Quayside shopping centre MediaCity

Fancy talking to a lamppost? Quayside MediaCity shopping centre wants a different kind of customer feedback

  • Quayside collaborates with Hello Lamp Post on project
  • Users scan QR codes on public objects to interact via text
  • Scheme gathers data on customers’ opinions of the shopping centre in order to generate new ideas

A ground-breaking scheme in which customers can talk to inanimate objects such as lampposts has been launched at Quayside MediaCity shopping centre.

The aim is to get feedback from customers about their shopping experience.

Quayside has collaborated with engagement platform Hello Lamp Post to bring interactive technology to the centre.

The partnership came from the MediaCityUK Smart City Innovation Testbed which took place earlier in the year, giving tech start-ups across the UK the opportunity to develop their products and services in real city environments.

 

Hello Lamp Post QR code on a bench at Quayside shopping centre 

Visitors scan a QR code attached to objects such as benches and planters, which triggers a text conversation with the object, receiving real-time answers as well as information on the centre.

Shoppers are  asked to give their opinions on various aspects of the shopping centre, such as music, plants and seating.

The Northern Quota has seen data from Quayside and Hello Lamp Post on customer interactions.

Shoppers have suggested that more colour and lights could improve the centre, as well as comfier seats and decorations on blank walls.

 

An example of a text conversation with one of the centre’s objects 

 Hello Lamp Post’s marketing manager, Francesca Esses, said: “Hello Lamp Post helps organisations with their community engagement such as sustainability, design and safety.

“We can make any object or location interactive such as: a statue to learn about its history, a shopping centre to find your way around or a bus stop to find out bus times.

“The deployment is helping Quayside to gather real-time data, insights and sentiment from visitors, which will be used to improve wellbeing, experiences and customer satisfaction.”