Business opportunities Retail innovations Continued from page 12


AI and retail According


to Comtex, “Ma-


chine learning and deep learn- ing technologies are expected to have the most significant market share during the fore- cast


period. Organizations in


the retail industry are using machine learning and deep learning technology to offer a more personalized experience to the end users as well as to provide an interactive environ- ment to them. Moreover, the growing trend of rising technol- ogy adoption can be associated with the need for streamlining retail operations, minimizing efforts, and increasing revenue mostly for e-commerce retail- ers.”


The use of AI in retail spans every process in the industry. “Whether the goal is to op- timise the supply chain, use existing data to increase con- version, or customise shopping experiences with predictive modelling and micro-targeting or pricing, AI can help meet these challenges in the retail space.”


AI equipped retailers with sharper forecasting


tools will


help in making smarter busi- ness decisions. The use of al- gorithms increases visibility into ROI implications, trans- lating to results like lower costs and higher sales. AI has brought real disruption to the retail sector by improving ef- ficiency, as well as prediction. The application of artificial intelligence (AI), big data and analytics will push the business access towards a data-driven model by expanding the types of data that can be analysed, and raise the level of sophisti- cation of the resulting insight. Applications of AI in retail in- clude: supply chain & logistics; product optimisation; in-store navigation; payment & pricing analytics; inventory manage- ment; and customer relation- ship management.


New touchscreens in retail


To support the required bidi- rectional flow in retail appli- cations, the touchscreen has become a staple of retail ap- plications. This has attracted new specialist vendors to the market. For example, Eyefac- tive showed a number of touch- screen systems at ISE 2020. These included transparent touchscreens, the HYPEBOX and OLED touchscreens and a newly developed app called ‘ShoppingAssistant’ plus new interfaces for touchscreen sys- tems, such as scanners, print- ers, analytics and face recog- nition.


The ‘ShoppingAssistant’ app is fully customisable and seam- lessly connects to the retailers existing e-commerce systems and databases, offering an


optimised user experience on large-scale touchscreens in stores. There are various check- out options such as direct pay- ment, bill printing, transfer of virtual shopping cart to mobile phones and much more. Eyefactive also presented a range of additional technologies for retailers, from touchscreen object recognition to new inter- faces for touchscreen systems. The new interfaces include mobile payment, bill printing, 1D/2D scanners (including barcodes and QR codes), NFC/ RFID Readers and retail analyt- ics with the help of video data from cameras. Eyefactive's technologies and apps can also be used and experienced at the booths of various partners, in- cluding NEC, eloTouch, QBic and Uniview.


Solutions available


With the solutions on show from NEC, LG, Samsung and other leading display vendors now supplemented with hard- ware devices. software applica- tions and AI solutions, there is little doubt that the technology exists to move to the integrated omnichannel experience that customers will increasingly de- mand. Not only can retailers display and increase range by showing non-store options on screens, they can show the or- der processing and delivery op- tions in action via video. They can also deal with some of the sustainability issues, improv- ing relationships with an in- creasingly influential customer group.


Argos goes digital in-store!


UK retail giant Argos, traditionally known for its catalogue-based or- dering and in-store warehouse-connected purchasing experience, is now using digital technology to make its customer experience more interactive.


Background


Argos has completed the first phase of a new digital strat- egy deployment across sev- en stores in the UK. In each store, a Scala digital signage solution enables Argos to drive digital point of sale systems, to manage customer com- munications and to deliver a comprehensive in-store brand experience to customers.


Fact File


Argos modernises in-store ex- perience with digital signage. Signage


moves Argos from


print to dynamic pricing. Argos now capitalises in-store on its outstanding e-com- merce success.


Retail industry first: unique signage and stock manage- ment integration.


Integration of Social Media. Digital Stores


Argos has completed the first phase of a new digital strat- egy deployment across sev- en stores in the UK. In each store, a Scala digital signage solution enables Argos to drive digital point of sale systems, to manage customer com- munications and to deliver a comprehensive in-store brand experience to customers. Implemented by systems in- tegrator Pixel Inspiration, the deployment also sees tablet based in-store product brows- ers replacing print catalogues and the addition of a 60-sec- ond fast-track collection ser- vice alongside free in-store Wi- Fi. From a design perspective, the aim of the digital stores project is to transform the Ar- gos in-store environment for customers, making it digitally led and consistent with its on- line channels. The project also allows the retailer to more effi- ciently manage its marketing, logistical business processes and to provide customers with a more interactive experience. “Argos is known for its com- petitive pricing, but tradition- al, print based methods of communication make it diffi- cult to communicate accurate information at a granular level” said Nikk Smith of Pixel Inspi- ration. “When you’re printing several million catalogues con- taining over 30,000 products twice yearly, the management


of product information, includ- ing pricing, simply can’t keep pace with digital channels.” To create a vibrant in-store network capable of promoting any one of 33,000 products at a moment’s notice without significant manual effort, Pixel Inspiration deployed a digital signage network to seven Argos stores, four of which are locat-


ter and Facebook feeds can be directed to screens, which pro- vides additional content for cus- tomers to read while they wait.


How Scala met the challenge


The extremely large footprint and stock size at Argos meant the company needed a digital signage solution that could de-


egy and the products to be promoted.


About Argos


Argos is a leading UK digi- tal retailer, offering around 43,000 products through www.argos.co.uk, its grow- ing mobile channels, stores and over the telephone. Ar- gos continues to be the UK’s


Case Study 2


Argos has completed the first phase of a new digital strategy deployment across seven stores in the UK


ed in London. The highly


scalable digital


signage network, running Scala Content Manager and the Sca- la Player, is directed not only at in-store customers but also at click-and-collect customers and at outdoor pedestrian traf- fic. It supports a large number of screens, typically arranged to form several 2x2 videowalls. Content is targeted at these walls based on their position in the store, with one screen always dedicated to welcoming the customer into the store and showcasing the staff on duty. Displays around the perime- ter of the ‘customer browsing zone’ typically feature prod- uct promotions, with different product categories targeted at different zones.


In addition, the payment and collection points are support- ed by up to 16 more displays, arranged over two video walls. Argos uses these video walls for flexible branding in the area: each till can be branded as a customer collection point or a ‘fast-track collections’ area at the touch of a button. The digital media platform also enables Argos to main- tain consistency with its online channels. The company’s Twit-


liver content that matched the current in-store conditions at all times. The signage network had to be able to show current pricing and use live, local stock data to decide which products get promoted.


Scala messages were created, which included the ability to specify the catalogue numbers of products needing in-store promotion. By simply adding a valid catalogue number (SKUs), the system is able to automati- cally create, distribute and play- out a piece of digital POS in any store. To create additional retail theatre and media sales oppor- tunities, Argos can execute a store-wide content ‘takeover’ us- ing network triggering provided by Pixel. During a ‘takeover’, a single brand ad or promotional message runs simultaneously across all in-store screens for maximum impact. In addition,


each store is


linked to the local weather sta- tion, which enables Argos to promote weather related prod- ucts on-screen as appropriate. Pixel Inspiration manages the entire network for Argos, liaising with the retailer’s marketing de- partment who briefs the system integrator on the content strat-


largest high street retailer online with 738 million website and app visits in the 12 months to February 2014. Argos serves around 123 million customers a year through its network of 734 stores. In the finan- cial year to February 2014, Argos sales were £4.1 bil- lion and it employed some 29,000 people across the business. Argos is part of Home Retail Group, the UK’s leading home and gen- eral merchandise retailer.


P14 AV News April 2020


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16