We never close: AOPEN launches flagship retail lab

VANESSA DESLOIRES
26th August 2014
Australian Financial Review
From waiter-less restaurants to interactive change rooms, Australian retailers can now shop for the latest in retail technology at a new multimillion-dollar lab in Melbourne.
Taiwanese electronics manufacturer AOPEN has launched the ­flagship Gen2 Retail Evolution Lab, where retailers can touch, see and experience “best of breed” digital sign technology.
AOPEN acting Australian chief executive Stephen Borg told The Australian Financial Review that the new lab delivers more than just the technology, but has the end user in mind.
“We have the complete experience; we’ve considered design, how you design that technology into your environment, all the user flows, and what is best practice around the world.”
Mr Borg said the lab’s purpose was to act as a “digital matchmaker” for smaller tech companies – many Australian – that have great innovations but don’t necessarily have the reach to land big customers, while also providing surety to larger scale retailers.
“Sometimes the best partner is quite a small firm, but it could create risk for a retailer, so we’ll come and underwrite the contract and say we’ll take entire responsibility, which we’ve done recently with helloworld,” he said.
Along with helloworld, other major Australian retailers including Bunnings, Supercheap Auto, Bedshed as well as government agency the Department of Human Services have already incorporated AOPEN’s technology into their operations.
Products on display at the Retail Evolution Lab include OpenOrder, a system developed by Melbourne company Automate Group. A touch screen safely installed behind up to 20 millimetres of shop front glass allows retailers to do business outside trading hours.
Mr Borg said a busy retailer could avoid customer drop-off by allowing customers to order from the touch screen and pick up their purchases at a time that suits them.
Retailers’ dressing rooms can become virtual assistants where customers pick and choose different sizes and styles via a touch screen, the information from which is then communicated to a staff member.
BREAKFAST TAILOR
Elsewhere in the lab, a cafe is set up with screens on a wall allowing customers to order and tailor their breakfasts and pay with PayPal’s digital wallet system.
All of these innovations are designed to boost efficiency and allow customer service staff to engage with the clients. Mr Borg said Australian retailers have been embracing these solutions over the past five years, but many had failed to employ the technology to its full potential.
“Now everyone’s saying, ‘this is going to be a core part of my business, going forward’. If you speak to any retail service-centric business or government, they want to increase service levels while maintaining cost. That’s the essence of what we do.”
“We’re hoping to drive the industry to adopt this technology appropriately. There’s a lot of adoption, but 90 per cent of signage fails because the idea is great but the strategy behind the execution isn’t.”
But it’s more than just a concept space. Mr Borg said every technology on display could be rolled out within months.
“As a rule in these particular customer facing labs, everything has to be commercially available within three months.
“The last thing we want to do is get our customer to engage with something, adopt something and it’s not available.”
The Australian Financial Review