Store Design: Maximize Shopper Experience and Sales, too!

We've talked about how much we read: newspapers, magazines, blogs, you name it -- keeping in touch with technology and trends so our software products and services meet today's business objectives and maximize their customer's experience.  From construction scheduling to sales management to interactive presentations..that's what we're trying to accomplish.

One aspect of technology that doesn't always get talked about is design -- the "behind the scenes" aspect of a piece of hardware or application.  Today's Wall Street Journal has an intriguing headline: 

Forget B-School, D-School is Hot!

 

The article goes on to talk about the "murky, problem-solving concept known as "design thinking."

QuikLine: Maximizing Shopper Experience and..Sales, as well!

Today, when folks mention design, they're not necessarily focused on traditional design -- or what we might think of as architectural or fashion design.  Today's design thinking is centered around observing people in order to evaluate processes.  That's where Apple has been so successful in capturing "new" design thinking: who knew how much we'd appreciate an iPad? Apple's designers do far more than draw iPad shapes; they consider an environment and suggest technology to satisfy generally unresolved (perhaps unknown) needs.

CPS' QuikLine moves into this new design paradigm with line (or queue) management.  Designers evaluate the habits of shoppers waiting in line.  We've all been there: the "wrong" line!  How can technology improve the shopping experience and, where possible, enhance the sales process as well?

It's been said that today's competitive retail environment is pushing the envelope to enhance the last stage of the purchase process: the checkout line.  Here's where "new" design resides!

No one likes waiting unnecessarily (so reducing "wait time" is a winner for both shopper and retailer!) but there are other components associated with improving the "last transaction" that designers have pointed out after studying shoppers: decreasing the number of "walk-aways", adding one or more "impulse buy" locations, and adding randomness to reduce register "no counts."

CPS' QuikLine was developed to provide several unique components to automated queue management: use of over-the-counter hardware (monitor, controllers, sound), integration with third-party applications (think: cash registers so QuikLine recognizes when a cashier is free), multimedia reminders (monitor, voice and display lights) and the ability to display  promotional video and messaging. 

Design initiated the thinking, technology delivered the solution!