The Future of Shopping is Shaping Up

Technology is making its way into your favorite stores… That sideways look from a retail associate when you walk into a store on your phone really puts a damper on a your shopping experience, am I right? Well, that stigma is a thing of the past, and now, with new interactive experiences retail stores are starting to put your phone skills to the test.

In 2014 brick and mortar store visits declined 14.6 percent, according to the Associated Press, due to the convenience of precision shopping online. So if technology is king, then why not bring it to the brick and mortar locations we once loved? In 2015 that is just what our favorite locations are doing.

A Virtual Reality Dressing room

Huffing and puffing while trying on clothes is terrible, and can be relegated to the stores of yesteryear. A serene, seamless experience that shows you what something will look like on you without trying it on is the dressing room of the future (and present), well at least at the Top-notch store Topshop.

Topshop has partnered with Kinect to create VR dressing rooms. This allows shoppers to virtually try on their purchases quickly and easily. It looks like this will turn into a great way to flip through those 50 looks without getting buried in the dressing room. Topshop also experimented with virtual reality further at London Fashion Week 2014.

The “Magic Mirror” That Shops For You

Sure, you could shop online.. or, you can do all your shopping from a full service, high-tech fitting room at Rebecca Minkoff’s Soho store. Upon arrival shoppers check in at the “Connected Glass” shopping wall, a large interactive mirror that takes your order at the swipe of your finger. The magic doesn’t end there ( you thought it did), once you step into the Rebecca Minkoff Fitting Room it’s an interactive dream.

"Every woman hates walking out of a dressing room half-naked in search of a sales associate for another size or style, which is why I'm so excited about the magic mirrors in our dressing rooms. My customers will be able to virtually connect with their stylist through the mirror's touchscreen technology for anything they need ... whether it's another size or a glass of champagne."

- Rebecca Minkoff

Samsung gets Center Stage to show off Samsung Appliances

Now you can skip the fluorescent lighting and instead, skip your way through an interactive catalog to make your appliance orders. CenterStage is a six-by-eleven foot touchscreen installation designed to showcase Samsung appliances in retail environments. I didn’t think shopping for appliances could be made sexy, but this six-by-eleven foot touch screen installation makes it a full body experience.

CenterStage makes a splash on the design side of interactive shopping, with real-time rendering, and beautiful custom interface design. Who wouldn’t want to step into a store to experience this...

Samsung CenterStage from The Barbarian Group on Vimeo.

The Mall of the Future is actually now, and Britelite helped build it!

Bespoke has a whole floor of interactive shopping experiences. Located on the 4th floor of the Westfield Mall in San Francisco, Bespoke is a trifecta of coworking, demo, and event spaces where tech and retail marketplaces converge.

As Bespoke’s preferred vendor and founding technology partner, BLI was there to add some interactive experiences into the mix.

The Result

• Real-Time 3D Virtual Environments
• Oculus Rift VR Headset experiences
• Ultra-High definition 4k touch screen kiosks
• Motion-tracking fluid dynamics experience at Bespoke to include up to six participants at a time, each with a unique identifying color.
• Your mobile device can be turned into your own navigation interface, allowing you to virtually explore the mall of the future on a huge video screen.

So, when you step onto the Bespoke floor, you’ll be engaged in the environment from the start. From walls that dance to your movements, to your new favorite interactive stores, there is plenty to see. See Techcrunch’s take on Bespoke: