Chicago Tribune Reports on Retail 2.0 in Chicago

Chicago Tribune Reports on Retail 2.0 in Chicago

Chicago is a-buzz about the forthcoming CompUSA to be located in the downtown area of Chicago. This store is not your average CompUSA, it’s going to be nearly 35,000 sq. feet in size and will feature Retail 2.0 technology throughout. The Chicago Tribune visited the CompUSA Retail 2.0 demo during CES 2010 and reported on the upcoming store opening and Retail 2.0.

CompUSA … is rebooting the stores through an interactive shopping concept called Retail 2.0 and will be opening its biggest location in the country in Chicago next month.

At the new stores, in-aisle displays come with scanners, monitors and keyboards. When a shopper scans a product, a Web page appears with detailed product information and recommendations based on local inventory and what’s physically available at that store. The terminals also are open to the full Web, allowing shoppers to check their e-mail, update their Facebook account and check competitors’ sites for better deals. The retailer is ready to take that risk.

The retailer set up a mock store at the Wynn Las Vegas hotel for the Consumer Electronics Show, with TVs displaying information specific to their manufacturers and models, rather than showing the same content on every set. A custom-designed tiered display of hand-held gadgets comes with a monitor that displays product information when a device is lifted up. And another display for software has a touch-screen interface that guides shoppers through the process of selecting a product.

CompUSA has three Chicago-area locations with Retail 2.0: Naperville, Hoffman Estates and Orland Park. The new Chicago store will be on Elston Avenue in a former Circuit City location that has been gutted and redone.

For the Full Article, Visit the Source: Chicago Tribune