We have tweaked our canvas a bit. Changes are highlighted in Green.

1. We have come to realize that delivering ads through the store map presents some unique advantages when the app is used with the store loyalty program. Stores such as SaveOn Foods collect customer shopping behavioral information through the loyalty program. Every time the shopper checks out using the loyalty card, a list of items purchased is recorded.

We can leverage the data to show how display of an ad on ZipThru leads to a buy. Perhaps, we could charge a premium for ads that lead to a purchase. We call this “ad performance data”.

2. Another value proposition for the shopper is product reviews. Product reviews can be collected from shoppers across stores and retail chains.

We would be happy to receive feedback regarding these changes.

1. Does the retail store currently have a mobile application?

2. Is there a loyalty program? How are promotions and coupons delivered electronically?

3. How does the store currently measure success of a product advertisement? Would they be interested in understanding the conversion rate better? i.e. how often does an ad lead to a sale?

3. What are their plans for network access in the store (Wi-Fi for shoppers)? What is the motivation for providing Wi-Fi access to shoppers?

4. Does the retail store have other technology initiatives planned that are targeted at giving them a competitive advantage in the grocery segment? What are they?

5. How will they improve the “customer experience”?

6. Is the retail store concerned about the difficulties that shoppers face in locating products in the store? How big an issue is it?

7. Would the store be interested in helping the customer reach a store attendant via the app, through a push button and/or chat screen?

8. How does the retail chain make a decision to adopt a new technology?

9. Would the store be interested in deploying a retail store navigation platform? How much would they be willing to pay per year?

10. Would the store allow limited network installations in the store? Are they comfortable sharing product information with a trusted third part vendor?

We have rearranged our action plan a bit.

1. We intend to prepare well for the meeting with Mike of Save-on-Foods on Feb 20th:

– Finalize the list of questions to know more about issues faced by retail stores and how our solution might fit in. We already have a long list suggested by our mentor, Mario.

– Prepare a demo using a limited product list

We would like to provide Mike the option of viewing a demo of a limited version of the product at a Save-on store close to his office. To this end, we have visited a Save-on store at Langley and collected data that would help us build a map. He would be able to view the location of a limited set of 10 products using the app. The demo will not show the location of the customer in the store – that feature would require more work, including RF fingerprinting. We have also decided to put the plan to demo at IKEA on hold for now.

2. Meet and interview decision makers at other retail stores. Targets are T&T Supermarkets, Memory Express. Superstore. Best Buy. I met with Jason, the store manager at Memory Express today to follow up on the possible meeting with the owners. He will be contacting the owners to try to arrange a meeting. According to him, they would like to know how much the system would cost. They also have reservations regarding possible impacts that such a system might have on personalized services by sales representatives.

Meanwhile, the Director of IT at Safeway got back to me saying that they are currently working on a solution with similar functionality and are therefore not keen on discussing the idea with us.

3. The API will be tested to validate the accuracy. Site survey is now complete.

4. Understand customer workflow and purchase decision making process at each of the retail stores.

5. Reach out to a few product vendors and advertising agencies. The Branding and Advertising event on Feb 20th should help us in this effort. Thanks to Brad Wheeler of the UILO who informed us of the event.

Just got off a call with the Director of IT at Overwaitea Food Group (OFG). OFG runs Save-on-Foods, PriceSmart Foods and Urban fare.

I have been trying to reach him over the past one week and left voice mail messages. He got back to us y’day. He is interested in exploring indoor positioning. We have a face-to-face meeting scheduled for Feb. 20th.

ZT: We are in the process of developing a retail store navigation product [explained the key functionality] and would like to know whether it is some thing that you might be interested in.

SOF. We are interested in extending into the mobile space. We have a mobile application for Save-on-Foods, but it does not include the indoor positioning aspect. We are interested in the technology.

ZT: We would like to know more about problems that SOF would like to address with a mobile solution. Could you give us some insight?

SOF: We have a large amount of customer anlalytics data in our databases, but are yet to figure out a good way to use the data. One of the things that we have been thinking about is developing intelligent shopping list. Based on previous shopping behavior data (from Saveon loyalty cards) we could provide recommendations and intelligent shopping lists when the shopper visits the store.

ZT: Would you be OK with providing product lists and product shopping list to us for secure storage to help customers locate products through the app?

SOF: I do not foresee us having a problem with sharing the data. We already share our product lists with a few partners.

SOF: Will you need a projector for the demo?

ZT: We would like to show our mobile application installed on a mobile device. We will try to arrange a live but limited version of the demo at one of your stores.

We completed stage 1 of verification of accuracy of our location API yesterday – the site survey is done. We will perform the testing using the RF fingerprints next week.

We have contacted the Director of IT at Safeway in Vancouver and requested an appointment. I will also be meeting a store manager at Bestbuy on Saturday. Advertising agencies are a customer segment we would like to explore. To this end, we will be attending the Branding, Digital Advertising & Digital Media Event organized by VEF  in Vancouver on Feb 26th. We will also be at the Entrepreneur Bootcamp on Feb 20.

Pengfei has spoken to a store manager at T&T supermarkets, who has promised to arrange a meeting with some one higher up the ladder.Also, we are looking to expand our team to include someone with Sales/ Marketing experience with the retail industry. Any suggestions would be appreciated.