will catch enough attention with its uniqueness to make it worthwhile. But like my feelings towards Reactrix, it's going to be a challenge to show that these systems are practical for more than brand promotion and producing a more interesting in-store experience.

Tags: Ad.mersion, marketing at retail, out-of-home advertising

Starbucks contemplates its brand experience

AdAge is running a good article on the "death of the Starbucks brand experience," citing a recent trend from inside the company (in fact spurred on by chairman Howard Schultz, as noted by a leaked memo picked up by Starbucks Gossip last week) of cutting costs and improving efficiency at the expense of the brand's experiential qualities. For example, the article cites things like delivering vacuum-sealed ground coffee to stores across the nation (as opposed to having them grind their own beans), and using pre-measured espresso "capsules" instead of having barristas pull shots as examples of the way Starbucks has been commoditizing the brand experience in order to keep up its growth rate. The problem in both of these cases is that by reducing the authenticity of the environment and the personalization of service, Starbucks is relegating themselves to acting as a glorified coffee (and CD, and scone and breakfast sandwich) vending machine, losing some of its homey ambiance in the process. Combined with the fact that they were found to have some of the worst-tasting coffee according to a recent Consumer Reports study, that equals a big problem. The most interesting quote from the article is this gem, which definitely sheds some light on the company's changing focus:

"You probably wouldn't leave a Starbucks dissatisfied, but satisfaction is just the price of entry. It has lost its differentiation, its crispness of experience."

In an age where a leaked memo could be a PR ploy as much as it could be a simple oversight, a quote like that could indicate a genuine interest in becoming remarkable again, or it could simply be motivational rhetoric. As one of those coffee snobs who scoffs at Starbucks, I can't say I have a big emotional investment either way, however Starbucks has been one of the standard examples of how to do brand experience right for over a decade now. Watching such a giant stumble but recover would certainly be educational for anybody interested in improving the in-store experience of their venues.

[2007-02-27 UPDATE]: As usual, RetailWire has an excellent thread going on this very subject.

Tags: Starbucks, store experience, marketing at retail

TNS buys Sorensen to step up in-store media measurement efforts

Media Buyer Planner notes that market information specialist TNS has purchased Sorensen Associates, the makers of PathTracker, video analysis software and other low- and high-tech solutions for retail media tracking and efficacy studies.

The combined company should be able to give the recently-created Nielsen In-Store a run for its money, and it certainly looks like the retail media measurement market will continue to be a hot segment through 2007. Part of the excitement comes from the In-Store Marketing Institute's PRISM measurement initiative, the first data from which we should be seeing shortly.

Since measurement is always the subject of great debate, multiple large companies have the opportunity to establish themselves as mindshare leaders, so TNS's acquisition of widely-respected Sorensen makes a lot of sense. Given that more established players means more ways to determine the efficacy of any one of the players, I certainly hope that the newly combined TNS/Sorensen can give VNU's Nielsen In-Store a run for its money.

Tags: Sorensen Associates, retail media, in-store media, TNS

Should the pre-shopping phenomenon affect retail marketing plans?

Over at RetailWire Alan McClain did a nice writeup of a presentation by Deloitte & Touche's Pat Conroy did at the NRF this year. The most interesting piece of the whole thing:

A key finding of the survey was that 66 percent of store visits this holiday season were not influenced by advertising and marketing. Mr. Conroy said this is consistent with previous studies and shows that, to win shoppers, retailers need to deliver consistent shopping experiences and fulfill brand promises. In other words, previous shopping experiences are more important than advertising messages.

Apparently, in an effort to save time and make shopping more efficient, more people are engaging in so-called pre-shopping techniques, like searching for a product or store information online before actually visiting the store. In fact, 61% if those surveyed by Deloitte did this kind of thing, which obviously means that push-based advertising and marketing takes a back seat to research (to some extent) in these cases.

The point that McClain raises at the end of this is whether retailers would be willing to take some portion of their traditional advertising budget and spend it more on cultivating customer relationships and improving the in-store experience. Obviously most retailers are hesitant to make "cuts" in t heir marketing budgets, but I think in this case most would need to be convinced that it would be more of a reordering of marketing priorities, and re-purposing of funds, maybe even by adding some portion of the new customer service and CRM initiatives into the marketing budget.

We've heard lots of stories before about shopping being an experience, a destination or a pastime. But the research presented by Deloitte suggests that some times, a shopping trip is more like a job or a task, where some analytical research at the beginning of the process can yield better results (in terms of total time and money spent), without much of an emotional appeal during the pre-shopping process (which, since it limits the amount of "actual" shopping time, also reduces the emotional component of the shopping trip itself).

I'm still of the opinion that most shopping trips can be broken down into one of these two categories (e.g. either "pastime" or "task"), however it also seems likely that elements of one can seep into the other. For example, shopping for a high-def TV, something that can only really be considered a non-essential luxury item, is going to have some emotional toll. Shoppers will visit one or more stores not just to look at different screens and check prices, but also to pick the brains of store employees, check out any necessary accessories, etc. Considering how big of a purchase it is, though, those same people will go home and do research on line, looking at customer reviews and competitor pricing before making a purchase decision. In this case, the "shopping" portion of the purchase process is still largely experience-driven. The "buying" portion, however, is more analytical in nature, and is thus more prone to the effects of pre-shopping (and maybe even post-shopping) research.

Tags: retail media, in-store experience, shopping, retail marketing

Cinema ads induce emotional buying effect

Hot on the heels of the news that cinema advertising company National CineMedia successfully completed its IPO comes this report from the Wise Marketer suggesting that the very type of ads the firm sells have been found to induce the emotional buying effect and create strong viewer involvement. The survey, conducted by ad research firm Ipsos ASI on behalf of cinema advertising firm Screenvision, was conducted in France and Spain to try and determine the power of emotions in cinema ad campaigns. The article notes:

It shows that the viewers are emotionally touched by the screen campaigns, which generate significant public involvement and strong positive emotions.

