The Retail Experience: Insights from Benelux
InVue's presence in over 90 countries is possible through a network of dedicated partners throughout the world who combine InVue's global experience with their own regional insight and expertise, to guide customers on how to effectively promote, protect, and connect their stores. Each quarter, we interview one of our partners to introduce them to our customers as well as share their unique approach and understanding of the various markets and environments in their areas.
We sat down with Andy Rottiers, Axel Hellemans, and Roland Linting of Resatec in the Netherlands and Belgium. Resatec has been partnering with InVue since 2010 and supports customers across the Benelux region.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Q. What is something happening in retail that interests you right now?
The global pandemic has undeniably had a big impact on retail both with the types of innovations they are investing in and the speed at which they are putting them into place. Stores that did not have much of an online presence before are implementing e-commerce and services like buy online, pick up in-store.
The old product roadmaps that took two years are now being adopted in over two months.
In a lot of regions, customers aren’t allowed to touch the devices in-store, so technology like QR codes helps them learn more information about the device in a contactless way. On the other hand, retail is being impacted by increasing theft, so there is a continued focus to help them deliver the security they need while preserving the customer experience as much as possible. We see that there’s still money in retail for the right solutions that focus on customer experience — should it be brand experience, self-check-out, or product display — but they are considered more and implemented faster than they used to be.
Q. What is the most important question a customer should be asking to make sure they are choosing the right solutions for their environment?
They need to understand their primary goal. For example, is it to avoid losing phones? Or do they value data and insights just as much as preventing theft?
You can easily find a low-quality, low-budget solution. But there are high-quality solutions that also give you the data you need to evaluate your sales effectiveness and help steer your organization.
Q. What is a unique or interesting project you’ve worked on with InVue products?
Personally, I’m very proud of our Rituals project; Rituals is a well-known, Dutch company having 750 stores worldwide. They sell perfumes, shampoos, and other beauty and health-related products. Rituals developed a shop-in-shop concept where a customer can put together a shampoo by him or herself. Convincing the customer was challenging, but persistence wins; all 50 Rituals Hair Temple shop-in-shops are equipped with InVue OnePOD stands and Apple iPad Pro tablets. Hopefully more to come this year.
— Roland Linting
Resatec has always been in front of finding new industries to work with, whether it’s hospital systems, banks, etc. One interesting installation project was working with a large retail customer who sells hearing aids. They were thinking of a new concept for their stores and came to us for help. Finally, they started using our tablet solutions in their waiting area to help customers get informed about their way of working, promotions, as well as a tool to do hearing tests. We see tablets popping up everywhere, businesses are starting to realize the possibilities with that technology.
— Andy Rottiers
Working with big consumer electronic brands is always an interesting project because of the timelines they are up against to launch a product or shop. Thankfully we partner really well with these brands whether it’s from their headquarter contacts to the regional and local stores. We must maintain tight communication and be on time for launch.
— Axel Hellemans
Are you a retail business in the Benelux region? Continue the conversation with Resatec using the contact information below:
Website: https://www.resatec.be/ or http://www.resatec.nl
Email: info@resatec.nl or info@resatec.be
