We care inside and out.
In response to my post about Columbia Outerwear’s storefront touch screen interactive, I got the following note from Mike Cole with Visual Planet, a manufacturer of touch-screen technology. His note provided more valuable insight into the purpose of content, specifically with touch screen technology and even taking it beyond the normal working hours of the retail environment:
We are the manufacturers of the through window technology and as you say it is so important to use it in the correct way depending on the application.
So for example when used through a retail window during opening hours, the key objective is to use the technology to get customers in the store. If you can cut down the sales cycle by providing relevant information even better. Of course the screen has another service after opening hours and the content should change to meet this new demand.
So during opening hours more is less as far as the content is concerned, first you have to attract people to use the touch screen, a game for example then the content on the screen has to encourage the customer to enter the store, some kind of promotion is the key. Although you don’t want to create a jam on the high street you do what to attract people to look in the direction of your store, so if you attract people to use the screen others will be attracted too, we all have a tendency to rubber neck when unusual things are going on!
At night more content but still very simple navigation and most importantly a fast response to the touch, there is nothing worse than a non responsive touch screen in an outdoor environment in fact in any environment.
Keep the navigation in the centre of the screen and away from the edges of the screen. The problem is that people often want put their web site on the window, the issue is that putting up 1% of that information may even be too much and the navigation is just wrong for a window touch screen. It is also still appropriate to have a promotion of some kind to bring in the customer the next day if they are passing the store.
Our technology can be used for many applications and every one requires a different form of content it’s true to say that there is a lot more thought needed to make the most that touch technology can provide.
Thank you for your article if we can improve the use of our technology so we can generate real ROI for the retailer we have done our job and people will buy more of our technology then everyone is happy
WHAT YOU SHOULD TAKE FROM THIS: Manufacturers care as much about successful content as creatives do. The synergy between the two should not be underestimated. As said many times, “Form follows function,” and regardless of which side of the industry we sit on, we are all in it for the singular purpose of driving that connection with the viewer.
Thank you, Mike.
A note: Best Buy is not affiliated with Visual Planet in any manner and this post should not be construed as an endorsement of Visual Planet by Best Buy.
