Tesco shoppers are set to enjoy more insight into their wine purchases as the retailer trials its enhanced Tesco Discover augmented reality (AR) app.
The AR app displays video content on wines when shoppers point their smartphone camera at a bottle of wine in store. Currently, AR is only available on select wines and food featured in Tesco’s food and wine magazines, but the retailer wants to roll it out more widely.
Tesco intends to run the trial on a limited number of SKUs before potentially rolling the technology out more widely across its wines portfolio.
“We have the scope to roll it out,” online marketing manager Phil Bennett told The Grocer. “Now we have the capability, it’s about the generating the video content.”
Commercial manager of wine by the case Nick Juby said Tesco would start with its Finest wine range, and other areas that would make “most sense” for the consumer – primarily niche and unusual wines where customers want more information and where there is a story to tell.
“If it is good for the customer and provides a reason to shop with us, it’s a serious reason to do it,” he said, adding that technology would help to break down the inherent “barrier” of the wine aisles and enable a seamless connection between in-store and online. “We won’t be able to break down the barriers in store if we don’t use it.”
The company said it will be talking to its supply base over the next few months about potential content.
In future, the app could be used to link consumers to wines available online or in larger stores, Juby added, as well as offering discounts, competitions or tailored recommendations on similar products based on consumers’ past shopping history.
“It’s not just applicable to wine, but to a lot of what we sell. Wine is aspirational. It is exciting for the wine category to lead the business in execution of these trials,” Juby said. “But whether people will want to point it at UHT milk, I am less sure.”
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