There have been many articles about the need for an in-store mobile application that increases the likelihood of a purchase from the store rather than using the store as a showcase for an item that can then be purchased elsewhere over the Internet.
Tapping Apps for Personalized Retailing
Such an application has been developed by Venalytica. The mobile application enables the purchase of many different product types and from many different participating retailers. Each has a live feed of the available inventory. The patent pending Venalytica algorithm solicits importance-to-purchase characteristics from the consumer in order to point them to the best product for them.
An in-store shopper using a mobile phone simply selects an item like HDTV's, and the retailer, BestBuy, for example. Then, using the slide controls, the consumer indicates what is important.
Why buy in-store? Convenience is the number one reason. The Venalytica application has selected an item that is likely right in front of you. All you need to do is have it brought out to your car and drive it home. You don't have to wait weeks or pay exorbitant shipping costs. Further, you have a superior path for returns if needed since the store is local to you.
Meanwhile, as different products are displayed, the server is collecting importance, brand, model, location, and other data that can be accessed via dashboard or API by retailers and OEM's.
As more retailers and products come on board, Venalytica aggregates massive amounts of data across many products and retailers both online and in store. This data captures changing buyer habits and segments them across the country by location, gender, age, brand, retailer, etc.
Look for the roll out of this application this summer. And if you want your store included, be sure to contact Venalytica.
The Boston edition of Jason Calacanis’ 
