Blog Post from January 10, 2017
Sophatar Press Release on Interactive Digital Signage & Analytics
Read the original press release here
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Silicon Valley startups Sophatar and QM Scientific introduce a complete solution for customer engagement to brick & mortar retailers.
The platform consists of interactive proximity-enabled digital signage, a POS analytics and recommendations engine based on machine learning, in-store traffic analysis, speech recognition, dynamic multi-lingual voice announcements, mobile wallet passes, and an optional mobile app or software development kit (SDK).
The interactivity of the digital signage component of the system is not based on expensive large-screen touch screens or intrusive cameras, but uses a smartphone and any regular digital display. The Sophatar software turns the display into a proximity-enabled digital signage screen for which in-store customers can use their own mobile phone as a remote control – no connection to in-store Wi-Fi required.
Applications include personalized product recommendations, virtual sales assistants, wayfinding, and ‘endless aisle’ store purchases from the customer’s own phone. The content shown on in-store digital signage screens and mobile phones can dynamically adapt based on product recommendations from the QM-Scientific data analytics engine.
Says Bart DeCanne, founder/CEO of Sophatar:
“This is the first time in-store customers have a 2-way personalization experience to make digital signage more relevant. Their phones not only show nearby products, relevant to their interest profile, in a retail store, but customers now also can use their phones to start & stop playback of digital signage associated with those products on in-store screens. Just as websites personalize content, we can now do the same in physical spaces.”
He continues:
“Even when not interacting with your phone, we can dynamically adjust in-store digital signage based on aggregate demographics and interest profiles of people in the store now. Our approach has been granted a US patent. We don’t do hardware; we’re a pure software subscription service. Our default subscription uses Apple TVs or iPads as media players, making it extremely cost effective. To detect proximity we don’t need standalone beacons as we use the Bluetooth beacons already built into these devices. We’re currently also porting our software to digital signage players of other OEMs.“
Faris Alqadah, founder/CEO of QM-Scientific adds:
“QM Scientific’s AI-powered retail platform increases consumer engagement through purchase prediction and smart product recommendations. Using proprietary deep-learning AI, the platform learns individual shopping preferences at unprecedented levels of granularity by analyzing past transaction history while actively adapting product recommendations to real-time in-store conditions. We are extremely excited to partner with Sophatar to offer this combined solution that enables retailers to delight their customers with truly individualized in-store shopping experiences and increase average ring at the register.”
During NRF’s Big Show, January 15-17 at the Javits Center in New York, a live demo of the solution optimized for convenience & grocery stores is on display at Sophatar booth #452.
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