Technology and design company Iconeme is to launching a personalised virtual ‘High Street Takeover‘, collaborating with participating retailers in both

Westbourne Grove and Ledbury Road in London’s Notting Hill on October 3rd, 2018.

Retailers who are participating in the initiative with Iconeme include Melissa Odabash, Hari’s, Melt, Derek Rose,

 Petit Bateau, Toast, Woodhouse and Maison SL  amongst others.

The high street is under increasing pressure with the internet taking up about a fifth of all retail spending over the past year. Smartphones are everywhere meaning consumers can buy everything from fashion to kitchens wherever they are and whatever time it is.

The internet has challenged the smaller bricks and mortar retailers in a number of ways. Apart from directly diverting sales, it has given shoppers less reason to visit their high street, reducing chances of drawing in passing trade, while the cost and complexity of building the infrastructure to deliver goods to homes efficiently has hit profits.

 As traditional retailers struggle to adapt, they are being further pressed by online specialists, such as Amazon and Net a Porter who are unhindered by a portfolio of outdated stores. The ease of comparing prices and accessing goods from around the world has given more options to those based in small towns who are no longer restricted to shopping local, making competition tougher than ever.

Spearheading VMBeacon technology for visual merchandising, Iconeme was launched in 2014 to widespread, positive media coverage. VMBeacon, is a bluetooth, low energy product which can be placed anywhere in store, inside mannequins or in visual merchandising displays enabling retailers to

communicate with customers via their smartphones as they browse items on display in shop windows and in store.

Positioned as the first truly engaging experience, Iconeme is a way for both customers and retailers to interact. Bridging the gap between on and offline,

Iconeme enhances the retail journey for the consumer and drives 24/7 sales to the retailer’s website together with supply of vital customer analytics.

A VMBeacon device transmits information that has been programmed by the retailer via a secure web-portal. When a customer with an enabled smartphone app is within a 100m range of the VMBeacon, they will receive an automatic alert about the content they can access. This includes details about clothes and accessories or products displayed, such as price and links to purchase the items directly from the retailer’s website or the location they can be found within the store.

The customer can also see more detailed photos and descriptions of the products plus save the looks for later, share with friends as well as access additional offers and rewards.

Commenting on the initiative Jonathan Berlin, Co-founder of Iconeme said “We are really excited to see Iconeme used on a mass scale. This is game changing technology for the struggling high street and we plan to expand the initiative to include other key shopping areas in the near future”

The Richard Young  gallery was founded by the acclaimed photographer and is currently exhibiting a collection of his classic celebrity images, spanning his 40-year career in showbusiness.

Iconeme's Beacon technology installed in the gallery enables visitors to receive information about the photographs on display, direct to their smartphones, as they browse the exhibition.

 

Richard Young: “We’re always looking for ways to enhance the experience of coming to the gallery. Our visitors want to see the photography that has shaped my career but we also know that having supporting information readily available is extremely important to them. The implementation of Iconeme’s beacon technology is a natural step for us, as it uses smart technology to engage visitors directly, enabling them to not only view the exhibition, but also learn more via their smartphones, giving a richer, more interactive and more personal experience.”

 

Visit the Gallery in West London & try out the Iconeme app, click here for more information.

 

 Iconeme at the Richard Young Gallery...