TELSTRA RETAIL COMPANION 

2016

Telstra + R/GA

GM Retail Design, Innovation and Merchandising

Telstra

One of the main goal of modern retailers is to provide personalised experiences that are consistent at every touch point. The main barrier I identified for us to achieve that, was access to shopper data in the physical space. We did not have a scalable way to know who was coming into our stores, when and for what reasons with our existing ecosystem.

We came up with the idea of an augmented reality powered mobile companion product, that would add value to the customer experience, in store, at home and on the go. By doing so, we were giving shoppers a reason to use their smartphone in store in order for us to gather data, that we would use to provide a more personalised experience of the brand at every step of the path to purchase (product recommandation, special offer, reminders, gifts).

We partnered with R/GA to design a prototype with 5 in-store AR powered experiences (2x product information, marketing material translation, catalogue digitisation and packaging enhancement). Despite the fantastic results we got from initial testing, the project was de-prioritised to support other more urgent business needs.

I still like that project a lot, and have the hope that I or someone else will make it happen one day. Most recently, Nike have started using AR in some of their flagship stores, where they see fantastic traction.