Interactive screens could redefine retailing
LONDON, ONT. — Facebook suggests friends you may know, Netflix picks movies you might enjoy and, one day, digital menus at Tim Hortons drive-thru could be personalized, showing you your favourites and suggesting alternatives it thinks you might like to try.
The concept might seem a stretch, but the ability to launch the technology isn’t that far away, said Nick Prigioniero, president of Cineplex Digital Networks.
“They’re going to suggest things that I like, just like Netflix,” he said of the concept. “(It’ll be) on your phone or a digital menu board.”
Retailers hope by launching a digital revolution within their stores they can lure shoppers’ attention away from their Facebook and Twitter feeds long enough to be impressed by what’s on shelves.
“Personalization is really key,” said Prigioniero. “We live in a world where it’s all about ‘me,’ it’s not about anybody else anymore.”
While smartphones will play a role, Prigioniero is confident that digital screens are making headway into changing the industry.
Cineplex Digital is leading the charge with nearly 33,000 screens of various sizes in retailers, fast food restaurants and banks.
The operation was called EK3 Technologies Inc. before movie exhibitor Cineplex Inc. bought it last year.
Tim Hortons recently yanked its static menu boards in favour of Cineplex Digital’s new screens that show iced drinks that tempt viewers with a hypnotic frozen swirl and bagels that bounce across the screen with slow-motion determination to attract your tastebuds.