One of the key questions I get from retailers is “How can I use technology to create experiences that inspire my customers to buy more, both in the store and online?” In the Cisco Internet Business Solutions Group’s (IBSG) work with leading worldwide retailers, we uncovered what we believe is the answer—the “inspire” trigger. Specifically, inspire triggers are emotionally charged shopping experiences that make customers exclaim, “I never thought of that, let’s buy it,” or, “Wow, I want to by that now.”
From this work, Cisco IBSG developed Cisco StyleMeTM—a virtual fashion mirror that combines augmented reality with the latest mobile and networking technologies to create a fun, new, interactive way to try on clothing and accessories virtually. Cisco StyleMe lets customers visually browse a wide range of products; build outfits; receive expert recommendations; capture images of what they look like to share with friends and family; create a digital wardrobe of items in which they’re interested; and buy their selections in the store or online.
Customer testing shows that Cisco StyleMe is a hit with all types of consumers, but especially with a group that surprised us—shoppers over 50 years of age. The older generation clearly sees the benefits of easily trying on new outfits and getting expert advice, which far outweighs any apprehensions they might have about using the technology.
For retailers, Cisco StyleMe has the potential to 1) grow cross-channel sales by giving customers access to an extended range of inventory and enabling them to buy in-store and online; 2) strengthen customer loyalty by creating differentiated in-store experiences and enabling follow-up with customers after their store visit; and (3) increase conversion rates by allowing customers to receive relevant recommendations and interact with friends and family who influence their buying decisions.
Given the success of Cisco StyleMe, we believe creating rich, digital, cross-channel experiences in the store represents a powerful new way to inspire customers to buy. To get started, ensure your technology infrastructure is up to the task of supporting interactive rich-media experiences. By starting now to ensure your technology infrastructure is up to date, you’ll be in a strong position to capture more sales from customers both online and in your stores.
NRF, the world’s biggest retail show, is almost here! The show is being held in New York and runs from January 15th-18th. Please visit us at booth 851 to see our technology in action and speak directly with Cisco subject matter experts to discuss how Cisco’s video solutions today can capture the customer behavior tomorrow, giving you powerful ways to generate revenue, create a consistent user experience across all channels, and maximize operational efficiency. Read More »
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For retailers, shrink is a significant issue impacting the bottom line, in some cases up to 2% of sales are lost to shrink up and it is a 107 billion dollars issue globally.
Shrink can come from many sources from theft, fraud or procedure errors, and loss prevention techniques is an ongoing subject of strong interest to retailers.
Today I talked to Rick Simon, Cisco retail technology partner manager working with partner Agilence about the National Retail Federation Loss Prevention Conference at the Gaylord Convention center in Dallas, TX June 13-15.
The exhibit hall for the conference is open June 13-14 and Agilence will be at booth #1601, demonstrating their point of sale video auditing solution on reducing shrink at the point of sale checkout.
Cisco will be the technology provider for the Agilence booth including video surveillance technologies, Cisco Cius and UCS Express. Instead of separate digital video recorder, router and servers in each store, Cisco will combine all the functionality in a single hardware platform combined with IP-based video camera technologies. This helps retailers reduce the technology complexity and costs in the stores which allows deployment of new capabilities in the future.
Qualified retailers can download a free expo pass form for NRF Loss Prevention Conference at www.cisco.com/go/retail and schedule meeting with Agilence and Cisco through their account managers.
Cisco partner Agilence develops Hawkeye, an industry leading POS video auditing solution that enables retailers to quickly identify losses caused by operational errors, promotion execution, systemic errors, and associate fraud. Hawkeye efficiently identifies store-wide losses at the point-of-sale before they can erode profit margins and provides retailers with a 6-to-1 ROI in less than 12 months. For more information please visit http://www.agilenceinc.com or Cisco point of sale video auditing solution web site.
