Summary: <p class="p2">For a number of years, brands and retailers have been looking to leverage new types of interactive technology in the store. Often, these have failed to really solve a problem for the shopper – or they have simply didn’t provide moments of surprise and delight. All too often, poor-performing retail tech seemed hurried to the backroom and quietly forgotten about.</p> <p class="p2">In this show, Piers Fawkes of PSFK explores how two innovators are still exploring the use of tech to deliver seamless retail and remove friction along the physical purchase path.</p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">First, he spoke to </span><span class="s2">John Miller, the CEO of <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/caligroup">Cali Group</a> which runs the <a href="https://caliburger.com/">Caliburger</a> chain of restaurants. I spoke to him about his robo-staff and AI displays. </span></p> <p class="p5"><span class="s3">Piers also spoke to marketing technologist Ethan Goodman of the <a href="http://www.themarsagency.com">Mars Agency</a> who has been testing the use of voice-interactivity to help shoppers choose whiskies at a Bottlerocket store in NYC.</span></p> <p class="p5"><span class="s3">We can’t tell if there’s a magic solution when it comes to use of tech but I do think retailers can only learn by trying and testing, failing and learning. It will be interesting to see how Ethan and John’s work progresses. To find out more about Seamless Retail there’s a <a href="https://www.psfk.com/report/enabling-seamless-store-checkouts">research paper</a> on our reports page at PSFK.com – or listen to our podcasts and read PSFK’s newsletter. </span></p>
