Philips Research Technology Backgrounder
Interactive, appealing product presentations
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Imagine being able to interact with your customers, entice them to
your product displays and even influence purchasing decisions – all
in a way that leaves them feeling comfortable and unpressured, and
your staff free to focus on completing sales already achieved.
Philips Research is exploring new ways of using light interactively
to achieve precisely this effect. Drawing on extensive feedback from
shoppers and retailers, Philips is working on a range of flexible,
cost-effective lighting solutions that will intensify customers’
shopping experience by making shopping more interactive and
presenting products in more appealing ways.
These interactive lighting solutions include the Reactive Spotlight, the HaloShelf and the Attracting Shop Light. |
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Reactive Spotlight When shoppers enter a store, they want to feel welcome and free to look around. In addition, many shoppers do not want to be bothered by shop assistants. To address this issue, Philips Research has come up with a new way of engaging people, one that is less direct, and therefore more effective. The Reactive Spotlight creates a subtle, intriguing interaction between store and customer, giving customers the confidence to look around freely – all without directly having to start a conversation with them. In its rest state, the Reactive Spotlight illuminates key products in the store, such as jewelry, shoes or other premium accessories, in a normal way. But when a customer approaches the product, the spotlight beam subtly narrows to focus directly on the product. This highlighting of the product provides an elegant response to the shopper’s interest. It is as if an invisible assistant is taking the product out of the display cabinet and presenting it to the shopper for closer examination. The Reactive Spotlight works with an integrated sensor that when it notices that a shopper is approaching the display, it triggers a change in liquid crystal cells situated in front of the LED light source. This in turn causes the width of the beam to narrow, subtly focusing attention on the product in a smooth light animation. When the customer moves away, the beam gently reverts to its original wide focus, ready to respond to the next interested shopper. + High-resolution pictures on the Reactive Spotlight |
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HaloShelf Retailers naturally want to present their top products in an appealing, eye-catching way. An effective way of doing this is to show off the product in a display area, which is decorated to match the style and color of the product. But products change frequently, and redecorating cubes is expensive and time-consuming. To help retailers meet this challenge, Philips Research is working on a special versatile lighting concept, the HaloShelf. The HaloShelf consists of a top-down white spotlight, which focuses on the product and a shelf, which surrounds the product with a halo of color-coordinated light. The color of the product is left unaffected, and none of the light spreads to contaminate surrounding displays. The color of the halo can be changed easily at any time, and any color is possible. The HaloShelf can be used in-store or in shop windows to create a magical showcase for premium items. + High-resolution pictures on the HaloShelf |
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Attracting Shop Light Retailers today are looking for new ways to interact with shoppers so that they stay in the store for as long as possible. Attracting Shop Light is a new technological solution that engages with customers, transforming the shopping experience from the ordinary into the magical. Products, such as high-end accessories or jewelry, are placed in a display cube. The cube is surrounded by moving lightspots. These lights are projected into the cube by a rotating lens. When an integrated sensor detects that a shopper is approaching the cube, the spotlights stop moving and all focus in on the product. This not only creates a magical feeling around the product, but also a fun, innovative interaction with the customer. + High-resolution pictures on the Attracting Shop Light Philips Research – at the forefront of retail lighting Shopping has become one of the most popular leisure activities in economically advanced countries. People no longer only go shopping when they need something: the experience of shopping is becoming more important. This also means that these people navigate through stores in a less structured way, and will be attracted by environments, which are appealing and pleasant to be in. As a result, retailers continuously try to optimize the shopping experience in such a way that increases people’s willingness to buy. Research shows that one of the most effective ways of influencing buyers is through lighting. To help retailers make full use of lighting as a marketing tool, Philips Research is working on a wide variety of new lighting solutions. In a very early stage, shoppers, retailers and lighting professionals are involved to test these solutions to ensure that they meet the needs of all key players. |
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