Pokemon and Robots: Interactive Retail

Overlaying technology can make each visit different too. Tomorrow’s retail districts will feature a host of interactive technologies, all designed to make the shopping experience more personalized and more compelling…

A mall in Albany, New York, has converted its lobby into a Pokémon Go arena, while a pizza restaurant in Queens saw food and drinks sales spike by 30% after it installed “Lure Modules” to attract Pokémon — and the customers stalking them.

In Sephora’s Milan store, an augmented reality mirror allows shoppers to see what different colours look like on their own face without removing their own make-up.

Slovenian cosmetics brand AlpStories has an in-store robot that formulates personalized cosmetics while you wait.

Robot greeters are already advising shoppers in Lowe’s hardware stores in the San Francisco Bay area, serving KFC customers in Shanghai and will soon be taking orders at Pizza Hut restaurants across Asia.

In The Fourth Industrial Revolution, Klaus Schwab, founder of the World Economic Forum, predicts that 30% of retail jobs will be lost to artificial intelligence by 2025.