• by Tricia Despres , February 27, 2007

They stopped busy New Yorkers in their tracks, enticed Chicagoans to stand out in the frigid cold, and intrigued Aspen's most beautiful people.

Polo Ralph Lauren's new 67-inch interactive window displays invite shoppers to do more than just browse. During the past few months, touch screens found on the plate-glass facades of key stores have allowed consumers to make purchases of RLX high-performance gear and interact with the brand 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

"We want to catch the attention of the guy walking his dog in the city at 10 p.m. or the group of young people bummed that the store is already closed for the night," explains Paul Zaengle, vice president of interactive technology. "Of course, it relies a bit on impulse."

While tweaks continue and sales data comes in, Polo Ralph Lauren already plans to roll out a few more interactive windows later this year. "This is the way of the future," says Zaengle. "There will come a time when the customer will interact with every store like this."