Retail Asia 2018 RA September.October 2018 (Online) | Page 34

RETAIL TECHNOLOGY
Visualising the future of retail
with video recognition
Experiential retail has long been the next big thing in the
industry as technology is set to further enhance the ability
of brands and retailers to engage with their customers.
Marcus Tan, CEO of Singapore-based visual technology
company AIQ, shares with Muneerah Bee how visual
commerce is becoming more than just a touchpoint as
part of a unified customer journey experience.
W
hy is it important to
engage the digitally-savvy
millennial shoppers?
Marcus Tan: With an
estimated purchasing power of over
US$170 billion per year, millennials
are the most influential demographic in
today’s global retail industry. Compared
to their predecessors, millennials are
more brand-conscious, influenceable
and trend-driven; they are likely to
rely on research, reviews and personal
recommendations before making a
purchasing decision. Growing up in the
digital age, they have grown accustomed
to the speed and convenience brought
forth by the advent of the Internet and
mobile technologies.
At 141%, South-east Asia is home to
some of the highest mobile penetration
rates in the world.
Being able to create a shopping
experience that is seamless, interactive
and personalised is vital for retailers
to engage millennials and secure their
loyalty. Consumers want to connect
deeper with their brands and feel that the
brands, in turn, know and understand
them.
Why are physical interactions still
important in the customer journey?
Tan: Bricks-and-mortar spaces cultivate
direct, meaningful and full relationships
with customers. A physical store can be
viewed as an indication of reputability
and credibility, giving customers a sense
of security, whether shopping in-store or
via the website.
While an e-commerce platform can
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Retail Asia September/October 2018
adapt the latest technologies to offer an
experiential journey to shoppers through
an e-store, nothing beats being able
to physically touch and experience a
product as well as the social experience
of shopping at a physical storefront.
To build customers’ brand loyalty
through personalisation and engagement,
retailers need to gain actionable insights
to win over and retain customers. Video
and image recognition technology helps
them do so. As video consumption is in
trend, such a technology tool has become
very useful in processing vast amounts of
information.
A picture speaks a thousand words,
and visuals have the power of igniting
the impulse to purchase.
How can retailers use offline-to-online
(O2O) technology to enhance the
shopping experience?
Tan: The global retail scene is changing,
and now more so than ever we need
technology, whether it be regarding
marketing, inventory control, targeting
customers or even payments. Click-and-
collect, online coupons and customer
surveys are all proven O2O solutions to
enhance the shopping experience as they
provide a direct interaction from the
physical store to the digital space.
Modern retail is no longer just
about making a purchase. Instead, it
is about the experience. Retailers have
acknowledged this and are starting
to use customer data gathered online
to improve their offline shopping
experience via actionable and
personalised insights into their shopping
habits. But, you may ask, how can they
gather customer’s offline shopping habits
and data?
For example, AIQ’s patented Video
and Image Recognition Technology can
help retailers understand their customers’
offline behaviour. The technology allows
for instant processing of live video and
images, even if only 30% of the video or
image is captured and helps connect the
consumer at the physical space with the
wealth and convenience of information
available online. Also, our technology
provides real-time analytics which
captures customers’ offline behaviour
before linking them with online data.
Retailers will be able to view and
measure the full range of statistics via a
Content Management System (CMS),
displaying real-time customer interaction
with offline assets and the channel they
choose to engage. This allows for retailers
to better understand individual customer
preferences and hence, assist them in
selecting the most effective channels
to engage loyal customers. Measurable
assets include geospatial location
performance, customer behaviour
(number of interactions and top
interactions), type of device, and user
demographics (subject to registration).
In what ways are video and image
recognition technology becoming
increasingly relevant to the retail
industry?
Tan: The video and image recognition
technology is the future of the consumer
shopping and discovery experience
with its market estimated to grow to