An in-store kiosk that answers with the shutters down

What happens outside your shop window when you are not there

A shop closes in the evening, on Sundays, often on Mondays, sometimes over lunch. Those are exactly the hours when people are out walking. They see the e-bike in the window, the mattress on its base, the pair of glasses on its stand. They have a precise question, and nobody to answer it.

Most never come back. Not because they did not like the item, but because in the meantime they searched on their phone and found someone who showed the price. The window did its job, it caught their eye. What came next was missing.

• "Do you have it in a king size?"
• "How far do you deliver?"
• "Do you take the old one away?"
• "What time do you open tomorrow?"
• "Is the motor under guarantee?"

One QR code per item on display

Each key item in the window gets its own QR code. The passer-by who scans the one on the corner sofa reaches an assistant that knows that sofa: its dimensions, colours and lead time. They do not have to describe what they are looking at. No app to download, no account to create.

The assistant answers in the visitor's language. On a high street busy with tourists, the question can arrive in French or German at 9 pm, and the answer goes back in the same language.

When the visitor wants to go further, they leave their name and phone number or email. You receive these requests each morning, with the question asked and the item concerned. You call back someone who already knows what they want.

What you load into the assistant

The assistant only knows what you give it. For a shop, the useful pages sound like what you would say at the counter yourself. You send a link to your product pages or a simple file, and set-up takes one day.

• The price shown and what it includes (delivery, assembly, removal of the old one)
• The sizes, colours or finishes in stock, and those made to order
• The usual lead time when the item is not in stock
• The guarantee and the after-sales service you provide
• Your opening hours, closing days and sale dates
• In-store services: alterations, fittings, advice by appointment

Which stand for your shop window display

No hardware is required. A poster with the QR code stuck to the inside of the glass is enough to start. If you already have a screen in the window, it can show the QR code: the window display screen page covers that case.

If you want something that can be seen from a distance, the pack that speaks loudest for a shop is the MacLocks BrandMe backlit window kiosk: €1,590 excl. VAT for the first year, licence included. The panel carries your branding and stays visible from the street at night, and the tablet sits in an anti-theft enclosure.

For a window fitted with shelves, the Arkon flexible clamp arm attaches to a unit right by the glass: €1,190 excl. VAT for the first year, with the arm free. For the counter inside, the MacLocks Rise stand with wireless charging comes to €1,490 excl. VAT. The tablet is not supplied, and the stand is yours to keep.

What the assistant does not do

It does not know your stock in real time. If a colour sells out, it is up to you to update the page from your phone. It does not sell, take payment or reserve items. It does not replace trying something on, or the advice of a salesperson who can see the person in front of them.

Faced with a question whose answer is not in your pages, it does not make one up. It tells the visitor so and passes the question on to you. A shop that loads three lines gets an assistant that knows three things: the quality of the answers depends on what you put in.