With 10 stories, 7 restaurants and an entire city block under its foundation, the Macy’s of Herald Square in New York city proudly boasts the name “America’s Largest Department Store”. As the holidays quickly approach, hoards of visitors from around the world come to see the spectacle that is home to the Thanksgiving Day Parade and Miracle on 34th Street. As you can imagine, these wide-eyed and bushy-tailed voyagers have no clue where they’re going.
Cue the clever yet unnecessary app!
Macy’s has unveiled an indoor GPS iPhone app that gives turn-by-turn directions to guide the eager shopper through perfume counters, clothing racks and shoe departments alike. Listen, I’m in the technology field and think this is actually a creative use of the GPS feature but let’s re-evaluate the repercussions of this. Now instead of trudging through the chaos with semi-alert tourists, you will be dealing with a bunch of head-down autobots attempting to get to Aunt Annie’s on the 4th floor while never once looking up. To make sure this has a creepy factor, they will also be able to track your every movement around the store and bombard you with ads of things you clearly don’t need nearby. Very clever retail trick, Macy’s; fortunately I only get into the store about once a year and now with your handy app I’ll be in and out to use your public restroom in a flash.

It's actually kinda clever, for now it's directions, under the hood it's a marketing engine. One day you will ask it where you can buy a sweater: you will get a coupon, directions to the sweater and how many sizes are remaining on the rack. Imagine knowing how many dress in the store are your size and as you walk on by, you are alerted to check it out.
ReplyDelete