Showplace introducing smartphone app during market

Buyers will able to get additional information on products in selected showrooms

Furniture Today Staff -- Furniture Today, October 8, 2010

HIGH POINT — Showplace is unveiling a smartphone shopping app for this month's High Point Market that will give buyers instant access to more information about the products they see in some of the building's showrooms.

Officials said Showplace will be the first market building to offer the technology.

The app, called Showplace Shopper, enables buyers to scan Quick Response (QR) codes assigned to products as they shop the building's showrooms. This will capture information about the products and images of items that interest them on their smartphones.

Exhibitors participating in the beta test of the application, which will be available for free download in the building's lobby during market, include American Leather, Copeland, Revco International, Elements, Surya, Bramble & Co. and BKind3.

"Our goal is to create a shopping experience for buyers that is unmatched anywhere else at market," said Lisa Shankle, general manager of Showplace properties. "We believe this technology, which will be rolled out throughout the building next spring, will be of tremendous benefit to the buyers who shop here, as well as our exhibitors."

Eric Burg, president and CEO of tradeshow company Applerock and a consultant to Showplace on the QR app, called the launch of the technology "a game-changing move for Showplace and an historic moment for the market itself."

He said it will help time-challenged retail buyers keep track of the products they like.

"Using this app, they will be able to collect a great deal of information quickly, share that information with other members of their merchandising teams if necessary, and contact salespeople with their order, or requests for further details about an item via e-mail after they've left a showroom," he said.

In addition, officials said the app will supply the participating Showplace exhibitors with information in a new way, allowing them to measure customer behavior in their showrooms and to identify which products are most popular or show the most promise.

"We think the Showplace Shopper App is a brilliant idea," said Greg O'Neal, vice president of product development and marketing at Revco International. "At Revco, we embrace technology and constantly search for more efficient ways to communicate information to buyers and key accounts. Adopting new technologies is not just vital for our industry today; it's a soon-to-be required norm."

"I've been absolutely fascinated by the number of smart tags showing up in print media lately, and the number of leading companies that are picking up on them," said Carl Gustafson, principal of Bkind3. "So when I learned there was an opportunity to use a QR code on our products in Showplace, I decided to embrace it immediately. I believe this is the new way that customers are going to shop. They are seeking information and they want to be engaged."

"Technology like this is really nothing more than automating some of the basic things that we do as manufacturers and retailers everyday," added Satya Tiwari, president of Surya. "It's just that now we can do it at lightning speed. That makes us more productive and enables us to enhance our business and take it to the next level."