Urban Retreat works with interactive hardware and software developers to boost sales tools with MultiTaction technology

Urban Retreat works with interactive hardware and software developers to boost sales tools with MultiTaction technology

Urban Retreat at Harrods, which offers an exclusive beauty salon experience, has teamed up with digital experts to launch BeautyTouch – an interactive media platform dedicated to the beauty industry.

The BeautyTouch concept uses two 55-inch MultiTaction Cells from MultiTouch, the developer of the world’s first modular multitouch LCD screen for large-scale displays and content from DigiTact, a software company specialising in experiential retail technology.

The companies said BeautyTouch is an interactive retail marketing tool for innovative brands looking to offers customers an exciting instore experience. Designed to help sales assistants keep customers engaged for longer, it can be used to deliver brand messaging on demand and lengthen the window of opportunity to encourage a customer to make a purchase.

Retail browsing behavioural insight

The platform focuses on using interactive technology to enhance the shopping experience for consumers, and provides previously inaccessible insight to brands on the behaviour of retail browsers using embedded data capture filters. By using gesture technology and ‘Enriched Reality’ – MultiTouch’s own object recognition technology – BeautyTouch lets consumers dynamically browse, share, email, give feedback and request further information about onscreen content in real time, and in an environment that it said, “brings branded content to life”.

Reena Hammer, Urban Retreat creative director, was keen to adapt MultiTaction Cell technology to specifically suit the beauty retail industry.

“Having met with the Digitact team, it was clear that this technology had the ability to inspire and engage both brands and consumers – something which is at the heart of our business,” explained Hammer. “Being stagnant has never been an option for us. And from a commercial point of view, as a business we saw the value of the real time data and information it could provide us.

“As we continually strive to move the business forward and understand our customers better, this type of technology will only act as an accelerator for us. This technology has a pretty face but brains too!”