Shoppers are desperately in need of new, innovative and refreshing ideas in the retail sphere. Retailers have come up with tons of digital innovations inside the store, all aiming at selling more. But they forgot the enchantment part of the story. Where is the magic of the stores you visited during your childhood? Shoppers are desperate because there is no more magic; there are only strategies to sell more, to tie you up and increase your loyalty, make more profits, and the like. Not sure customers will continue to buy in on the long run.
No more magic in retail
To make a long story short, we need re-enchantment and that’s what we spotted in a little store in Paris. They had created an innovative and interactive window with the help of 3D printing specialist Le Fabshop (more info on Le Fabshop in this article, and read the interview of its founder Bertier Luyt here).
A high-tech store window made of low-tech materials
At Jamini (the name of the store), paper and cardboard were recycled to create a Christmas décor. Cardboard were laser-cut and microcontrollers integrated to turn this décor into an animation that pedestrians can activate, with a touch of the palm. The décor will light up, a wind mill starts rot, a Santa Claus suddenly pops up from the roof of a Parisian building. This is charming and will remind everyone of the Christmas windows of department stores like Harrod’s, Le Printemps or Galeries Lafayette.
The whole project was conceived and realized by Le Fabshop, with financial support of Semaest and the Paris Chamber of Commerce. It’s part of the Innovative Windows program (“Vitrines Innovantes 2015”) of the city of Paris; an excellent initiative that may also remind you of the Paris Design contest a few years ago (we visited on that occasion the Silvera store, the now closed Stella Cadente store as well as H2O).
Too bad we couldn’t return at night to see the store; the effect would have surely been even more magical.
You’ll have until Jan 10th, 2016 to pay a visit to Jamini and to the 9 other stores that participate in the “innovative windows 2015” program (see video below)
Posted in Innovation, Marketing.
