VM goes omnichannel in Lee’s QR coded store windows

As consumers, our interaction with technology is a given today. From shopping to scanning a menu, we smoothly navigate across tech interfaces without blinking an eye-lid. It also shows that the best integration of technology happens in the most unobtrusive way. It just slips into our experience, before we have even had the time to say ‘wow’! This was the thought process behind the recent ‘End of Season Sale’ VM installation for the brand Lee®️ by technology-native retail company ace turtle. The company had recently announced the launch of Lee®️’s first flagship store in India at Brigade Road in Bangalore.

QR codes are almost inevitable today, but to use them as part of VM is a unique way of making it truly omnichannel. As Pawan Nagarwal, VP of VM & Brand Experience, ace turtle, who conceptualised the idea explains, “Sometimes simple things work like magic. Omnichannel is core to our DNA at ace turtle. So even when we were designing our sale windows, we wanted to portray our omnichannel focus upfront and have used it in our end-of-season sale VM to enhance customer conversion. It was all about art meeting technology to elevate VM, and through a simple integration of QR codes.”

As part of the omnichannel strategy, the ace turtle VM team decided to leverage the offline store space through these QR-coded VM displays. When customers scan the QR code from their smartphone, it takes them to the brand’s webstore. Also, every store has a unique QR code gateway so that the sales generated reflect from the specific store from where it was scanned. The QR codes have been added in all of Lee®️’s stores across India. 

As Pawan adds, “Technology has become essential in so many aspects of our life today, whether it’s travel or eating out. Customers are very comfortable using QR codes today. In retail too, this is happening and shoppers often don’t need assistance today. So it’s important for visual merchandisers to understand this - get the pulse of the customer - before planning their VM design.” 

He further shares, talking about integrating technology in the retail experience, “At ace turtle, our goal is to lead the transformation of the retail industry in India through technology via our Retail Next philosophy. Using technology is no longer about just putting up LEDs screens in your store. Real integration of technology is about adding it to every functionality of the customer interface, making it easy and seamless. It’s not gimmicky, but customer-centric.”

In terms of aesthetics, Pawan informs that the choice of yellow for Lee®️’s end-of-season sale VM was deliberate, in order to make it stand out. “Red is the usual choice among brands to announce sales. But we have used yellow to break the clutter, and we can see that it really works. It is also about staying true to the brand Lee®️’s personality.”