Best Buy has rolled out an app that knows when a customer has entered a particular store, and offers the customer coupons. The app is triggered without any type of user action, notifying the customer of promotions within that store, and potential “kickbucks” that can be redeemed for discounts or credits.
The first release of the app, developed by shopkick, works only on iPhone, but an Andriod version is not far behind. The app uses a proprietary hardware recognition system rather than GPS, so Best Buy is investing heavily in this technology. The app can be used for scanning barcodes, so many more potential applications can be developed to enhance the shopping experience.
Since my main interest is in enhancing the shopping experience rather than persuading shoppers to buy things they didn’t know they wanted (i.e. Pull vs. Push), I’m thinking about the kinds of in-store purchase intelligence the app could deliver. For example, when buying a home theater system, I would like to be able to scan a receiver and see:
- Related items that I need to make the receiver function properly
- Video about installation
- Table of comparative features with special attention to moving one notch up or down in price and seeing the corresponding items which are in-stock and their feature sets
- Discount coupon based on bundling options
- Financing options
- Add to cart and checkout in the aisle
I would also like a big red “Hide Me” button to turn off Best Buy’s awareness of my whereabouts.
Retailers are just beginning to scratch the surface of digital shopping design. It’s an exciting time to be in the multichannel design strategy business, other than all this talk about a double dip recession.