In association with TV campaigns, screen advertising increases the quality and the impact of ad messages, reinforcing the viewers' will to purchase. The survey results show the relationship between emotions generated by screen advertising and the quality of the response to the advertisement.....

The survey was conducted among a representative population sample aged 15-60. It compared the responses of heavy cinema viewers who have watched a specific ad on screen in a cinema during the previous seven days with the responses of those who had seen the ad on TV only.

In both countries, heavy cinemagoers who had seen the cinema ad expressed fewer negative and passive feelings about the ad than those who had only seen it only on TV. In France, heavy cinemagoers felt 20% fewer negative and passive emotions than TV-only viewers. Positive and active emotions were 39% higher for heavy cinemagoers than for than for less frequent cinemagoers.

While Screenvision supplies both on-screen and off-screen advertising media for movie theaters, it sounds like this study primarily focused on the digital signage-like element where full-motion video (perhaps simply television commercials) are displayed on-screen before the movie begins. Using the same content would have allowed Ipsos ASI to determine what kind of effect the media had in the cinema versus only on TV.

Tags: Screenvision, National CineMedia, digital signage, out-of-home advertising

Experience design is not about brand experience

There's a good post (and even better comments) at Adaptive Path focusing on the difference between experience design and brand experience, and why so many people relate the two (when, the author suggests, they don't have anything to do with each other). The main thrust of his argument is basically that the word brand, "will always be about the impression companies want to make, and are by their nature an 'inside-out' proposition — a company figures out its brand and what it means, and does what it can to communicate or otherwise impart that message to people. Brand always starts with the company." On the other hand, "experience... needs to be about the people. What do they want to accomplish, achieve, do? For experience to succeed, it must start with the person, and from there, impress upon the company. 'Experience' is outside-in."

The inside-out versus outside-in concept fits well with my own attempts to figure out why retail marketers do the things that they do. For private label companies, the brand is everything: it's the stores, it's the people, it's the merchandise. But as the Adaptive Path post suggests, focusing on the brand would yield a totally "outside-in" approach, which wouldn't produce a very good experience for the average customer. It might be attractive, visually appealing, and so on, but wouldn't do a very good job of focusing on the customer's needs.

On the other hand, retailers that sell merchandise from multiple brands have a different problem, since they have to balance their own brand with the brands of all of their suppliers. The best retailers recognize the problem and try to adopt the "outside-in" experience approach that the article talks about, realizing that otherwise, they'd just be competing for attention with all of the "inside-out" branded goods.

How these realizations translate into actual design elements and innovations is different for every retailer (or at least that would explain how multiple retailers in the same category can have vastly different but still generate pretty good experiences).

Tags: store experience, experience design, branding, retail media

Iris scanning system IDs you without your knowledge

Minority Report lovers, rejoice! Soon all of the technology that you swoon over and refer to incessantly will be a reality, at least according to this article in LiveScience referring to a more advanced kind of optical iris scanning. According to the article:

A public iris scanning device has been proposed in a patent from Samoff Labs in New Jersey. The device is able to scan the iris of the eye without the knowledge or consent of the person being scanned. The device uses multiple cameras, and then combines images to create a single scan.
Iris recognition is a biometric identification system that requires a high-resolution picture of the irides of the subject's eye. Pattern recognition software is then used to match that picture against future iris scans.

Of course, that's a big problem -- right now, just for privacy advocates, but eventually it will become obvious that maybe it's not such a good idea to be immediately recognized and have your every movement logged. Granted, there's a long way from filing a patent application to actually having a commercially available product that does what it's supposed to, but apparently a similar system has already been tested with a reasonable amount of success, and given the variety of lucrative uses and abuses that such a system will allow, there's no doubt that it will continue to be refined.

Tags: iris scanner, Minority Report, retail media

Shoppers showing signs of tunnel-vision

IGD just published another report on the state of shopping, and according to this summary at RetailBulletin, more shoppers are engaging in "selective shopping" techniques to cut down the amount of time they spend in stores. The authors cite increased time pressures as the primary driver for this kind of behavior, so it would seem like the greatest implications would be in grocery and dry goods stores, where most of the shopping is out of necessity, and not necessarily for entertainment purposes. Some of the other key takeaway points:

• 35% of shoppers visit only the aisles which they believe have the items they need, compared with 30% in 2003
• 25% of shoppers were willing to follow the in-store layout along each aisle, down from 28% in 2003
• 4% of shoppers take a haphazard approach and wander round aisles at random. This was up from 8% in 2003
• 25% are guided, and visit each aisle, regardless of whether they needed anything.
• 28% took this approach in 2003
• 35% are selective shoppers and only visit the aisles which they believe have the items they need. The figure in 2003 was 30%
• 26% are systematic, and follow the pattern of the aisles, unless they know the aisle contains nothing they need. 34% took this approach in 2003

The report's author, Julie Starck, a Senior Business Analyst at IGD, made the interesting conclusion that, "these findings challenge the traditional perception that shoppers can be 'pushed' into seeing new products as they wander round the store. Many consumers will simply not see new products unless they are in aisles which are already on their mental map of their in-store journey."

Aside from locating new products or promoted items in key locations where simple math dictates that increased foot traffic will yield increased product exposures, these numbers also illustrate the importance that store layout, product packaging and retail media systems can have as shoppers become more focused on getting in and out of the store quickly.

Tags: store planning, retail media, shopping patterns, foot traffic