New shopping tool turns phone cameras into product ‘scanners’

StoreXperience, a vendor of mobile shopping solutions for retailers and consumers, has introduced StoreXperience easy Shopping. The solution is designed to transform mobile phones with built-in digital cameras into interactive personal shopping assistants, improving both the in-store shopping experience and the ways retailers and brands market to consumers, the company says.

StoreXperience easy Shopping uses 2D Datamatrix technology, interactive bar code-like symbols that can be placed next to product information cards, on posters, on signage or on web sites. By downloading a small application via text message to a mobile phone, a consumer can “scan” Datamatrix tags with the phone’s camera while shopping, receiving in-depth product information on the phone through the application, information supplied by participating retailers and brands.

StoreXperience’s solution also integrates back-office analytics, delivery and customer relationship management functionality based on the application’s Microsoft software platform to enable stores and brands to engage with shoppers in real time and manage marketing at the local level, the company says. Using functionality in Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Microsoft SQL Server 2005 and Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0, the StoreXperience solution uses product information designed and provided by retailers and brands to help the retailers and brands maximize purchases, create new upsell and cross-sell opportunities, and provide consumers with additional product details, StoreXperience says.

“Mobile devices provide a largely untapped opportunity for retailers to connect with consumers, particularly those in the 18- to 40-year-old demographic, in real time as they shop,” says Herve Pluche, president and co-founder of StoreXperience. “StoreXperience brings together mobile technology, marketing software and a rich consumer experience to open significant new sales and marketing channels for retailers.”