Iconeme Beams Fashion Information To Your Cell Phone

Christina Drill
August 12, 2014

Well, there's a plus side to the fact that people are getting lazier and lazier as the years go by-- the technology is, no doubt, getting cooler and cooler.

Three retail stores in London are trying out a new technology that will allow shoppers to quickly identify and locate the outfit the mannequin is wearing. The technology, created by VMBeacon, is called Iconemeand it works like this:

A beacon is attached to each mannequin, programmed with the information and SKU numbers of all the clothing it's wearing. When a shopper is in close proximity to it (50 meters, at least), the information is beamed to their phone. Within seconds, shoppers will be know 1) where the item is in the store, 2) if the store has their size in stock, and 3) a link to purchase the item online. And, like with any app, you can SHARE this information with your friends, family, and dog, or e-mail the information to yourself for future reference.

So far, the technology is being used in windows of London department store Bentalls, House of Fraser, a "buy and collect" store in Aberdeen, and Hawes & Curtis in London.

At first glance this seems like just another app to remedy the work of shopping at a store (what a workout, am I right?!), but this will prove invaluable for the retail industry. When a customer reads the beamed clothing information, the beacon gathers information about the shopper. It will learn its age, sex, and location, which the retailers have agreed to keep private. But duh, any company that acquires personal information from consumers is going to agree to keep quiet-- they're still going to use it to their marketing advantage.

Jonathan Berlin and Adrian Coe are the founders of Iconeme, and together have over 50 years’ experience in the retail industry. They also are the co-founders of Universal Display, a company that manufactures and supplies mannequins for Topshop and other giant fashion destinations.

"This technology will change the way people shop on the high street, as it brings together both on and offline retail. Research shows that customers already use their smartphones while shopping in store, but until now, the retail industry hasn’t realised the full potential of this...The beacon creates a completely new dimension to the shopping experience, by combining the consumer desire to be connected on the go, [inside of] a brick and mortar store."

Another step into the future, where the term "brick and mortar" continues to sound weirder and weirder to us.