French retailer E.Leclerc is trialling in-store kiosks designed to bring digital personalisation to the physical shop floor. The solution from technology provider Winter Mushroom and web marketing agency Lorweb is currently being tested in Thionville, close to the border with Luxembourg.
There, two kiosks focusing on real-time, customised advertising were installed at the store entrance as well as in the mall leading up to it. The inbuilt camera and associated software estimate the age and gender of passers-by in a bid to display short, contextual promotions. To ensure ad relevance, the system crosses the collected data with E.Leclerc hypermarket’s loyalty programme and website searches made by similar shopper demographics. Contextual cues such as weather conditions are also taken into account.
Winter Mushroom’s CEO Grégoire Audibert told The Retail Optimiser that the solution is able to analyse all faces of a moving crowd, up to ten metres. Based on the dominant shopper profile identified by the system, a customised advertisement is shown for 5 to 8 seconds, before reverting back to a more general institutional ad. This duration insures the display catches the attention of the shoppers on the go. The solution is reportedly fully compliant with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), as it doesn’t store images or identify individuals. Children are excluded from the scope of the trial as well.
A virtual shopping assistant
Another kiosk in the same E.Leclerc store features a virtual shopping assistant dubbed Elia. Developed by Lorweb and powered by an OpenAI large language model (LLM), customers are able to ask questions and receive instant, conversational responses. It is able to compare prices of some selected items with that of a nearby Carrefour store, suggest meal ideas, and highlight current promotions.
The anonymous conversations with the AI are then analysed to provide additional insights on the centres of interest of the engaged shopper profile. Admittedly, the AI assistant represents a powerful tool to actively engage with shoppers and enhance the shopping experience. However, several hurdles would need to be overcome to unlock its full potential. These include successfully processing conversations amid high ambient noise or providing time-strapped shoppers with concise and accurate answers.
Further development ahead
Grégoire Audibert details that a shopper interaction with the virtual shopping assistant often involves asking for the price and location of a specific item within the hypermarket. While technically feasible, the current trial is not able to provide a satisfying answer, as it would require a higher degree of integration with E.Leclerc’s own IT infrastructure. Nonetheless, as the test continues to be fine-tuned, other E.Leclerc stores in eastern France are reportedly interested in piloting this solution as well.
