Comment: Why in-store technology is just part of the selling process

The days of the unassisted sell, courtesy of a bank of iPads, are not just numbered, they’re probably done and dusted.

Not so long ago for many retailers there was a sense that success depended on their iPad count. The essential idea seemed to be that shoppers would engage with an interior if it had numerous iPads dotted around and that somehow shoppers would go straight to the nearest dinky touchscreen and start ‘playing’.

Maybe so, but it seems that the days of the unassisted piece of in-store technology are not just numbered, they may well be over. All Saints was one of the first to realise that shoppers just didn’t seem to be interested in iPads and quietly removed them from its stores. And on the face of it, it may have been right to do so.

If a shopper goes to the effort of making a trip to the stores, whether out of necessity or for pleasure, it seems probable that the reason for doing so may well have something to do with the merchandise and the experience of being in a shop.

On the face of it, unless something is not stocked in the shop, which was the reason often cited for installing numerous tablets in stores, there is little real purpose in having them. They are, in effect, that element that dogs so many parts of technology as far as retail is concerned - a solution in search of a problem.

There is hope for the purveyors of technology and for retailers seeking to make the most of what’s out there however; assisted technology and technology that assists.

A couple of weeks ago Marks & Spencer showed the way in its new accessories department in the Pantheon on Oxford Street. In the shoe area it unveiled a screen with a small shelf next to it. Shoppers could put a shoe on the shelf and it would trigger on-demand content for shoppers looking to kill a little time while waiting for their shoe size, perhaps, to be found in a particular style.

This was about bridging the boredom gap that so often accompanies shoe shopping and making the whole experience a little more engaging. The same might be said of a visit to Burberry on Regent Street or New Look at Marble Arch where staff carry iPads and can advise by reference to them. This is assisted technology and is far more likely to generate a positive shopper response and possibly a sale than just leaving shoppers to get on with it.

Technology has its place in stores as a sales tool, but is far from being an end in itself.