Used to be that New York's Duane Reade would be the last place you'd find any kind of innovation. But the regional drug store chain, now owned by Walgreens, has been upgrading its outlets, and its
Manhattan flagship has now become the first retailer with a new kind of digital out-of-home display: a virtual assistant.
The holographic female, supplied by a firm called Lawrence, greets
shoppers with seven different scripts when they enter the store. Not having had any firsthand experience with this new store employee yet, we'll refrain from any jokes comparing her abilities with
Duane Reade's established cashiers (famous for their slowness) -- for now, anyway.
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Will Duane Reade plan on using this technology for in-store advertising?