Excellent solutions for the future of retail

Digital Retail Award 2017 honours six innovative projects

Emotional storytelling in the store. Furniture shopping in a virtual showroom. Playfully connecting customer and product through an interactive shop-window. The winners of the Digital Retail Awards 2017 clearly demonstrate, how the digital future of retail will look like. In total, six solutions in three categories were honoured at the Digital Retail Night on 18 October, including three Special Awards for the best innovative solutions. All submissions nominated for the award will be showcased at the Digital Retail Space (hall 14, stand E35) of viscom düsseldorf until 20 October. 

Customer Journey category: Digital projects for cross-channel communication 

Winner

• Participant: Magyar Telekom
• Partner: Isobar Budapest; HP; Futurion Informatikai és Szolgáltató Kft.
• Customer: Magyar Telekom
• Project title: Stargate – Online Check-in to the Simplified Telekom Application

A solution to a widespread challenge: how do I provide a user-friendly and convenient online contact for my customers? Magyar Telekom and Stargate developed an app to enhance the check-in process for the shops of the Hungarian telecommunications company. Customers and customer service reps were included in the development from the start. “A solution that works,” says the jury. “The project relies on existing components and expands them by a further service aspect. This creates a seamless solution that offers added value to the customer. At the same time, the sender's own products are used in the solution and integrated into the costumer journey. The project shows how the Costumer Journey can be improved for the user even in small steps.”

Instore category: Projects and applications at the shop

Winner

• Participant: MuSe Content GmbH
• Partner: wertmarke hamburg
• Customer: Störtebeker Braumanufaktur GmbH
• Project title: Störtebeker Shop & Taste

Multiscreen signage for the POS: MuSe Content developed a digital signage solution for Störtebeker Braumanufaktur that fuses various locations, screen sizes and content elements into a meaningful shop experience. A digital display case at the entrance promotes events and culinary specials. A behind-the-counter display at the brand shop provides information about upcoming beer tastings and whether they have space available. In addition, interactive displays placed around the room present product details – for example about the 16 different varieties of craft beer. One core element is the Störtebeker Place & Learn solution – a digital beer sommelier. In addition, following beer tastings, customers can use touch terminals to order their favourites and have them delivered right to their home. „A clear, sophisticated concept, with an upscale design end-to-end as well as a solid and self-consistent realization,“ establishes the jury. „The project creates milestones by showing how projects appreciate in value if they focus on quality and clarity at all levels of their development and realization. The topic is realized according to the communication objectives of emotion, information and promotion. The storytelling as well as the utilization by the user demonstrate an obvious clarity. The project, thus, integrates ideally into its environment.“

Special Awards

• Participant: MediaMarktSaturn Retail Group

• Customer:  Media Markt Saturn

• Project title: HoloTour – the Future of Shopping: Augmented Reality

Shopping with an avatar: augmented reality can be used to make the customer shopping experience at the POS even more attractive and informative. The electronics retailer Saturn created an avatar for the HoloLens. With the aid of mixed reality glasses, customers are accompanied on their shopping trip by their virtual representative. Along the way, the avatar delivers helpful information about the product. Saturn lays claim to being the first retailer to offer this augmented reality experience. „The virtual backing of in-store retailing is one of the future tasks of the retail trade that this solution just yet fathoms innovatively,” remarks the jury. „In an early stage of mixed reality solutions the corporeal presence is supplemented with a digital surplus value in a way that exactly meets the customer’s needs. This solution dares to look into the future under real-life conditions. The project was launched in 20 branches already and explores the prospects and challenges of blending channels on the way to seamless omnichannel solutions.”

• Participant: Demodern GmbH
• Partner: German Wahnsinn
• Customer: IKEA Deutschland
• Project title: IKEA – Virtual Reality Showroom

Interactive inspiration in 3D: at select IKEA furniture stores, customers can use the Oculus Rift application developed by Demodern to bring rooms to life. The Virtual Reality Showroom makes it possible to combine and explore various pieces of furniture and materials. According to Demodern, this is the first product presentation worldwide that enables customers to interactively experience products in a 3D showroom with the help of virtual reality. “The worlds of experience in the permanent retail trade are coalescing. This project demonstrates commendably how analogous products and  digital content can ideally merge”, commends the jury. “Here is a meaningful and not trivial answer to typical customer questions. The solution makes the abstract process of buying furniture very concrete. The combination of the virtual experience, the corporeal sensation of textiles as well as the real-life sampling of the furniture creates a multisensoric experience and sets the stage for a real surplus value in the store.”

 

Startup Idea: Digital projects by industry newcomers

Winner

• Participant: App & Eat
• Customer: App & Eat
• Project title: App & Eat – Waiting is so Yesterday

Smart shopping for the bakers’ and butchers’: App & Eat lets customers use their smartphones to view the selections offered by nearby bakers and butchers, pre-order products and have them prepared based on personal preference. Additionally, they can retrieve information about ingredients and allergens. Payments are done via credit card or PayPal. Once customers have received their pickup number, they can pick up their order at the store at the desired time without having to wait. “This potential business concept provides both, retailers and customers, with surplus value. It integrates player into the value chain of convenient food that as of yet could not acces it easily due to their infrastructure. The solution can be integrated into the store without huge investments and is scalable by clear income components.”

 

• Participant: FLUUR - Büro für interaktive Gestaltung
• Customer: Yello Strom GmbH
• Project title: NOWA – the Interactive Shop Window

Customers control the displays: NOWA makes digital displays interactive. Customers use a QR code or enter a web address in their smartphones to navigate to a mobile microsite. Once there, they can directly access the digital content of the shop window and, for example, browse a catalogue, see products in 360-degree view or personalise the colour and material selection. Since controls aren’t app-based but are handled directly from the browser, user control is easy and doesn’t require large data volumes. The app was developed by Fluur – The Office for Interactive Design for the energy company Yello Strom. “This easy-to-use technology connects customer and product in a playful way,” praises the jury. “The trendsetting solution integrates the smart phone into the in-store communication and creates an individual experience at the point of sale. The intelligent concept uses software as a service tool and shows an useful application of QR codes. With the Special Award we explicitly honour the idea without taking into account the underlying business modell.”