Mobile telecommunications provider Three Ireland banks on an innovative new lifestyle store concept
By Katja Laska (exclusively for EuroShop.mag)
Not only connectivity through its network and devices, but also in-store and through various channels. Irish mobile telecommunications provider Three Ireland is planning this concept for its customers and is collaborating with eyefactive. The latter specializes in touchscreen technology and interactive digital signage solutions. The goal of the retailer from Ireland: To evolve into a digital lifestyle brand.
Three Ireland’s new concept comes in response to customer feedback, which indicated that consumers crave a combination of a personal shopping experience with online features. In the newly designed stores, customers will be able to check out 100 additional lifestyle and connected products and get advice from a team of experts. But in-store staff is not the only source of information. “With interactive touchscreens, tables and individually developed software, we want to inspire our customers in our new lifestyle stores and make shopping at our new stores an unforgettable experience,” says a press release of the company. With eyefactive as a reliable partner at its side, the provider aims for more than just satisfied customers. “With better customer loyalty at the point of sale, we expect an increase in sales in the long term.”
© eyefactive GmbH
Three Ireland banks on a touchscreen app platform that will run on various touchscreens, interactive tables, and tablets. More than 500 different interactive touchscreen devices are provided for use throughout the company’s 60 stores. Each store is slated for touchscreen installations of 1-2 touch tables, 6 touch tablets, 2 to 3 non-interactive wall-mounted displays, and brand-new storefront windows.
Here is a breakdown of Three’s innovations:
Virtual shopping guide
The centerpiece of the touchscreen software solution is a virtual retail consultant. The app offers an immersive user experience with multi-touch control and optimized user interfaces to help both customers and staff find product information quickly and easily. The app offers multiple interactive guides to navigate through product categories smoothly. It also has additional omnichannel functionalities such as self-checkout via mobile devices using QR codes and other information sent to the customer’s email address.
© eyefactive GmbH
Touchscreen tables
The user interface of the touchscreen tables allows multiple users to interact across all four sides at the same time. What’s more, store associates can consult with customers face-to-face and open multiple apps and widgets at the same time from the main menu app. The tables feature integrated touchscreen object recognition technology made by eyefactive, which recognizes products placed on the screen’s surface. The company plans to advance the technology, so it can compare smartphones with their respective mobile phone contracts.
Touchscreen tablets
The tablets have a high-resolution version of the virtual “Shopping Assistant” app. Both customers and staff can use the devices.
© eyefactive GmbH
Digital signage displays and software
The software is used for non-interactive displays: The displays use a combination of the eyefactive app platform’s cloud infrastructure, the AppSuite CMS and the standard app “SlideShowFX”, which provides the digital content.
Cloud architecture
For in-store use, the company introduced a new “Monitoring” cloud function. It monitors whether all systems run properly, eliminating manual inspections thanks to automated documentation. In case of errors or irregularities, the service staff is alerted to solve the problem as soon as possible.
To ensure customers and staff are always up to date, the cloud continually upgrades the content and software on the in-store devices. The administrators can choose the updates they like to run.
Three Ireland has also planned a future upgrade that will allow it to collect and analyze touch data from all touchscreens – comparable to e-commerce click-data – which will help to improve the ROI and conversion rates.
By the end of 2023, all stores should be updated and ready to take Three Ireland’s omnichannel customer experience to the next level.
