Customers use the app to receive information relevant to the items around them such as special offers and they can even look up prices of items on their phone instead of on the shelves.
Lux reports: UAE supermarket chain Aswaaq has become the first retailer in the Middle East to install connected lighting which communicates with its customers.
Its supermarket in Al Bada’a, Dubai, now boasts so-called Visible Light Communication technology, which is imperceptible to the human eye but detected by smart phone cameras. The lights act as a positioning system which allows shoppers to find items in the store to an accuracy of 30cm.
Smart-phone owners must first download the Aswaaq-branded app. This allows their phone to communicate with the individual light points transmitting their location through the high-frequency modulation of the light. The data stream is one-way and no personal data is collected by the lighting system.
They use the app to receive information relevant to the items around them such as special offers and they can even look up prices of items on their phone instead of on the shelves. The store managers can use the system to identify the most popular areas of the store to better place products, as well as help streamline tasks such as stock checks and restocking shelves.
The project has been installed by Philips Lighting and an American specialist in ‘digital store mapping’, Aisle411.
Other retailers trialling visible light communication include Target in the US, and Carrefour at its hypermarket in Lille, France.
connected lighting · led lighting · lifi · Novel Energy Lighting · supermarket lifi · supermarket lighting · visible light communication
