FASHION AND TECHNOLOGY (2)

By Eva Fydrych

PERCH - THE FUTURE OF RETAIL

Photo courtesy of Perch

Imagine walking into the store of the future. You select a product, touch it, and it displays the price and all necessary product information in a form of creative digital animations.

Potion, an award winning design and technology firm located in New York City, created an interactive display PERCH to revolutionize the shopping experience. Their innovative product was officially unveiled at Decoded Fashion, a fashion and technology conference held at New York's Lincoln Center in April 2012.

How does the "Perch display" work? Basically, it uses projected light and motion sensors to enhance products positioned on tabletop counters. It can sense when and where a product is touched, and when it is picked up.

Perch creates a unique shopping experience that combines two worlds together - retail and online shopping - and enables you to experience the benefits of both of them.

Video courtesy of Perch

Perch was selected as a winner in one of New York Citys key Fashion Week Initiatives: Project Pop-Up NYC. As one of 11 retailers and tech companies representing the citys next generation of fashion industry leaders, Perch was given a space in the fittingly-named STORY retail complex on 10th Avenue.

HANDBAGS

To demonstrate the display technology, Perch created a display featuring Baggus leather bags, which are sold by fellow Project Pop-Up winners Of A Kind. Three bags are displayed on a projected wood surface, each with its own individual spot light casting a soft glow around it. As a customer picks up a bag, a collection of potential contents such as sunglasses, keys and lipstick appear on the table exactly where the bag was sitting. At this point, the customer may touch one of three buttons labeled Photos, Story and Details to learn more about the product at hand.

According to the staff at STORY, the response to this display has been exceptionally positive and the products have been selling well.

Project Pop-Up NYC (Photo courtesy of Perch)

Video courtesy of Perch

SHOES

In addition to being an interactive display system, Perch is also an interactive lighting system. Perch makes it easy to show products in their best light, utilizing color and contrast to focus the customers eyes, right where they should be. Once a customer picks up a product, more information is revealed.

Technologies like PERCH give customers a reason to pick up and feel a product, stimulating a sense of engagement with a product in a way that becomes an essential part of the in-store shopper experience. The power of touch retail may be the competitive advantage stores need in a world where buyers have an instant connection to shopping wherever they go.

Photo courtesy of Perch

Video courtesy of Perch

It looks like the retail landscape is changing before our eyes. We can't wait to see interactive Perch displays in action. Shopping has never been more fun!

ABOUT

Perch is an interactive display technology designed for use in retail spaces. It turns any light-colored table surface into a dynamic, hands-on interactive display. Perch encourages shoppers to touch and pick up products on display, and rewards them for doing so with information, animations and brand-specific media. It combines the benefits of online shopping with the advantages of retail shopping to create an entirely unique and enticing experience for the customer.

Source: Perch