Archive for the ‘Shopper’ Category
XBox Opens Dedicated Showrooms in Canada
Filed under: Product strategy, Retail, Shopper, Strategy | Tags: 3ds, microsoft, nintendo, nintendo 3ds, playstation, xbox
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Seen yesterday in Toronto and, according to the employees, also opening in some other big Canadian cities, but not in US. Nice and cozy inside, one can play games and even buy, but they claim it’s not the main scope.
The store is going to be a trial, up to December 2011. If successful it might extend into March next year.
So is Microsoft to mimic the success of Apple Stores? Or it’s a purely temporary exercise, to get more people to try the new Kinect technology? First reaction was to judge this as an Apple inspired initiative, but at a closer look there are a lot of differences. First, sales does not seem to be an objective. Then, the store won’t get the traffic that Apple has – there aren’t simply enough devices to interact with. And any of those that exist inside needs somebody to assist you. The store is also not in the most trafficked place (Queen West) – although it’s a super-premium location and a hip area – so one might argue they are going after some kind of influencers.
Anyway, it’s an area that might develop. A couple of weeks ago I’ve encountered a Nintendo boot allowing people to test their brand new 3DS. With breakthrough technologies appearing, it makes sense to get closer to consumers.
A Revolution in Shopping? Adidas Virtual Wall
I salute Adidas for this initiative:
“Can I help you? – Just looking…” is probably the most clicheed exchange in stores. And when you truly want information, sales people in stores are not necessarily the most knowledgeable. Nor can brands control what they say about the their products. And yes, we do need people to help us decide, but this might just allow them to focus on closing the sale.
Digital kiosks are not new, but until now they were not really appealing to shoppers. The video above seems to signal a change.
