DDi - July 2013 - (Page 72)

72 | In-Store Technology Off the rails Photos: Courtesy of M&S, Amsterdam Marks & Spencer’s Virtual Rail blends e-commerce with bricks and mortar By Janet Groeber A fter exiting The Netherlands market a decade ago, strong online sales convinced London-based Marks & Spencer (M&S) that it was time to re-examine the Dutch market. At just more than 5,300 sq. ft., the retailer’s new store on Amsterdam’s busy Kalverstraat shopping throughfare is a much smaller footprint than most of the 410 M&S stores operating in Europe, Asia and the Middle East. But that’s by design, thanks to M&S’s “clicks and bricks” strategy, which marries the physical store with e-commerce convenience in an overall smaller footprint. “We’re coming back (to The Netherlands) in a new way, because Holland is one of the most Internet-savvy countries in Europe,” explains Marc Bolland, CEO of M&S. “We are therefore launching our new website and a brand new e-boutique as a first step toward rolling out a number of stores in The Netherlands.” Debuting at Kalverstraat is “Virtual Rail,” which integrates digital clothing rods with physical rails of clothing samples. Here, customers can “shop to order” or “shop to go” in the e-boutique occupying slightly more than 1,000 sq. ft. of space. | July 2013 The Virtual Rail consists of three stacked 46-in. screens and three physical rails, each holding 50 women’s clothing samples that showcase the latest trends, updated every six weeks. With “shop to order,” customers can select from the screen and put their chosen garments on the digital clothes rail, and then turn the garments around to take a better look at various angles and even move them along the rail. With the “shop to go” option, the store offers a specially chosen edit of the latest trend-right womenswear, available for immediate purchase. Also, three in-house style advisors equipped with iPads can assist customers with the various ways they can browse and buy. Shoppers can order via the iPads, as well as by smartphone using the store’s free Wi-Fi or online using their own computers. Virtual Rail runs on a Windows Platform written using Windows Presentation Foundation. The Virtual Rail control panel and “My Favourites” functionality is API-based (application programming interface), and the central elements are managed using Microsoft Azure Services in the cloud. The My Favourites function links to the Demandware Commerce platform to allow the user to check out. Virtual Rail was developed in-house by a new engineering team created last year as part of M&S’s commitment to innovating its IT function and bringing some development in-house, explains Emma Johnson, M&S’s international corporate public relations manager. The hardware was designed in partnership with U-touch, a specialty touchscreen supplier. NEC is the screen provider. “The Netherlands has embraced online shopping—customers adore the ease and convenience of buying clothes this way, which is why we were determined to return with our very latest multi-channel thinking,” explains Laura WadeGery, executive director, e-commerce multichannel at M&S. “Our new e-boutique demonstrates just that—it’s innovative, aspirational and allows us to offer our latest fashion collections from a much smaller footprint. To email this article, visit www.ddionline.com/magazine. www.ddionline.com http://www.ddionline.com/magazine http://www.ddionline.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of DDi - July 2013

DDi - July 2013
Contents
From the Editor
From the Show Director
Newsworthy
Shopper Insights
Editor’s Choice
Visual Perspectives
Design Snapshot
Karl Lagerfeld
Walgreens
Fred Perry
World Department Store Forum
Fixture Leaders Listing
Company Index
Right Light
In-Store Technology
Product Spotlight
Calendar
Advertisers
Classifieds
Shopping with Paco

DDi - July 2013