Stora Enso OYJ : Interactive Smart Shelf serves both consumer and brand owner

Selecting for example the most suitable high-tech training computer for your own personal needs can be a tricky task to do. Not necessarily! Stora Enso has created an Interactive Smart Shelf which guides consumers via the communication between product package and smart shelf. The solution was introduced in connection with the Lahti2017 Ski games in Finland.

When a customer picks up a package a from the shelf, the interactive touch screen attached to the shelf presents the features of the product lifted off the shelf. The customer can pick up two products and compare their features easily thanks to nice visuals. The shelf has an internet connection to allow for specified product information and added features, like shop in shop.

The brand-customized smart shelf can be tailor-made so that all products have their own solid place on the shelf and the collection looks attractive to the customers. The branded shelf is easy to spot in the store. The material of smart shelf is Re-board by Stora Enso, which is a thick, rigid paperboard made from renewable materials and including a unique engineered fluted core. Re-board is incredibly lightweight yet exceptionally strong.

The smart shelf is an excellent way to observe customer behavior and to improve customer service in order to be able to make appropriate changes, like product placement or campaigns, to increase sales and customer satisfaction and engagement. When a customer picks up a package from the smart shelf, the back-end system registers information based on behavior rather than words. The technique is based on Ultra High Frequency (UHF) RFID. The common benefit for the brand owner and retailer is that the smart shelf will increase efficiency by automatic replenishment and misplaced item alerts.