Interactive “Coming Soon” signs let users shop from unbuilt stores

Kate Spade teamed up with The Science Project at the site of their upcoming store, making a shoppable barricade to engage future customers.

The growth of online shopping is having an increasing influence on brick and mortar shopping, with the most forward thinking brands now incorporating digital experiences into their physical stores. The resulting omnichannel retail experiences merge online and offline worlds, enabling consumers to engage with products in new ways, and helping retailers to maximize exposure and potential sales.

The Science Project is a New York based company that works with brands to facilitate interactive experiences which they call the “Theater of Retail”. One of their latest ventures was a collaboration with fashion company Kate Spade on a pre-opening installation which transformed the static “Coming Soon” sign into a digital shoppable barricade. The interactive fixture connected to The Science Project’s cloud based platform, Shopstage, to engage and excite potential customers before the new store had even opened.

Shoppers interacted with the display through touch screens, responding to whimsical questions — such as ‘Sparkle: a little or a lot?’ — before receiving a personalized message and digital shopping basket. Users could then purchase their recommendations from right outside the store, using the same touch screens. The platform captured crucial data about the customer’s taste and preferences but also drove purchases in a formerly unfruitful space. You can watch the interactive barricade in action in the video below:

We have already seen Rebecca Minkoff and The Karl Lagerfeld Store adapt their shopping environment to encourage online activity. Are there other areas of retail that could benefit from more digital activity?