In Store Augmented Reality: Retailing Strategies for Smart Communities

The multi-channel strategy becomes crucial for the competitiveness of retail system; it is based on open trustworthy relationships, on the support of new communication tools (e.g. social media), and on innovative devices (24/7 connections), which extend possibilities, process and moment of purchasing. Thanks to the support of innovative information technologies, the store constitutes a privileged area of integration between real and digital, where brand management strategies confront with new social spaces. Augmented reality add different degrees of information to the consumers’ sense. So as the augmented reality reshapes the commercial area, providing it for contextual information and activable by potential customers when needed; at the same time, the integration with the mobility reconfigures the mode of use, organizing new opportunities of connections with the user. In addition, the generation of contents both bottom-up and top-down makes the individual from tryer into buyer into advertiser, through social networking, generating greater value experiences and, therefore, additional sales.