Tesco partners with Kishino for massive augmented reality initiative

Britain’s largest retailer Tesco has announced a partnership with Kishino, an augmented reality developer based in the UK. Tesco has shown a keen interest in the developing technology known as augmented reality, primarily for its ability to engage consumers in a very dynamic way. With the help of Kishino, Tesco will be the first multi-channel retail marketer to adopt a massive augmented reality platform. Kishino says that the platform can scale more than 200 times higher than other platforms offered by development companies.

New augmented reality displays will help Tesco in practical ways. The company has long battled with finite shelf space, forcing stores to discontinue products that were not popular enough to compete with other major brands. With augmented reality, the retailer can have virtually unlimited shelf space, allowing them to sell a much wider variety of products than they were capable of doing in the past. Shoppers will also be able to find more information regarding the items they are most interested in through a series of digital images popping up on the screens of their smart phones.

For retailers, augmented reality technology is becoming a valuable tool for customer engagement. The technology has been gaining momentum amongst mobile consumers, which plays well with Tesco’s interest in the mobile market. The retailer launched a virtual store in South Korea earlier this year powered by QR codes. While the store was met with varying degrees of acceptance, Tesco is keen on establishing itself as a force to be reckoned with amongst mobile consumers.