Macy's Downloads New Mobile Technology
Macy’s shoppers are now able to attend personal audiences with designers such as Rachel Roy—if they use their smart phones.
The retail giant unveiled the Macy’s Backstage Pass program for shoppers with phones with video capabilities at 670 of the company’s full-line stores. In a Macy’s store, the shopper can scan a quick-response (QR) tag at various places in the store or send a text message, and a 30-second video of Roy, Martha Stewart or Sean “Diddy” Combs will appear on the phone and the designers will offer the finer points on their products, as well as style tips and advice. If consumers want to scan QR tags with their phones, they must download a QR app.
For Macy’s, QR is just one way to announce that the retail giant is technology-forward as well as fashion-forward, according to Martine Reardon, Macy’s executive vice president of marketing. “By providing fun and informative video features via an easy-to-use, direct-to-consumer platform, we are connecting and engaging our customer in a personal way that enhances and adds a new element to their shopping experience,” she said.
Macy’s is the latest retailer to experiment with QR tags and the similar augmented reality technology. Since early 2010, shoppers at the Norma Kamali flagship boutique in New York could access extra information with their QR apps, even after the store closed for the day. At the Disney store in Montebello, Calif., consumers could use augmented reality apps on their phones to access video of Tinkerbell flitting about the store. In late 2009, Victoria Gardens, a lifestyle mall in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., launched an augmented reality program for mall tenants.
Shoppers can access menus, announcements and store information with these apps. It’s just a way of staying ahead of the trends, according to Jason Butcher, the tech executive who helped launch Victoria Gardens’ augmented reality program. “A majority of people will look for information through their phones instead of another device like a laptop,” he said. —Andrew Asch
