Cross-Channel Marketing: Engaging Customers in Store

by Kara Surrena, Director of Client Services. This is the third in our series regarding a recent shopping trip in New York City. Read the first one here and the second one here.

The New Balance store in Midtown Manhattan offers a truly foot-centric digital experience. Amongst the typical shoes and socks that you would find in a traditional shoe store, this New Balance location also offers a variety of interactive touchscreens and kiosks to help each unique customer find the right footwear, personalized for them.

When you enter the store, you quickly arrive at the first kiosk which intuitively guides you to build and order customized New Balance shoes. You can really let your creativity drive at this station— blue shoes with pink accents? Yes, please!

Continuing on through the store, you pass a large window called, “Maker’s Corner.” This space provides you a view into how New Balance shoes are made— the tools, the materials, the equipment— all on-site. Certain styles are available to be created here, by a “Maker” in the store. To order, simply use kiosk #2, a tablet located in front of the window.

Lastly, towards the rear of the store there is a final kiosk, and this one includes a platform! Remove your shoes, step on, and this system will analyze your feet to help you find the best New Balance shoes for you. After running the analysis, the system’s screen displays the results, a foot mapping image, and recommends a few New Balance styles that align with your personal analysis.

Following this screen, the system provides the ability to enter your email address and receive the information from your foot scan. Of course, I signed up and quickly received an email with the subject line, “Your Feet Image.” The email itself then offered me an opportunity to share my feet on social media and of course, I did just that! New Balance certainly ensures that your feet are the center of attention when visiting their store in Midtown, and even after the visit!

While this is definitely a great engagement factor, New Balance could have taken the opportunity to recommend the best shoes for my feet. But the foot scanner was a great in-store acquisition point.