Since the start of the pandemic, the retail industry faced many challenges. As a result, retailers have accelerated their digital transformation journeys to keep up with the ever-changing consumer shopping behaviors and expectations. As this evolution continues, it’s crucial for retailers to make customer experience a top priority.

The digital world is radically changing the retail landscape and in today’s hyper-connected world, the most impactful customer experience is delivered by retailers who best understand and act on information about where, when, how and why engagement happens. Advanced technologies like machine learning and computer vision help retailers successfully navigate these challenges and boost in-store shopping engagement.

Sensormatic IQ, the new intelligent operating platform for retail, integrates the full Sensormatic Solutions portfolio, retailer, and third-party data sources, and it’s backed by a robust technology partner ecosystem, delivering predictive and prescriptive retail outcomes. As a strategic partner, VSBLTY brings unique analytics and insight, providing complementary data streams to Sensormatic Solutions’ existing shopper insights portfolio.

Subramanian Kunchithapatham, vice president of engineering at Sensormatic Solutions, and Jay Hutton, co-founder and CEO of VSBLTY, discussed the importance of in-store technology as well as the future of physical retail and beyond.

Subramanian Kunchithapatham: As customer confidence increases and shoppers continue to make their way back in-store, the use of digital technology is critical to help provide richer in-store experiences, and increase associate productivity and revenue. By integrating VSBLTY’s audience measurement technology with our broad Shopper Insights portfolio, we’re able to offer retailers the ability to increase consumer engagement at the point-of-purchase and discover context specific insights driving those purchase decisions. The partnership also allows retailers to use edge and cloud-enabled AI technologies to bring brand messaging to life through targeted digital display content.

By joining forces and integrating VSBLTY’s analytics, retailers gain the necessary insight to impact marketing and operational efficiencies, improving the way a store functions day-to-day.

Kunchithapatham: AI-powered video technology is the most modern and effective way retailers can use technology to transform the in-store experience. Although video technology has historically been a tool for retailers’ loss prevention and liability programs, the latest technology powered by AI can also be used to boost shopper engagement.

For example, Computer Vision plays an important role mimicking the online experience inside brick-and-mortar retail ensuring the customer has a unified shopping experience. Imagine you’re a customer and you walk into your favorite retailer’s brick-and-mortar location. If you’ve opted in, you’re immediately recognized by the in-store cameras and served up an email or text promotion tailored to your interests and previous shopping behavior. Not only can you get a personalized promotion, but a sales associate can also be alerted to better engage with you from the moment you walk in the door.

Additionally, retailers will have a better understanding of what you looked at, what items you were interested in, whether you made a purchase or not and if the context specific ad is what attracted you to the shelf. Not only will retailers be able to better adapt their assortment and merchandise to different shopper personas, they will also be able to better understand how their marketing strategy is preforming both on and offline.

Jay Hutton: Partnering with Sensormatic Solutions to help integrate our computer vision audience measurement expertise is fundamental when it comes to machine learning. The system “sees” shoppers at the shelf and can direct content and messaging in real-time. Here are two ways this innovative technology benefits retailers:

• Shopper Demographics: With the help of AI, cameras and sensors are used to accurately provide shopper demographics and sentiment analytics. Retailers have the opportunity to use the shopper profile data to improve service and selling effectiveness of the shopper assistants, adapt the assortment and the promotional activity, and evaluate how the marketing campaigns are performing to attract different shopper profiles into the stores.
• Shopper Views: Edge and cloud-enabled AI techniques are used to bring brand messaging to life through targeted digital display content. Combining the Content Management System (CMS), Shopper Views delivers custom-triggered content leveraging video, proximity-aware sensor technology and anonymized facial analytics to help enhance guest experiences while simultaneously revealing new analytics on shopper engagement with the advertising on digital displays and providing actionable insights.

These two product offerings have proven successful in a number of different use cases:

• In the wine and spirits category, branded kiosks utilized VSBLTY’s state-of-the-art technology to capture POS analytics never before revealed including dwell time. The performance of the VSBLTY kiosks far exceeded traditional in-store point-of-purchase displays, producing a 25 percent year-over-year increase in sales in the test stores.
• VSBLTY’s interactive touch screens deployed in a major supermarket’s Frozen Foods aisle allowed product packaging to be viewed while collecting consumer data insights in real time and qualifying the deployment’s ability to drive coupon downloads among loyalty members. Creative content was uploaded to the cloud and changed weekly to accommodate feature pricing. Customers who engaged with the screens were prompted to use the supermarket’s mobile app to receive a digital coupon for discounts on seven featured products. Not only did the brand see lift, but the entire category had increased sales and coupon redemption was higher than average.
• An in-aisle supplement display at a nation-wide pharmacy helped educate consumers on the benefits of a variety of supplements. Messages focused on life extension and better health outcomes, helping to redefine the vitamin and supplement aisle in retail.

Hutton: We will see the future of retail using Store as Media. This concept is a new, powerful advertising model for brands that now can inform and motivate consumers, using computer vision and customized content, right where and when purchase decisions are being made. Brands can use funds from their media budgets based on buying measurable impressions in-store that are far more valuable than traditional media vehicles.

Together with Sensormatic Solutions, we give retailers a new revenue stream while increasing their understanding of customers’ shopping habits, their engagement with point-of-sales activity and demographic profiles.

Sensormatic Solutions is a vital component of Johnson Controls’ OpenBlue technologies and innovations which leverage big data and AI to optimize healthy buildings. No matter where a retailer is on their own digital transformation journey, Sensormatic IQ provides the technology retailers need to digitize in-store engagements and enhance customer experiences.