Are you fed up of dud service or not being able to get any service at all at mass retailer stores? Well help is at hand in the form of cloned sales people.
As retailers like Harvey Norman and JB Hi Fi struggle to keep staff up to speed on new consumer electronics gear, Harvey Norman has moved to cloning their staff for the virtual world in an effort to cut training costs while trying to improve their communication skills in-store.
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According to Spyglass, the mass retailer is working with several companies to develop the Spyglass’ Virtual Presenter called “V” which is set to appear in several Harvey Norman stores.
In a demonstration last week the company revealed a cloned Harvey Norman sales presenter which was developed after a video of a salesperson was recorded and an acrylic cut-out created using the outline of their body.
Once the video has been shot a piece of Vikuiti Rear Projection Film is applied to the upper body, while a printed vinyl graphic is used for the lower body. A projector is placed behind the cut-out, and connected to a computer or DVD player which shows the video on the screen. Directional hidden speakers play the sound, resulting in a life-like video representation of a salesperson.
Groupe Seb brand manager – floorcare Elodie Bois said: “We showed her to Harvey Norman last night, and they were all fighting over which store would get to have her first. They’ll be rotating her between stores in each state, that’s how excited they all were about her,” Bois said.
“‘V’ creates interest in consumers that pass by her. If we were just showing a demonstration of Rowenta products on a TV screen most consumers would just walk past, but when she’s in the store consumers stop and take notice,” she added.
