you go hi-tech in stores

A while ago, Barney’s – the fashion forward New York City retailer – launched a series of new technological features in their store to great fanfare. The store would now have iPads for shoppers to use and interactive displays in their café that was supposed to enhance the shopping experience. As I am currently working on a project involving technology and luxury retail, I decided to take a stroll through Barney’s to look at how shoppers were interacting with technology.

I believe they used to be more prominently displayed in the store but the iPads have since been relegated to the sides of escalators. The store was bustling with holiday shoppers on the day that I dropped in but I only once saw a pair of shoppers play with the devices. It appears that beyond novelty, consumers do not have an intrinsic motivation to use technology to enhance their in-store shopping experience. It also appears that the store had not given much thought as to how such instances of technology were supposed to carry out their original objective – the enhancement of said shopping experience.

Closer examination revealed that the iPads were displaying a mobile version of the Barney’s website. Placing myself in the shoes of the customer, I wondered what the point was in replicating what one could find online and in the comforts of one’s home (or one’s personal smart phone) on a different platform. This repetition of content often represents a wasted opportunity to connect with consumers in a different way. More importantly, it did not seem to leverage on the real advantage that in-store shopping had over online retail – the presence of a team of knowledgeable retail staff.

Indeed, you only had to look around to see why the devices seemed largely irrelevant in the shopping experiences of the numerous people in the store – people were being helped by the retail staff in the selection of merchandise, shoes in a different size were brought out by the retail staff, questions on the difference between cashmere wovens and cashmere knits were being answered by the retail staff and credit cards or cashed were being accepted by retail staff who also made note of shopper’s information. In a high-end retail environment where excellent customer service is personal and essential, technology cannot replace the human touch.

However, there are opportunities for the use of technology in a retail environment in ways where they might truly enhance the shopping experience or the service a client receives. This is often achieved when technology reduces what Alfred Taubman calls ‘threshold resistance’ so clients are more willing to step into the stores and explore the merchandise, when technology makes shopping in-store of greater convenience, when it allows the store to communicate in a more intimate manner with the client or when it allows the retail staff to do a better job of serving its clients.

To give an example, technology could be used in the form of iPads used by the retail staff to demonstrate how products are made or possibilities for customization. In this sense, technology allows for a connection between the store and the atelier. This would not only give clients a sense of how the house’s specialties are made but also impress upon clients the house’s commitment to quality. The end result of using technology within the stores should be a significantly positive impact on the shopping experience. Clearly, instances of technology do not have to be flashy and cutting edge to make a real difference.