e-Shopping Benefits Coming Soon to a Store Near You

posted by Alison Wesley on March 31, 2009

I really enjoy the convenience of online shopping, as well as the "added intelligence" that Internet-based technologies provide (like making recommendations based on my shopping habits). Often, though, I am disappointed. The package arrives on my doorstep, I open it up with anticipation and then a frown appears as I look at the item and it doesn't remotely resemble what I saw online or it doesn't fit well.


The salesperson in a brick and mortar shopping experience, on the other hand, doesn't know my shopping preferences, my past purchases or what current merchandise would go well with what I already have in my closet. We haven't had the ability to marry the benefits of estores and brick and mortar retailers - until now.

Intel has built three concept retail kiosks that are based on the Intel® CoreTM2 Duo mobile processor, bringing the benefits of the estore experience to consumers in a brick and mortar environment, as well as the energy efficient and power management capabilities to the retailer.

This weekend the New York Times discussed how the retail experience is changing with the introduction of these new types of kiosks.

Reporter Anne Eisenberg says they will "... have sleek lines and large touch screens -- as well as software that, depending on the application, can recognize customers, know what they've bought in the past, point out bargains and even let them try out virtual clothing, hair colors and cosmetics onscreen...

Jeff Roster, a research vice president at Gartner, the market research firm, said the self-service kiosks would eventually become ubiquitous in retailing." Today's shopping experience will soon be just a memory and the term "retail therapy" will have a whole new meaning!