Creating a Store that Thinks

They named this prototype "StoreOne," and made it the symbol of "the modern home." Instead of being a conventional electronics store, then, StoreOne would have a floor plan that mimicked a house, complete with family room, home office, kitchen, playroom, and garage, as well as the up-to-the-minute gadgetry appropriate to each room.

The first thing we wanted to do was set a context for anyone walking into the store. We wanted them awed.

When you enter, then, you find yourself standing in a two-story rotunda, drenched in colored, computer-driven lighting, while you look up at an LED video display that wraps 360 degrees around the ceiling, pumping out images.

Right away, you can see that the store looks impressive. What you don't yet realize, though, is that it's also smart.

We installed a computer system with a brain that becomes smarter about shoppers as they browse the store. It learns their preferences and uses kiosks and lighting to direct them to other items in the store that might interest them. (Think "Amazon.com." When you look up a book on Amazon, the site gives you related choices: "Customers who bought this item also bought . . . ").

How does the computer get its information? When visitors come in, they're handed a card with an RFID ("Radio Frequency Identification") chip built into it. They can then swipe their cards at a kiosk, answer a few fun questions ("Is your VCR at home flashing 12:00?"), and have an in depth customized experience. Based on the responses, the store classifies them as a technophobe or a technophile, and feeds them information that's appropriate to their interest level.

One of the most intriguing things about the system is that shoppers don't have to enter any information at all into the kiosks. The RFID chip they carry helps analyze their movements throughout the store, triggers a variety of databases, and offers (general) purchasing suggestions.

The technology acts as a salesperson and marketer, and helps the chain make decisions about inventory dollars, brand focus, and the like.

As guests enter each area of "the house," they're greeted by numerous multi-media technologies, including overview display monitors, theatrical lighting, background music, localized audio content, and interactive kiosks.

Other parts of the house hold surprises. The kitchen, for instance. The area is set up like a kitchen TV show, with long countertops, ovens, video cameras, and broadcast lighting. On certain days, performers demonstrate techniques with the latest gadgets, and those performances can be screened throughout the facility, or taped, or even tied into a remote broadcast truck for live viewing at other locations.

In the home office, we created a space to generate viral marketing. Your favorite digital cameras are ready to snap. Visitors pick one of the four picture backdrops specific to Texas (such as a Texas longhorn sitting in a field). They then take their photograph and send it to their family and friends, via snail mail or email - compliments of RadioShack's StoreOne.

In the game room, visitors can experience 3-D games, which make them feel like they're like they're swinging a golf club or flying. At special gaming stations, they can play by themselves, or invite their friends to play with them.

On the second floor is the house's immersive, experiential theater: "The RadioShack 4-D Theater." In it, we screened a short film, which was inspired by "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids." As the characters in the film get jostled, the theater seats jostle the audience. As the characters get sprayed with water, the audience gets sprayed. As a group of friendly field mice run by the characters' feet, the audience feels a tickling sensation on their legs.

RadioShack's StoreOne is not your typical retail experience. It educates, entertains, impresses, sticks in the memory, and drives some very important business results.

The project has garnered two awards: Lippincott Mercer won the ISP/VM+SD International Store Design Competition for "Specialty Stores from 5,001 to 10,000 feet." Creative Realities, Inc. won a 2006 DIGI Award for "Excellence in Technology."

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