• January 19, 2012

Macy's is going public with the technology behind its Beauty Spot experiment, installed in four of its stores last fall. Done in collaboration with Intel, the interactive touchscreens allow women to search and select products from a custom-designed kiosk, located prominently on the selling floor.

Customers interested in lipstick or foundation, for example, can explore a wide range of alternatives across many brands -- a marked difference from the typical department store approach, which requires shopping at the Clinique counter, for example, then Chanel, then Lancome.  

In each location, a dedicated Macy's Beauty Spot concierge associate is on hand to assist customers and process credit card transactions using a handheld mobile device. The Cincinnati-based retailer says the technology, presented at the National Retail Federation confab this week, is an example of “the best of both online and in-store shopping…to maximize a shopper's time in the store."