Wednesday, 24 April 2019 / Published in Retail, Technology

Cameras that guess your age and sex are coming to store shelves

Eyeing that can of soda in the supermarket cooler? Or maybe you're craving a pint of ice cream? A camera could be watching you. But it's not there to see if you're stealing. These cameras want to get to know you and what you're buying. It's a new technology being trotted out to retailers in the United States, where cameras try to guess your age, gender or mood as you walk by. The intent is to use the information to show you targeted real-time ads on in-store video screens. Companies are pitching retailers to bring the technology into their physical stores as a way to better compete with online rivals like Amazon that are already armed with troves of information on their customers and their buying habits.
Monday, 08 April 2019 / Published in Digital Signage, Retail

If your QSR ever considered kiosk, or maybe especially if it didn’t, read on

Digital and physical retail are marching forward together rapidly these days, with the digital realm breathing new life into the brick-and-mortar space, which some said once was headed for oblivion. Now, the race to introduce interactive technologies in stores has unleashed a historic demand for self-service kiosks that was in full view at the National Retail Federation Big Show at Javits Center in New York City earlier this January.
Tuesday, 26 March 2019 / Published in Retail

Static to digital: Inside the world’s largest H&M store

Spanning 8,000 sq m, the new H&M in Kuwait is the brand’s biggest store in the world and is not your average retail install. Paul Milligan speaks to those involved. Situated on the site of the old Debenhams store, the new flagship store for H&M in the Avenues shopping mall in Kuwait is impressive in every respect.  Spanning more than 8,000 sq m, it has a marble façade, giant digital screens on the outside and inside, a children’s cinema, chill-out lunch, press area, walls of real foliage and a feature staircase spanning the two floors. The Avenues Mall is the largest shopping mall in Kuwait and the second largest mall in the Middle East.  As you would expect in the region, everything is completed to a very luxurious finish. You find marble throughout the store, imported from Italy costing $220 per sq m. if you haven’t noticed already, this is not the usual H&M store seen on European high streets.