INDEPENDENT SURVEY
Is toy retail ready for
Biometric technology, virtual and augmented reality, hi-tech walk through tours: the retail scene is fast evolving. Jade Burke asks this month’s ToyShop UK listing how technology can benefit the independent toy seller
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here’s no doubt about it, the world in which we consume goods is on the brink of some kind of lifechanging revolution. Concepts that were once bound to the pages of dodgy science fiction or the script of even dodgier sci-fi movies (think Logan’s Run or Tom Cruise in anything) are fast becoming a reality to the world in which we shop. Have you heard, for instance, of biometric technology? If not,
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then picture a scenario in which you can walk into a store that will recognise you by your irises, voice, fingerprints or any other part of the anatomy you deem acceptable to present in public. Imagine that through this recognition, you could pick up your favourite toy and walk out without having to visit the till, but via microchips upon your person, find your bank account docked to the tune of the value of that latest Paw Patrol play-set.
It’s a scenario a lot closer to home than many realise. In fact it’s a concept already being trialled in the US, lead by Amazon and its Amazon Go initiative. But according to Sophia Murray, writer on ToyNews’ sister title PCR, Amazon is far from being the only retailer to be dabbling in this futuristic technology. “The adoption of biometric technology is enticing for vendors who are integrating the technology into their portfolios,” she says.
“This is in direct response to consumers becoming more comfortable with this everevolving and increasingly prevalent technology market.” Apple, Dell and Samsung are among the biggest names to be leading the charge in bringing the technology to the consumer’s palate, but that certainly doesn’t make them the only ones. Elsewhere, virtual reality and augmented reality are concepts that more and more are finding
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12/12/2016 11:56