Part of the opportunity/challenge with creating great products is the packaging. The packaging can be a great marketing opportunity, selling consumers on the fine points of what they are buying. But even with the best packaging, consumers often want to see what they are going to get for their money. The biggest nemesis are packaged shirts. Folded, pinned and in cellophane, they are a nightmare if you want to open them up and try them on. Yes, they look great on a shelf, but they’re a pain to guesstimate, and many times, stores don’t want you to even open it up and try it on. What a hassle! How do you know it’s what you want?
The other day I was in a LEGO Store. I have a son-in-law who loves LEGOs and frankly, who can say no to them? They are fun–though very pricey. Like any other product, the picture on the box may be worth a thousand words, but it may not be the words that answer your question. You don’t always know what it looks like on the side, other than the photo. That’s why I was delighted and surprised to see the clerk hold a box up to the monitor:
The monitor picked up which LEGO product it was and immediately cast a 3D image of the product onto the screen. You could literally turn the box around, and as you did so, could see the final product not just from one angle, but from all angles.
As the clerk did this, everyone gathered around the monitor to look. “Cool” was the dominant response. It certainly made people more motivated in purchasing an item that was north of $300.00.
Imagine if I could do this with a dress shirt. Hold it up to the monitor and see if it looked right on me. Of course, I wouldn’t want a bunch of people staring at the monitor with me. But I would welcome a more real view of whether the shirt worked. It certainly would lead to making more purchases.
