by: Ilya Vedrashko
The obvious future of in-store experience: you find something you like, reach into your pocket for a small device, scan the barcode, and the device tells you whether and were the same product is available for a lower price. Brick-and-mortar stores become little more than showrooms for merchandise bought elsewhere.
This future just got one step closer today with the release of an iPhone app Checkout SmartShop, "a shopping assistant meant to help you fine online and local prices when you’re out and about shopping." For now, you still need to type in the UPS code; they are working on converting the iPhone camera into a barcode scanner.How much time do you give for this app to hit the market: you go into a Blockbuster, scan a box, and the movie is cued up for download on your BitTorrent client?In a post last January on online experiences and offline expectations, I wrote, "Retailers gotta act quick if they want to have some control over the converging experiences. In a few years, people will be carrying web browsers in their pockets and won't be needing all this retail innovation. Then they would go to Barnes & Noble to browse books and order the ones they like on Amazon right from the store. In a few years, people will be carrying web browsers in their pockets and won't be needing all this retail innovation."That part about "a few years" was probably too optimistic. If you are a store, you might consider investing into a cell phone jammer or printing out this free "No iPhones on Premises" sign.
Original post: http://adverlab.blogspot.com/2008/07/future-of-retail-instant-price-match.html
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Tim Mathis (KG Partners) says:
01 Sep 2009, 01:23
I think this article is a fairly symplistic way to view the world through the eyes of the shopper. It assumes all of the needs and wants of the shopper can be met by simply offering the lowest price. If that was the case, the entire world would already be shopping at WalMart, Costco, or some other big box discounters. Influencing shopper behavior takes more than a piece of technology and the promise of the cheapest retail price. It's about understanding shopper behavior and
creating strategies and solutions that deliver.
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