SWITZERLAND. Swiss research agency m1nd-set has teamed up with digital marketing and research company CheckmateVR to launch a virtual reality research product aimed at boosting footfall and conversion in duty free shops.
The m1nd-set 360° digital service will allow retailers to test various designs, understand and anticipate shopper behaviour through the virtual reality experience, and measure and evaluate the impact of design on footfall and conversion rates.
By using manipulated video footage and 3D computer generated stores and products, m1nd-set 360° enables retailers to recreate the entire traveller journey – from home to inflight – to determine how consumers interact with communication touchpoints at all stages.
This recreation includes interactive digital screens and merchandising displays to help retailers ensure communication touchpoints are designed for maximum effectiveness and returns.
Using a patent-pending Scenario Manager, m1nd-Set 360° can control and change what each participant sees across thousands of combinations and record all the associated decisions and interactions. The research can be delivered online to smartphones, tablets and computers or direct through VR headsets.
Virtual shopping
m1nd-set 360° will also enable retailers to transform the online shopping and pre-ordering experience. International passengers will be able to browse and shop in virtual 3D duty free stores, visiting each category section and sub-section, from their home/hotel etc. prior to travel, the company said.
Travellers will be able to select products and purchase or pre-order their duty free goods as if they were in the actual shop. This is in contrast to existing e-commerce sites where buyers make selections from a list of products based on descriptions and photos.
With the help of Artificial Intelligence (AI) marketing solutions, m1nd-set anticipates producing personalised marketing messages based on customer segments and, eventually, individual profiles. The service will allow brands and retailers to push marketing messages to shoppers, test and analyse their impact, assess the top performing messages and adapt content.
“This is the first solution of its kind in the travel retail industry today. It is also the only one which can help stakeholders test, evaluate and adapt their design options for the highest conversion rates and optimise their return on investment before execution and prior to committing the capital expenditure,” said CheckmateVR Chief Creative Officer Robert Thorpe.
“Our research technology has been used on a number of projects by companies in the US in recent months, including Estée Lauder, MARS and Target stores and has proven to be hugely accurate to real-world behaviour.”
m1nd-set CEO and owner Peter Mohn added: “At m1nd-set we have been monitoring progress in the field of augmented reality and virtual reality technology in recent months. This is driven not only by the marked increase in consumers’ engagement with, and interest in, the technology, but also by our clients’ need to differentiate the customer experience in duty free and travel retail stores as well as their desire to provide more engaging marketing activations.
“Brands and retailers are increasingly hungry for data on the impact of touchpoints along the passenger’s journey – from their home to the boarding gate and beyond – to understand the most impactful marketing moments and media.
He added: “Drawing on the shopper insights from m1nd-set’s thousands of face-to-face interviews with international passengers every month at airports around the world, we can identify the key elements of brand and retailer communication, which consumers say impact their purchasing decisions. These include the location, time, format and even potentially the content of the advertising messages, whether delivered and seen at home prior to travel, on the way to the airport or in the airport and duty free shopping environment.
“Thanks to m1nd-set’s new digital VR service m1nd-set 360°, these vital shopper insights can now help shape and perfect retailers’ and brands’ consumer marketing and communications strategies. Both for the store design functionality and the B2C communications aspect, this new service enables stakeholders to test, evaluate and adapt to ensure the most effective returns on the investment into design and media spend.”
m1nd-set and CheckmateVR will attend May’s TFWA Asia Pacific Exhibition and Conference in Singapore to discuss the new service with industry stakeholders.
