Offline is the New Online
Last week, I had the privilege of attending the grand opening of the Castlery furniture store at Moore Park Supa Centre in Sydney. It was an eye-opener. Co-founder Declan Ee shared with me the meticulous details that went into every aspect of the space—from the careful material selection to the feng shui principles that influenced the layout.
But what really caught my attention was the smart tech driving the store. The price tags? Wirelessly enabled with digital ink technology, allowing for centralized control from their head office in Singapore. This means they can instantly update prices, labels and QR codes in response to promotions they are running. Genius.
Their security camera system? It’s not just about security. It monitors traffic flow to identify hot zones and dead zones, and even enables tracking the performance of the sales team in terms of how they are proactively engaging with visitors in the store. It’s like having a real-time analytics dashboard for the physical store.
The Castlery team are world-class digital marketers and it’s great to see them applying their skills to how they optimize their physical stores.
This reminded me of a talk I attended a few years ago about an advanced camera system launched in the US that could detect minute changes in body temperature. Why? Because when people are emotionally engaged, their body temperature rises. It’s physiologically almost impossible to fake. Imagine using this tech in retail to monitor not just traffic, but real emotional engagement with products. It’s like having a window into the subconscious.
The takeaway? Offline environments are becoming as data-rich as digital ones. The lines are blurring, and the potential for insights is enormous for those who keep their eyes open.
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