Connected by broadband, slow in applications (3)

The leisure industry has a lot to gain from broadband. Restaurants need connections to handle the payments by credit or debit cards; they can use mobile devices, which relay orders to the kitchen and they can work on their environment.

The Dutch leisure industry with 40.000comapnies and 300.000 employees has had a bad time since the entry of the euro. It must be said that the leisure industry has taken advantage of this valuta exchange by upgrading the prices. They were very surprised that people noticed this and refused to come. It took some years before the leisure industry won back the trust of the people. Last year the leisure industry did better financially.

However the leisure industry will have to make its big turn still. So far the restaurant, bars, holidays resorts lived on their name, which usually was created by exposure in newspapers and magazines. But now leisure companies will have to move from exposure to experience. Whenever people have enjoyed their dinner at a restaurant or their stay at a holidays resort, it will yield trust and they will tell other people about. This leads to new clients and bookings.

And it is not only the leisure industry which makes a turn from exposure to experience. Also the retail shops realise that they will have to adapt to the future and that they will have to realise the many promises of cyberspace. How many times did you hear presenters tell you about the smart fridges with screen, displaying what should be ordered, what was still left in the fridge and what you could cook with the left-overs in the fridge. I have heard the story since 1996 and I only believe it when I see it in more than five kitchens within a radius of one kilometre.

Of course in this chain the retail shop plays an important role. What can the shop do? The German retail shop chain Metro has produced a look into the near future. Remember it will take a couple of years before new concepts are accepted. As I wrote before in the blog about 30 years online: you might have the technology, but you do not have yet the customer.

The retail shops will have to dive into broadband applications like screens and narrowcasting technology to market their products more precisely. It is interesting to know that 80 percent of the buying decisions are made on the shop floor, while 95 percent of the marketing budgets are used outside on printed or RTV ads. Shop owners should spend the money in screen and content. The screens can inform people, but also be used as a sweet for waiting like in a shop for beds and furniture. The screens will spread an atmosphere and seduce the shoppers to acquisitions; not just exposure, but experience.

Blog Posting Number 653

Tags: e-leisure, retail, smart fridge, narrowcasting e-leisure, retail, smart fridge, narrowcasting