It’s 2017 and as you read headlines about big name companies, you’ll find that they’re either falling behind due to lack of innovation in their customer experiences, or they’re downright knocking customer experience out of the technologically connected park. No matter the business, one thing seems to hold true throughout every industry: doing the same old thing is not going to cut it anymore. Consumers want exciting and new experiences, and in this day and age, they’re calling for adventures and products that are worthy of the tech-savvy populace. Below are just a few big-name companies that are stirring things up with cutting-edge technology such as IoT and big data in order to keep their products and businesses fresh.
Universal’s Tapu Tapu
It’s no secret that Universal’s Volcano Bay will be this summer’s hottest water park. Volcano Bay guests are raving about the many twists, turns, and plunges the park’s slides and rides deliver. However, there’s another thing that Universal has introduced to their theme park experience that seems to be elevating guests’ impressions of this Polynesian adventure. A smart device guests wear as a wristband, known as Tapu Tapu, helps its users hit every ride possible while delivering exciting experiences along the way.
When wearing Tapu Tapu, guests just walk up to a totem in front of an attraction entrance and with a wave of their wristband, they’ll receive a time when they can come back and enjoy the ride without having to waste time waiting in line. It also ignites some incredible interactive experiences guests can engage in as they walk throughout the park. Tapu Tapu works through the use of Near Field Communication and IoT technology in order to create a fun-packed and queue-less adventure.
Amazon Go
Amazon has been creating a lot of buzz throughout these past couple of years. Between Alexa, Amazon Go, and the latest acquisition of Whole Foods, this booming business is diving in deep with futuristic technology in order to produce some exceptional consumer experiences. Amazon Go is expected to reshape retail shopping as we know it by eliminating the entire checkout process by bringing in a new order where customers can just take what they want off the store’s shelves and whimsically walk out with their new purchase. Now you may ask: How exactly is one just able to walk in and out of Amazon stores with their new item without even making contact with a check-out line? It’s simple: through machine learning and an incredibly engineered system.
The Amazon Go system logs items as shoppers make their way throughout the store through computer vision, sensor fusion, and deep learning. This is how the store is able to eliminate a traditional check-out line. Additionally, when customers exit the store the system analyzes that they’re leaving, adds up the items in the user’s virtual shopping cart, and charges their Amazon account which is connected to the Amazon Go app they must have installed on their smartphones. We expect to see this kind of shopping model make its way to brick-and-mortar stores now that Whole Foods is under Amazon’s umbrella.
Warby Parker
Online, there are tons of sites where consumers can purchase quality eyeglasses at a bargain. Today tons of people have used services such as Eye Buy Direct and Zenni Optical to skip over the trifle of scouring through the limited selection of expensive eyeglasses at their optometrist in favor of these company’s try before you buy services. This year, however, Warby Parker announced they will be taking this at-home experience a step further in providing their customers with the option to do an at-home eye exam. Using big data, a mobile app, and three standard vision tests, Warby Parker is making it possible for users to not only purchase eyeglasses from home but also receive accurate prescriptions for these glasses.
IKEA
When you walk into an Ikea, you’re almost always welcomed by a smiling and enthusiastic employee whose background echoes the very same grin on their face. With what seems to be an endless amount of incredibly charismatic living spaces, Ikea brings furniture buying to a whole new level, and they’re about to take their unparalleled experience an additional step further by bringing it to our homes. Just recently, Ikea announced that they will be working with Apple in order to create an app that allows its consumers to literally picture Ikea’s furniture in their own homes through augmented reality. Ikea’s leader of digital transformation states that the app will initially have “500-600 products available on the iOS app” for buyers to virtually place around their homes in order to make the furniture buying process a whole lot easier.
So there you have it, from adding convenience by helping us skip over queues and check-out lines to giving life to the mundane task of retail shopping, technology is enhancing and in certain cases even transforming the way businesses interact with their consumers. After seeing so many successful brands adopt the latest and greatest in what technology has to offer, the time has never been better to take a step in the same direction. This is why UniKey works day in and out toward delivering optimal experiences and convenience for our customers. To learn more, visit unikey.com.
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