LEADIN:

Interactive fitting rooms and facial recognition are headed to stores near you.

The high street is embracing new tech in a bid to beat online retailers, such as Amazon, at their own game. But one analyst says a sprinkling of new tech won't reverse all the high street's woes.

STORYLINE:

Is this the store assistant of the future? SoftBank Robotics' Pepper humanoid robot is greeting visitors to London's Retail Business Technology Expo (RTBE).

Claimed to be Europe's leading retail industry event, over 400 suppliers are showcasing their latest innovations and solutions - from robotics to self-service stations.

Fort Lauderdale, Florida-based Sato Global Solutions is demonstrating this smart fitting room solution, called 'Vision Retail.'

Using small, RFID (radio-frequency identification) tags attached to the clothing, shoppers can explore different sizes, colours and browse related items and accessories.

"So, imagine you're a shopper, you're walking into the fitting room," explains Katie Oliver from Sato Global Solutions.

"You grab an item, and as you enter the fitting room, the RFID reader is automatically going to read the tag and the item will populate on to the screen.

"So, it's replicating that online experience, showing you reviews, recommendations and also giving you access to different sizes, different colours."

The idea is to bring the interactivity of online shopping into the fitting room.

The platform also generates useful data about customer behaviour - what's tried on and what isn't, what's purchased and what isn't.

"Fitting rooms are where purchasing decisions are made and you have no visibility into what's happening," says Oliver.

"So now, a consumer can walk in and what we're doing is replicating that online experience. So, things you're used to like reviews, recommendations.

"So now they'll have all of that by a touch of a button and a connection point to the employee within the store. So, if they wanted to request a different size, a different colour, they could do that."

Leipzig, Germany-based Sensape is demonstrating its visual retail solution that lets customers try on virtual glasses with the touch of a button.

But Justus Nagel from Sensape says their advanced artificial percepetion technology goes much further - analysing customers' gender, age, emotions and gestures.

"It's not only facial recognition, recognition in general," he says.

"So, you can analyse age, gender, but you can also analyse is somebody wearing glasses or not, is somebody having a beard or not, is somebody wearing a green shirt or a white shirt. And based on that, we can learn to recommend certain products."

Budapest, Hungary-based Ultinous is demonstrating its video analytics software that lets retailers assess shopper patterns in real-time.

One application is analysing shopper movements to predict queues forming before they even occur, meaning stores can deploy extra staff.

And that's just start, claims Csaba Jori from Ultinous.

"They can definitely fine-tune their promotions, we can also create heat maps by demographics," he says.

"So, they will know what kind of demographics, people are at which part of the stores. So, where to put the products for young, where to put the products for older people."

The high street is embracing new tech in a bid to beat online retailers, such as Amazon, at their own game.

But Howard Saunders, a self-described "retail futurist," says a sprinkling of new tech won't reverse all the high street's woes.

"There's loads of stands here and there's lots of very clever people out there doing amazing stuff," he says.

"But I tend to feel that there's a lot of retailers out there like standing on the pavements of stores, wondering where the customers have gone and think that maybe a sprinkling of technology will save them. It won't."

One answer could be delivering something technology can't deliver - for now, at least - real heart-felt hospitality.

"The rise of AI and robotics will teach us what we want from humanity, which is proper hospitality," says Saunders.

"So, I think, actually one of the trends we never talk about is the rise of proper hospitality.

"So, it's really genuine, heart-felt - I call it 'hi-ho,' high hospitality. You know, intense hospitality that genuinely feels real and generous, not polite and distant."

The Retail Business Technology Expo (RTBE) ran 2-3 May at London's Olympia convention centre.

London, UK - 3 May 2018

1. Various of SoftBank Robotics' Pepper humanoid robot interacting with visitor at Retail Business Technology Expo (RBTE) event

2. Tilt down of RTBE show floor

3. Various of exhibitors

4. Various of Sato Global Solutions employee demonstrating 'Vision Retail' smart fitting room, using touchscreen to interact with blouse

5. SOUNDBITE (English) Katie Oliver, Sato Global Solutions:

"So, this is our smart fitting room. So, imagine you're a shopper, you're walking into the fitting room. You grab an item, and as you enter the fitting room, the RFID reader is automatically going to read the tag and the item will populate on to the screen. So, it's replicating that online experience, showing you reviews, recommendations and also giving you access to different sizes, different colours."

