Retailers are constantly having to balance a desire to display as much inventory as possible with creating a pleasant space that shoppers can browse and flow through easily. While these impulses can be at odds, retailers do have a solution that resolves the disconnect while saving retailers time and money — augmented reality.
Resonai’s contribution to this space is Vera, an AR platform that completely redefines the in-store experience. In this article, we will discuss Vera’s contributions in terms of consumer experience and retailer insights.
Create elevated retail environments
With Virtual Concierge, there’s no need to choose which products are visible to customers — you can showcase them all. A store can have a limited number of items out on the floor for display, but by using an app, shoppers can see the many different variants available, such as other colors or fabrics. Someone considering automotive packages for a new car can see them rendered on an actual vehicle right in front of them instead of picturing them mentally. AR experiences work for home shopping, too. A consumer could use their phone’s camera to see how something like a coffee table would look in the actual room.
Deliver a bespoke shopping experience
Consumers are spoiled for choice when shopping, so they tend to gravitate towards those vendors that give them personalized attention. It’s both helpful and delightful to have a personal assistant attending to your every need, but it’s not something most stores can provide, which is where Virtual Concierge fits in. An augmented reality experience is automatically customized to the individual every time they shop. AR can display promotions, suggestions, and deals tailored to your preferences and shopping history. Feed your grocery list into the app, and Virtual Concierge’s indoor navigation can guide you to each item’s precise location.
Retail management made easy
Customers’ attention is constantly being pulled in several directions. Stores use visual merchandising like window presentations or point-of-purchase displays to attract and keep that attention. Testing and deploying new materials is a drain on resources, but AR solutions like ours can automate the entire process. Augmented reality visualization can help test new merchandising layouts and product placements without the need to move cases and products around physically.
Vera goes a step further with real-time data mapping of the full shopper’s journey, turning any shopping environment into an intelligent ecosystem. Virtual Concierge offers indoor AR navigation and personalized brand experiences to customers while aggregating real-time venue data. Retailers can then use customer flow statistics to inform visual merchandising design, enhance browsing, or pull data from across the entire retail enterprise to anticipate inventory needs. Vera’s Maintenance Manager also makes it easy to report repair issues within any store or building. When a user submits a maintenance ticket with the app, Vera recognizes an object’s precise location and automatically logs the problem before sending relevant details and navigation to the technician.
Vera in action
The Moscow Trade Center is one of the largest shopping centers in the world. Sprawled over more than 200,000 square meters, it houses over 6,000 storefronts. Its size, noise, and multilingual signage make it difficult to navigate, and everyday operations were cumbersome for the facility managers. Tenants logged more than 1,500 service requests a month, and protocols requiring the observation of each store’s opening and closing were a time sink.
Resonai was able to provide solutions both for tenants and site managers. Maintenance Manager automated the Trade Center’s repairs process, streamlining tickets and providing AR navigation. The improvements resulted in a 44% decrease in time to complete repairs. Instead of waiting to be observed in person, shop owners can upload a video or image, which is analyzed to verify their compliance with the Trade Center protocol. The Vera-powered process allows storefronts to stay open 30 minutes longer each day, which adds up to more than an extra month of business over the course of a year.
Augmented reality makes the retail experience better. Vera makes augmented reality better. Are you ready to learn more? Get in touch with Resonai today and set up a free demonstration.