At this year’s Dx3 digital business expo, Thirdshelf demonstrated a fully functional retail store with iBeacon proximity based shopper customization in place. The demo uses Thirdshelf’s in-store app and Estimote’s Bluetooth beacons. Thirdshelf is working with LXR&Co, a high-end boutique retailer. The store features Estimote hardware peppered throughout a mock store layout, which communicates with a user’s own device when they approach to customize iPad-based customer facing software displays, and provide information about in-store shoppers in real-time to a customer service dashboard.
“When a customer walks up, they can choose to browse in personalised mode, in which your wish list and recommendations follow you around,” explained Thirdshelf CEO Antoine Azar. “The salespeople also have a view of what’s going on, so they can get a feel for how many customers are in store, broken down by loyalty level. And, I can drill down and look at each shopper individually and check out their wish list, recommendations and profile.” It’s also integrated with POS too, so transaction information and purchase history can be tied to accounts and used to populate and inform recommendations.
The consumer app’s design and specific features can be customised by individual retailers to take on branding particular to that store or chain. The project is in beta currently, and pricing is still being worked out. Thirdshelf is bootstrapped by a team of experienced entrepreneurs, and hopes to expand its beta project considerably over the next year.
