Walmart - Mattel Virtual Toy Store: People’s Insights Volume 1, Issue 50

crowdsourcing | storytelling | citizenship | social data

People’s Insights: Volume 1, Issue 50

Walmart & Mattel’s Virtual Toy Store

Andrew Livingstone /Toronto Star

What is the Virtual Toy Store?

In November, Walmart and Mattel lined two walls of an underground walkway in downtown Toronto with images of toys and invited passersby to purchase them on-the-go using their smart phones.

brandchannel.com

How does it work?

To make a purchase, people scanned the toy’s QR code with their smart phone and were re-directed to Walmart’s website where they could enter payment details and avail of free home shipping.

mobilecommercedaily.com

Located where the people are Located along a retail concourse and commuter hub, the virtual store enabled Walmart to reach a large audience of urban Canadians who might not otherwise shop at Walmart.

marketingmag.ca

A convenient way to shop Moms and bloggers responded favorably to the concept of a virtual toy store, highlighting that it helps them skip lines, avoid lugging around shopping bags, and immediately recognize the hottest toys, on the go.

1) extremetech.com, 2) Mommy blogger Carrie Anne at everythingmom.com

“Perfect for Christmas�

Marketers too responded well to the program, noting that it eliminates retail costs, including rent, maintenance and staff salaries, is easy to scale and helps reach crowds during the shopping season.

chrisreed.brandrepublic.com

Tailored to the new age consumer The virtual toy store caters to time-crunched consumers, who own smart phones, are comfortable with online shopping and open to the idea of purchasing products through their mobile phones.

moneyville.ca

Technology opens new possibilities Marketers believe the interactivity and appeal of virtual stores can be enhanced through technology, by targeting ads better, changing products based on data, and making QR codes more attractive.

1) Photo: Andrew Livingstone /Toronto Star via moneyville.ca 2) ft.com

A new way to shop, and engage 2012 has seen a rise in similar virtual stores across the globe, and marketers speculate that this hybrid of real life meets digital life will shape the way people shop and the way brands engage with people.

extremetech.com

More People’s Insights Weekly reports Every week, we dive into one topic for discussion on the MSLGROUP Insight’s Network and discuss insights and foresights, in four key areas: crowdsourcing, storytelling, citizenship and social data.

Crowdsourcing

Storytelling

Citizenship

Social Data

Mahindra Spark the Rise

@MarsCuriosity

#Kony2012

MTV Fantasy Election

For more reports, visit: peopleslab.mslgroup.com/peoplesinsights/

Read People’s Lab insights and foresights The People’s Lab team shares the insights and foresights from the MSLGROUP Insights Network on the People’s Insights weekly blog and the People’s Insights Quarterly magazine.

MSLGROUP Insights Network

People’s Insights weekly blog

People’s Insights Quarterly magazine

50+ MSLGROUP planners share and discuss inspiring projects on corporate citizenship, crowdsourcing and storytelling.

We deep dive into conversations around one project -- on the MSLGROUP Insights Network itself but also on the broader social web -- to distill insights and foresights.

Every quarter, we will compile the best insights from the network and the blog in the iPad-friendly magazine, as a showcase of our capabilities.

For more, visit http://peopleslab.mslgroup.com

People’s Insights Annual Report In January 2013 we will publish the ten-part People’s Insights Annual Report, in which we synthesize our insights from 2012 and provide foresights for business leaders and change-makers for 2013.

Now & Next: Future of Engagement

Part 1: Crowdfunding

Part 2: Behavior Change Games

(coming soon as an iPad app) Subscribe to the report at: http://peopleslab.mslgroup.com/peoplesinsights/annual-report/

People’s Lab: Crowdsourcing Insights & Innovation People’s Lab is MSLGROUP’s proprietary crowdsourcing platform and approach that helps organizations tap into people’s insight for innovation, storytelling and change.

For more, visit http://peopleslab.mslgroup.com

For People’s Lab solutions, contact pascal.beucler@mslgroup.com