6. Close of employee taking blouse from rail

7. Close of employee placing blouse on rail

8. Close of touchscreen, showing blouse info

9. Tilt up of clothes on rail

10. Close of hangers on rail

11. SOUNDBITE (English) Katie Oliver, Sato Global Solutions:

"Fitting rooms are where purchasing decisions are made and you have no visibility into what's happening. So now, a consumer can walk in and what we're doing is replicating that online experience. So, things you're used to like reviews, recommendations. So now they'll have all of that by a touch of a button and a connection point to the employee within the store. So, if they wanted to request a different size, a different colour, they could do that."

12. Various of visitors interacting with Sensape visual retail solution, trying on virtual glasses

13. SOUNDBITE (English) Justus Nagel, Sensape:

"It's not only facial recognition, recognition in general. So, you can analyse age, gender, but you can also analyse is somebody wearing glasses or not, is somebody having a beard or not, is somebody wearing a green shirt or a white shirt. And based on that, we can learn to recommend certain products."

14. Various of visitors looking at screen, showing Ultinous video analytics software

15. SOUNDBITE (English) Csaba Jori, Ultinous:

"They can definitely fine-tune their promotions, we can also create heat maps by demographics. So, they will know what kind of demographics, people are at which part of the stores. So, where to put the products for young, where to put the products for older people."

16. Various of screens, showing Ultinous video analytics software

17. Wide pan right of RTBE show floor

18. Various of show floor signage

19. Wide of exhibitors

20. SOUNDBITE (English) Howard Saunders, Retail Futurist:

"There's loads of stands here and there's lots of very clever people out there doing amazing stuff, but I tend to feel that there's a lot of retailers out there like standing on the pavements of stores, wondering where the customers have gone and think that maybe a sprinkling of technology will save them. It won't."

21. Close of signage, reading (English): 'Amazon Pay'

22. Various of 'Take Go' booth

23. SOUNDBITE (English) Howard Saunders, Retail Futurist:

"The rise of AI and robotics will teach us what we want from humanity, which is proper hospitality. So, I think, actually one of the trends we never talk about is the rise of proper hospitality. So, it's really genuine, heart-felt - I call it 'hi-ho,' high hospitality. You know, intense hospitality that genuinely feels real and generous, not polite and distant."

24. Various of SoftBank Robotics' Pepper humanoid robot interacting with visitor

LEADIN:

Interactive fitting rooms and facial recognition are headed to stores near you.

The high street is embracing new tech in a bid to beat online retailers, such as Amazon, at their own game. But one analyst says a sprinkling of new tech won't reverse all the high street's woes.

STORYLINE:

Is this the store assistant of the future? SoftBank Robotics' Pepper humanoid robot is greeting visitors to London's Retail Business Technology Expo (RTBE).

Claimed to be Europe's leading retail industry event, over 400 suppliers are showcasing their latest innovations and solutions - from robotics to self-service stations.

Fort Lauderdale, Florida-based Sato Global Solutions is demonstrating this smart fitting room solution, called 'Vision Retail.'

Using small, RFID (radio-frequency identification) tags attached to the clothing, shoppers can explore different sizes, colours and browse related items and accessories.

"So, imagine you're a shopper, you're walking into the fitting room," explains Katie Oliver from Sato Global Solutions.

"You grab an item, and as you enter the fitting room, the RFID reader is automatically going to read the tag and the item will populate on to the screen.

"So, it's replicating that online experience, showing you reviews, recommendations and also giving you access to different sizes, different colours."

The idea is to bring the interactivity of online shopping into the fitting room.

The platform also generates useful data about customer behaviour - what's tried on and what isn't, what's purchased and what isn't.

"Fitting rooms are where purchasing decisions are made and you have no visibility into what's happening," says Oliver.

"So now, a consumer can walk in and what we're doing is replicating that online experience. So, things you're used to like reviews, recommendations.

"So now they'll have all of that by a touch of a button and a connection point to the employee within the store. So, if they wanted to request a different size, a different colour, they could do that."

Leipzig, Germany-based Sensape is demonstrating its visual retail solution that lets customers try on virtual glasses with the touch of a button.

But Justus Nagel from Sensape says their advanced artificial percepetion technology goes much further - analysing customers' gender, age, emotions and gestures.

"It's not only facial recognition, recognition in general," he says.

"So, you can analyse age, gender, but you can also analyse is somebody wearing glasses or not, is somebody having a beard or not, is somebody wearing a green shirt or a white shirt. And based on that, we can learn to recommend certain products."

Budapest, Hungary-based Ultinous is demonstrating its video analytics software that lets retailers assess shopper patterns in real-time.

