With Smart Screen, leverage your PIMcore data for a rich and interactive phygital experience in your stores!
Un affichage réussi passe par une donnée structurée !
Un display digital n’a de sens que si il exploite des données fiables :
Si le titre de notre article a attiré votre attention c’est qu’il est, pour vous, très évocateur. Nous allons tâcher de lui faire tenir ses promesses ?
Aujourd’hui, lorsqu’on parle de « Phygitalisation », c’est un peu comme le Bitcoin ou le Metaverse : tout le monde a un avis sur le sujet mais (quasiment) personne ne sait vraiment quelque chose sur le sujet.
Today, when we talk about “Phygitalization,” it’s a bit like Bitcoin or the Metaverse: everyone has an opinion on the subject, but (almost) no one really knows much about it.
At DATASOLUTION, providing an optimal phygital experience must inherently offer the following two ingredients:
- Reliable and up-to-date data in real-time (which is where the advantage of PIMcore comes into play).
- An enriching experience that adds value to the in-store experience.
On this foundation, it’s important to recall how many times, at trade shows or in stores, we’ve encountered experiences that caught our attention, initially intrigued us, and then left us puzzled, much like an early adopter from the first hour who’s “curious to see.”
We all remember having been at least once utterly lost when faced with the use of a screen in a store that promised so much. Only to end up with a disappointing result that either didn’t provide the sought-after information, or presented no “valuable” result, or worse, crashed altogether, or, the ultimate blow, kindly invited you to seek help from a store assistant (and that’s when you hit the depths of the carbon footprint of an idle screen plugged in 24/7).
How many examples do you have in mind of screens you’ve encountered in stores that displayed either useless videos, incorrect product information, or discounts and promotions that were no longer valid?
Within the Innovation team at DATASOLUTION, we operate under the assumption that in order to offer an optimal Phygitical experience, it’s essential to first enhance the existing digital ecosystem of our clients:
- Data from existing websites and e-commerce platforms
- Existing digital mobile developments
- Communication channels and social networks rich in media and data
- And, the icing on the cake: the structuring of data on a PIM/DAM/MDM, the Holy Grail of data, and it’s fair to admit that this is a technology we particularly master at DATASOLUTION.
Our work involves analyzing to what extent we can rely on and draw from this existing digital setup to extend the customer experience, which often begins behind a screen (computer, smartphone, tablet) on a couch, into the physical store.
We often talk about a “seamless” experience or a customer relationship that bridges the gap between the website and the physical store. This has been amplified during the pandemic, requiring short, quick, and efficient visits to the store.
Today, when we talk about Phygital, it’s crucial to remember that for this to happen, the experience must be seamlessly integrated into the journey before, during, and after the store visit.
Our group, DATASOLUTION, lives up to its name: since our inception almost 20 years ago, we have been focused on data exploitation, its enhancement, and its exchange. This is why we excel with Pimcore. Our team has worked on technology capable of powering a classic or touchscreen monitor with rich, dynamic, animated interfaces fueled by diverse and structured data and media.
Here are some concrete use cases:
- Suppose you’re in the shoe section, and there’s an unused screen nearby. You can display real-time product information available in Pimcore (sometimes not present in-store) such as images, reviews, videos. At the very least, you can display contextual product information on the screen.
- Let’s say you’re in your store and you’re looking for a product in a 10,000 square meter warehouse. You can simply search for the product on a touchscreen display (using free search, buying guides, or other methods). You can display the requested product along with associated items or items in the same category. You’ll also know if it’s in stock in the store and its location. Better yet, if you had saved the product on the website, you can input its product code or scan a QR code from your wishlist.
- You’ve created a wishlist on the online store.
In the store, I log into the mobile version of the website, and I can then scan QR codes or barcodes to add each product to my wishlist, for instance:
- Complete my order with an advisor.
- Set up at a comparison station, allowing me to display my entire wishlist on a large screen and refine my selection using technical details and media stored in my PIM.
- All too often, store sales teams have outdated equipment that provides limited, black-and-white information. You’ve probably noticed that the sales team often returns to a computer to tell you, “Wait, let me check.” However, it would be so easy to create an optimized, fluid, and interactive mobile frontend that supports scanning, input, or search, enabling access to all available data or media.
When you think about it, it’s just common sense and involves, nothing more and nothing less, than bringing to life the practices we’re used to on an e-commerce site. The key is to have a cross-disciplinary understanding of digital and phygital technologies, as well as augmented architecture.
Lucky for us, this is our profession and our expertise!
A phygital experience isn’t just about placing screens in a store to display information.
The information needs to be interactive, in real-time, accurate, and capable of guiding customers to leave the store with either information or a shared service, thus creating an additional action beyond what they’ll find on the website.
With our Smart Screen technology, your data, via Pimcore and your broader digital ecosystem, comes to life, resulting in what’s referred to as phygital UI/UX.
Pimcore engages designers and developers to give life to, animate, and leverage extensive, high-quality, up-to-date, and rich data.
Feel free to explore our Innovation Lab or reach out to our team to discuss Phygitization!
