EuroShop is the world’s largest trade fair for the retail industry. This year, 2,447 companies from all around the world came together to showcase their new products and technologies. This fair is held every 3 years at the Messe in Düsseldorf. It took place this year from the 5^th to the 9^th of March.

ThisPlays2 at Euroshop

ThisPlays2 visited the Euroshop fair on March 9 to gain inspiration and to discover new technologies. We mainly came for the news from our industry. But there were also other trends that caught our attention. Narrowcasting is no longer rocket science today, but it can be more striking and more special. We noticed in particular that virtual or augmented reality and robotics were strongly represented. This will have a major impact on the future of retail.

The difference between AR and VR

In virtual reality (VR), a virtual world is simulated, into which you enter as a user. With the help of VR glasses (The Oculus Rift), you can walk and look around while seeing nothing of the real world.

Neckermann was already using VR technology to give their customers a taste of their future travel destination. Museums can also use VR to let people take a virtual tour of their museum while still at home.

With augmented reality (AR), you can still see the real world via the camera of your smartphone or tablet. The reality is mixed with holograms here, and you can add things to your environment yourself. AR is also already being used in various sectors.

Ikea uses AR, for example, to enable you to place new furniture in your living room without having to buy it first. In this way, you can see whether it fits in with the rest of your interior. Lego also uses AR to show what their product looks like when it is built, without having to remove it from the box.

Welcome Pepper!

Pepper is a robot built by Softbanks Robotics from Japan. He looks like a real person, and can move, as well as communicate via speech and his information screen. It has tactile sensors, and a camera that can read emotions by analysing your facial expression.

Pepper is already being used in retail in Japan and America as an information point, to which you can go with general questions. This will help the people in stores and companies to guide visitors and customers and to provide them with information.

They also want to use Pepper in hospitals in the future to provide a service for visitors. Pepper wants to put people at ease and make them happy.

The future of Belgian retail The new trends will make it easier for retailers to position themselves in the market. The brands can create their own unique application, so that they can communicate their story even better. We don’t see these applications often in Belgium yet, but hopefully that won’t remain the case for very long.