m1nd-set unveils new virtual reality research product

By Andrew Pentol |

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m1nd-set 360° will facilitate new projects with B2C retail and B2B operational functionalities. Pictured, m1nd-set CEO Peter Mohn.

Swiss research agency m1nd-set is expanding its service offering with a new virtual reality research product to boost footfall and conversion in duty free shops.

m1nd-set is teaming up with UK and US-based digital marketing and research company CheckmateVR, which specialises in providing leading-edge technology for research to launch this new digital research product.

Branded m1nd-set 360°, the service will facilitate new projects which, according to the company had previously been almost impossible to achieve in TR with B2C retail and B2B operational functionalities.

For the first time, retailers can gain insights by testing various designs, understand and anticipate shopper behaviour through the near real-life experience and measure and evaluate the impact of the various design options on footfall and conversion rates.

THE TRAVELLER JOURNEY

By leveraging manipulated video footage and best-in-class computer generated stores, inclusive of DF and TR stores and computer generated 3D products, m1nd-set 360° enables retailers to recreate the entire traveller journey.

This is from home to the journey to the airport, along the airport concourse, in-store and inflight. The aim is to determine how consumers interact with communication touchpoints at all stages.

This recreation includes interactive digital screens and merchandising displays to ensure every communication touchpoint is designed for maximum effectiveness and returns.

Using a patent pending Scenario Manager, m1nd-Set 360° is able to control and change what each participant sees across thousands of combinations and record all associated decisions and interactions.

The research can be delivered online to smartphones and tablets, computers or direct through VR headsets, making it flexible and affordable.

m1nd-set 360° will enable retailers to transform the online shopping and pre-order experience, where international passengers will be able to browse and shop in virtual 3D duty free stores, visiting each category section and sub-section from their own home or hotel prior to travel.

They will be able to pick out each product and purchase or pre-order their duty free goods as if they were in the actual shop, rather than just selecting from a list of products with only product descriptions and photos as per existing e-commerce sites.

With the help of Artificial Intelligence marketing solutions, m1nd-set anticipates producing personalised marketing messages based on customer segments and eventually individual profiles.

m1nd-set 360° enables brands and retailers to push different marketing messages to shoppers, test and analyse the impact of each one, assess which message generates the highest return on investment and adapt the creative content to push the most productive campaigns in real time.

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Retailers can gain insights by testing various designs, understand and anticipate shopper behaviour through the near real-life experience and measure and evaluate the impact of the various design options on footfall and conversion rates.

FIRST OF ITS KIND

CheckmateVR Chief Creative Officer Robert Thorpe commented: “This is the first solution of its kind in the travel retail industry today.

“It is also the only one which can help stakeholders test, evaluate and adapt their design options for the highest conversion rates and optimise their return on investment before execution and prior to committing the capital expenditure.

“Our research technology has been used on a number of projects by companies in the US in recent months, including Estée Lauder, Mars and Target stores and has proven hugely accurate to real world behaviour.”

m1nd-set CEO and owner Peter Mohn added: “At m1nd-set we have been monitoring progress in the field of augmented reality and virtual reality technology in recent months.

“This is not only driven by the marked increase in consumer engagement and interest in the technology, but also by our clients’ need to differentiate the customer experience in duty free and travel retail stores and their desire to provide more engaging marketing activations.

“Brands and retailers are increasingly hungry for data about the impact of touchpoints along the passenger’s journey– from their home to the boarding gate and beyond – to understand the most impactful marketing moments and media.

“Drawing on the shopper insights from m1nd-set’s thousands of face-to-face interviews with international passengers every month at airports around the world we are able to identify the key elements of brand and retailer communication, which consumers say impact their purchasing decisions.

“These include the location, time, format and even potentially the content of the advertising messages, whether delivered and seen at home prior to travel, on the way to the airport or in the airport and duty free shopping environment.

“Thanks to m1nd-set’s new digital VR service m1nd-set 360°, these vital shopper insights can now help shape and perfect retailers’ and brands’ consumer marketing and communications strategies.

“Both for the store design functionality and the B2C communications aspect, this new service enables stakeholders to test, evaluate and adapt to ensure the most effective returns on the investment into design and media spend.”

m1nd-set and CheckmateVR  directors will attend the Tax Free World Association (TFWA) Asia Pacific Summit in May to discuss the new service with industry stakeholders.

 

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