5 Questions to Consider: Deploying In-Store Digital Experiences

Control Group is a technology and design services company based in NYC. www.controlgroup.com

We help organizations digitally activate their spaces, businesses and products through a combination of disciplines ranging from business strategy, systems architecture, software development, interface and experience design.

5 QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER WHEN DEPLOYING IN-STORE EXPERIENCES

We helped Kate Spade launch their new global brand, Saturday, by integrating dynamic digital signage into their flagship store in Tokyo.

We helped OTG transform the Delta gate area into a major point of sale by allowing travelers to order food and other items from the concourse via iPads and have them delivered to their seat in the gate boarding area.

We’re currently working with the New York City MTA to deploy over 100 digital way-finding kiosks to help New Yorkers and visitors better navigate the City.

How often will content need to be updated? Do you have a pipeline to deliver the updated content? With Kate Spade Saturday we had a unique content challenge in that they update their inventory each Saturday (hence the name). They needed an easy method to deliver dynamic product signage each week to each store.

Kate Spade’s marketing department is based in NYC and they needed to manage the brand and deliver signage in multiple languages around the globe.

Control Group built a flexible, custom CMS that leverages the global footprint of AWS, allowing Kate Spade marketing in New York to distribute consistent branded content around the globe.

Technology should enable and enhance the overall experience – not be the experience. In the case of the MTA – while our kiosks are big shiny touchscreens – the real value is that they’re contextually aware of time and location.

The system will customize a commuter’s route based on real-time train schedules and disruptions. The information provided is directly relevant to the user’s specific trip at that specific time.

Creating a personalized experience is possible even in a high-traffic public environment - as opposed to those confusing paper route change signs littering stations.

Where does the transaction fit into the customer flow and the service workflow?

When a sales associate uses a mobile device to check out a customer from behind a cash wrap, the service workflow has not adapted to the technology. FAIL.

OTG Management wanted to bring new points of sale to the Delta gate area, which was void of any restaurants or retail. Tasked with creating “the best waiter ever”, we integrated the iPad framework with the Micros POS system and credit card processing. Travelers can easily order anything they want from the concourse while they browse Facebook, check their email, or play Angry Birds with their kids.

OTG’s service was redesigned to support the new technology. Ordering via the iPad is the same as a waiter placing an order within the restaurant – the user can customize their items and pay via the app. The order is routed directly to the kitchen and is then delivered right to the customer’s seat by a runner.

WHAT INSIGHTS CAN YOU CAPTURE?

Click and page views are good indicators online and real world. Digital touch points can be codified in the same manner. With OTG, the iPads enable analytics that provide incredible insights.

Via touch-point analytics, OTG knows where “golden chairs” are in the gate -- those seats where customers happen to order the most.

Combined with customer profile data, OTG can also glean product demand trends. One interesting finding: people flying to Florida drink the most soda by far. OTG is now able to predict supply chain needs and normalize their supplies to accommodate this predictable demand.  

Offloading to the cloud helped us with the launch of Kate Spade Saturday’s Tokyo Flagship store. Space is at a premium in retail – especially in Tokyo – and they could not accommodate servers or IT staff in the store. By leveraging AWS’ global footprint, we offloaded server duties to the cloud and saved more space for merchandise.  

For OTG, we studied customer behavior and recognized that travelers want to stay by the gate so they don’t miss any flight info. So we designed the app to provide self-selected personalized flight info right on the screen. This required getting Delta’s flight data to the iPad – but Delta’s flight data comes out like a fire hose.

This amount of data would deplete the bandwidth of the entire airport, let alone the Delta terminal. But with AWS tools, we were able to route the data to the cloud first, distill it down to a manageable size, and then provide near real-time flight data over a standard bandwidth pipe in the airport.

WHAT’S THE TAKEAWAY?

+ Follow through + Avoid gimmick-tech + Don’t develop in a vacuum + Think beyond omni-channel + Take advantage of your location

JONATHAN.SPOONER@CONTROLGROUP.COM    

WWW.CONTROLGROUP.COM  

THANK YOU