One application is analysing shopper movements to predict queues forming before they even occur, meaning stores can deploy extra staff.

And that's just start, claims Csaba Jori from Ultinous.

"They can definitely fine-tune their promotions, we can also create heat maps by demographics," he says.

"So, they will know what kind of demographics, people are at which part of the stores. So, where to put the products for young, where to put the products for older people."

The high street is embracing new tech in a bid to beat online retailers, such as Amazon, at their own game.

But Howard Saunders, a self-described "retail futurist," says a sprinkling of new tech won't reverse all the high street's woes.

"There's loads of stands here and there's lots of very clever people out there doing amazing stuff," he says.

"But I tend to feel that there's a lot of retailers out there like standing on the pavements of stores, wondering where the customers have gone and think that maybe a sprinkling of technology will save them. It won't."

One answer could be delivering something technology can't deliver - for now, at least - real heart-felt hospitality.

"The rise of AI and robotics will teach us what we want from humanity, which is proper hospitality," says Saunders.

"So, I think, actually one of the trends we never talk about is the rise of proper hospitality.

"So, it's really genuine, heart-felt - I call it 'hi-ho,' high hospitality. You know, intense hospitality that genuinely feels real and generous, not polite and distant."

The Retail Business Technology Expo (RTBE) ran 2-3 May at London's Olympia convention centre.

London, UK - 3 May 2018

1. Various of SoftBank Robotics' Pepper humanoid robot interacting with visitor at Retail Business Technology Expo (RBTE) event

2. Tilt down of RTBE show floor

3. Various of exhibitors

4. Various of Sato Global Solutions employee demonstrating 'Vision Retail' smart fitting room, using touchscreen to interact with blouse

5. SOUNDBITE (English) Katie Oliver, Sato Global Solutions:

"So, this is our smart fitting room. So, imagine you're a shopper, you're walking into the fitting room. You grab an item, and as you enter the fitting room, the RFID reader is automatically going to read the tag and the item will populate on to the screen. So, it's replicating that online experience, showing you reviews, recommendations and also giving you access to different sizes, different colours."

6. Close of employee taking blouse from rail

7. Close of employee placing blouse on rail

8. Close of touchscreen, showing blouse info

9. Tilt up of clothes on rail

10. Close of hangers on rail

11. SOUNDBITE (English) Katie Oliver, Sato Global Solutions:

"Fitting rooms are where purchasing decisions are made and you have no visibility into what's happening. So now, a consumer can walk in and what we're doing is replicating that online experience. So, things you're used to like reviews, recommendations. So now they'll have all of that by a touch of a button and a connection point to the employee within the store. So, if they wanted to request a different size, a different colour, they could do that."

12. Various of visitors interacting with Sensape visual retail solution, trying on virtual glasses

13. SOUNDBITE (English) Justus Nagel, Sensape:

"It's not only facial recognition, recognition in general. So, you can analyse age, gender, but you can also analyse is somebody wearing glasses or not, is somebody having a beard or not, is somebody wearing a green shirt or a white shirt. And based on that, we can learn to recommend certain products."

14. Various of visitors looking at screen, showing Ultinous video analytics software

15. SOUNDBITE (English) Csaba Jori, Ultinous:

"They can definitely fine-tune their promotions, we can also create heat maps by demographics. So, they will know what kind of demographics, people are at which part of the stores. So, where to put the products for young, where to put the products for older people."

16. Various of screens, showing Ultinous video analytics software

17. Wide pan right of RTBE show floor

18. Various of show floor signage

19. Wide of exhibitors

20. SOUNDBITE (English) Howard Saunders, Retail Futurist:

"There's loads of stands here and there's lots of very clever people out there doing amazing stuff, but I tend to feel that there's a lot of retailers out there like standing on the pavements of stores, wondering where the customers have gone and think that maybe a sprinkling of technology will save them. It won't."

21. Close of signage, reading (English): 'Amazon Pay'

22. Various of 'Take Go' booth

23. SOUNDBITE (English) Howard Saunders, Retail Futurist:

"The rise of AI and robotics will teach us what we want from humanity, which is proper hospitality. So, I think, actually one of the trends we never talk about is the rise of proper hospitality. So, it's really genuine, heart-felt - I call it 'hi-ho,' high hospitality. You know, intense hospitality that genuinely feels real and generous, not polite and distant."

24. Various of SoftBank Robotics' Pepper humanoid robot interacting with visitor