Consider the scene from Hollywood blockbuster ‘Minority Report’ which depicts a futuristic retail environment which once seemed mere fantasy. Recent developments in technology mean that consumers are beginning to experience an interactive means of advertising which were once only thought to exist in science fiction. As a way to drive more traffic to their site, eBay forged the way with the concept of ‘digital window shopping’. Now online retailers are not just on your device, they are coming to you through a number of different mediums.
Digital window shopping is giving the traditionally “passive” window shopper the ability to interact and transact at the store-front.
Digital window shopping brings interactivity to the store front. Where traditional window shopping was a passive activity which rarely resulted in a transaction taking place. Shoppers are now able to do more than just look; they can interact and transact all from the store-front. Since the launch of eBay’s interactive ‘windows’, bricks-and-mortar retailers such as Woolworths in Australia have begun to follow suit.
In the lead up to Australia Day 2013, the FMCG giant, Countdown, launched the interactive ‘Bus Stop Shop’ where customers were able to access information on products and complete purchases from their mobile devices, all while waiting at the bus stop. Any purchases could then be delivered or picked up.
As this is such a new facet to the retail industry, the statistics around this are near non-existent, however the possibilities of pairing a digital window shopping experience with VFR’s are seemingly endless.
