In an Australian first, leading Japanese retailer Uniqlo is trialling neuroscience technology at its stores in Sydney’s CBD that has the potential to change the way consumers select clothing forever, by matching clothing to their mood. It is a forerunner of a new level of customer service that has the potential to move into consumer electronics retailing.
Last week Uniqlo unveiled the experimental neuroscience technology which has the ability to provide a brainwave reading and then recommend a t-shirt from its UT range using an algorithm. The wearable technology, UMood, is placed on the forehead of customers, who are then shown a series of still images and videos.
Winning Group CEO John Winning spoke to Appliance Retailer at a Sydney Rotary lunch yesterday where he presented on ‘The Future of Retailing’.
“Technology moves so fast and is only getting faster, so who knows what we will see. However, at this point I find it hard to imagine us hooking up something to the forehead of our customers to determine what appliance they will buy, but then again 30 years ago I wouldn’t of imagined the internet either,” he said.
UMood launches at Uniqlo’s MidCity store on Pitt Street in Sydney on Saturday and will remain there across the weekend before making its way around to various Uniqlo stores throughout Sydney and Melbourne.
Appliance Retailer will be speaking to Neuroscientist, Dr Phil Harris about this technology and how it could be applied to the consumer electronics and appliance industry in the future. This will feature in our newsletter on Friday 9 October.
This story first appeared in Appliance Retailer.