eBay Looking to Place Interactive Mirrors in Changing Rooms
Chris Smith / 10 years ago
eBay is looking to move themselves into the brick-and-mortar retail world, expressing interest in implementing mirrors into dressing rooms that will offer the customer suggested accessories and product browsing – all available through a touch screen. These screens are being installed as a trial at the Rebecca Minkoff store, seeing them follow a similar path to online retail giant Amazon – who of which are preparing a store opening in New York. eBay is part of a movement to make our retail habits more interactive, providing users with simpler options to pick and chose clothing and accessories, helping them save time and quite possibly helping these stores to turn some extra profits.
eBay’s head of innovation and new ventures, Steve Yankovich, commented: “So physical retail, a showroom, I think will never go away”. This statement regards eBay’s positioning on store-fronts capabilities and viability moving into the future.
This whole experience will be utilized through an app installed on the user’s phone, meaning that these screens will be able to utilize the persons purchasing history and further help them to choose their garments. Clothes in these stores will be connected to RFID tags, allowing these interactive mirrors to recognize not only the customer, but the clothes that they are sampling for purchase. This system will allow shoppers to attach their purchases and test fittings to their personal profile, allowing them to track their favorite styling and brands as they see fit.
Here’s hoping they install some kind of strong security system as there’s a seemingly large possibility of hackers utilizing the cameras installed in these mirrors for personal benefit in criminal fashion.
Image courtesy of Bloomberg Businessweek