Pirch, a luxury appliance, plumbing, and outdoor brand retailer is using Microsoft’s Surface Pro 4 to transform the in-store customer experience. In a new blog post on Microsoft’s Device blog, Pirch Director of Digital Operations Craig Hills explained how the combination of Microsoft’s 2-in-1 tablet with the company’s custom platform Pirch Advisor have transformed the appliance buying process.
Each customer visiting Pirch SoHo will be welcomed by a personal Lifestyle Experience Advisor (LEA) who will guide them through the store and help them find the appliances they need. Pirch LEAs are also equipped with Surface Pro 4 tablets and can use the company’s Pirch Advisor platform to provide better advice to customers. Pirch Advisor is built on Azure and allows LEAs to note customers preferences, access Pirch’s product availability and pricing, and more. The platform is also optimized for pen and touch, which is perfect to allow Pirch LEAs to use their Surface Pro 4 in many different ways.
Hills added:
Surface is the perfect solution for us because it integrates tightly with Pirch Advisor and our LEAs can get the full benefit of the Pirch company platform. In addition, the pen and touch capabilities help us keep the tactile element of the creation experience. It’s important that being able to create is at the heart of the experience, because that’s really what we’re doing here, helping our guests create the home of their dreams.
The company’s Director of Digital Operations also expects technology to play a huge role in the retail industry in the coming years:
Technology will play a huge role – at least it will for Pirch! The challenge is how do you make technology personal and use it in a way that enhances – and doesn’t detract from – the ultimate customer shopping experience. Surface does that and brings technology to the forefront in a way that feels natural and allows us to keep our focus where it should be, on the individual customers in the story.
We invite you to read the full blog post over here. Let us know in the comments if you also think tablets and mobile devices can improve in-store experiences in several ways.
Further reading: Azure, Case Studies, Microsoft, Pirch, retail, Surface, Surface Pro 4
