16Gupta further added, “We are also doing
an in-store personalization project where
we will be able to recognize the customer
and will send customized SMS when he/
she enters the store. This is still under pilot
stage. We have done it on GAP, US Polo and
Unlimited stores.”
Being Human has also integrated a touch
screen system called ‘Shop Sense’ wherein
customers can see all the clothes in stock at
the store. They can do the product selection
which will then get delivered to them
directly.
Cost of implementation
Over the last 4 years, brands like Soch
have invested close to Rs 7.5 crore in the
technology implementation. As Vinay
Chatlani, Co-founder and CEO of Soch
explains, “The investment was made with
a view of both tangible benefits and brand
imagery and salience - hence, the payoff
period for ROI was 18 months.”
According to Karan Berry of Being Human,
“On an average, these would cost us
anything between Rs 40,000 and Rs 50,
or the equipment. Creating content and
the video has a separate cost, which keeps
varying.”
“Cost of the digital screen is directly
proportionate to the size. It ranges from Rs
25,000 to Rs 10 lakh,” says Rishabh Oswal.
But on the whole, with technology
costs coming down, it is only a matter
of time before brands start seeing the
business benefits of digital displays and
communication. After all, going further,
physical retail will only get a lot more
experience driven and interactive, aided
by technology. Internationally digital
signage is already being used for a lot of
customer engagement and interactivity
with data analytics embedded in it for
shopper insights. Many Indian brands too
are now trying to move from generic and
mass-market approach to a more data
driven, real-time personalized promotion
and awareness strategies. As technology
evolves and shopper tastes and lifestyles
too evolve, brands will have no choice but to
evolve too in the way they craft and curate
their tech enabled in-store experience and
communication. lSmita Sinha
With inputs from Payal GulatiJuly 2019