Article

Mobile Monday: Aisle 411

The app shares store-level maps and product positions with customers via their smartphones.

May 8, 2011

Mobile Monday is a weekly column on mobile apps by retail customer experience authority Mike Wittenstein. Each week, you'll get a test drive of a leading retail app including pictures of key features and commentary on what works—and what doesn't. If you want your store's app reviewed, please send a request to mike@mikewittenstein.com.

Quick Summary

The Aisle411 App shares store-level maps and product positions with customers via their smartphones. Now, customers can find out where the items they want are—and get rewarded for it with coupons and tailored offers.

Review

Aisle411 makes shopping easier for customers by helping them locate the items they want inside the store. Great for big box stores or any retailer carrying a high number of SKUs, Aisle411 integrates finding wanted items with shopping, couponing, and social media. Its crowd-sourced model even makes it possible for retailers to incorporate this feature for free.

For this review, we'll take the options in order by button appearance. The app opens without any fanfare to a LocateMe screen. Your phone's GPS tells Aisle411 where you are so it can show you the stores closest to you.

The Profile screens let users connect with social media applications (a win-win for the retailer and the on-screen advertisers).

The Info section is complete with little functionality. (That's OK, it doesn't need much.)

The Item Locator is the app's main feature. Type in or speak "Coca Cola" for example to find where any products carrying that name are located in the store.

Aisle411 returns a map. Use your fingers on an iPhone to pinch or expand it to a comfortable viewing size. The red push-pin that's displayed on-screen shows the approximate location of the item you're looking for.

You can also use the Route button to indicate your current location, and then find the best way to get to where you're headed. This feature is the same kind of thing trucking companies use to optimize their routes. It's no less important for customers driving shopping carts.

Aisle411 lets you find the merchandise you want even in another store. Here, you can see the stores nearby that are available on the Aisle411 network.

This app includes couponing and on-screen advertising—but it's not overdone. In a discussion with a company executive, I learned that the algorithm is shopper-centric, which means that ads are sparingly displayed and their rotation is designed to offer the best match for shoppers' interests. Of course, that means a fuller basket which brands and retailers will appreciate.

As a time-saving convenience, Aisle411 offers shoppers the opportunity to add their favorite shopping lists. Imagine one for frequently purchased items (fast moving consumer goods, FMCG) and another for a special family event.

Shoppers can also search reviews through social media using Aisle411. Instructions appear in a just-in-time training pop-up. These mini-tutorials can be turned off, of course.

I tried an experiment with Aisle411 and asked it to find me a Cola-Cola using a citywide search. It took a few clicks, but it got me to exactly the right place!

Aisle411 also includes a robust social media platform allowing shoppers to check in, receive special offers, earn badges, and share their finds with their followers.

Summary

Aisle411 fills an important void in the retail shopper infrastructure. It makes finding items easier, offers shoppers on-screen coupon savings, keeps your lists organized, and lets shoppers share their experience through social media. Aisle411 is advertising-funded and free to retailers and customers.

Under The Covers

• The retail navigation elements are powered by Location Labs' Sparkle Platform.
• Voice recognition is by Nuance.

What's Good

• There is no cost to retailers for this solution.
• The map functionality is simple-to-use and accurate.
• Advertising is matched to shoppers' demonstrated interests—not random.
• The map/floorplan with directions, routing, personalization, and advertising is a great platform for further development. It also helps retailers avoid the significant expense of adding this level of information to their own apps.

What's Not So Good

• The voice-to-text (Aisle411 calls it "Tap + Speak") feature was finicky, probably even harder to use in a noisy store with background noise.
• Too many pop-ups make the social media aspects of the program cumbersome.
• The display graphics (limited by the current technology) would be much more appealing to the eye in higher resolution.

What I Would Do

• Offer routing for multiple item purchases (this should be available in the next version this summer).
• Open the API (application programming interface) to allow third-party services like "shop by event or recipe" or branded experiences, for instance, "birthday party by Betty Crocker," to customize the offer to the shopper's favorite store.
• Allow shoppers to share their coupons with friends to increase redemption and campaign success rates.
• Add a crowdsourcing feature to ensure ever higher accuracy levels and tie that to additional incentives.