Stores Get Physical
A new breed of motion-aware stores is able to react to visitor-generated information.
Feeding the appetite for real-time reactivity, advanced sensor tech is allowing brands to experiment with physically-responsive environments that can self-reconfigurate according to fresh data triggered by the presence of store visitors.
The HQ of Agnelli Foundation in Turin, Italy is fitted with a personalized heating, lighting, and cooling system that follows occupants as if they were in individual sense bubbles. In order to showcase product performance versatility, Nike installed three motion-reactive installations at its NikeLab retail destinations in London and New York. The installations simulated rain, fog, and a tornado and were entirely controllable by the visitor. The installation’s creator Random Studio also built a digital shop wall that allowed for up to four users to interact with the system at the same time, browse looks, like, and directly buy products from the interactive screen.
WithMe was a 3,000 sq ft, tech-enhanced, portable pop-up store that opened on Chicago’s Michigan Ave with RFID-embedded fixtures, like personalized audio information when shoppers picked up items. The shelves on a 35ft-high wall made of 900 mini screens could morph when sensing someone nearby had previously ‘liked’ a product within their app.