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Scan To Video Display

Customer scans product tag. Video plays. Product story, features, demo—right there in the showroom.

Solution Overview

Customer scans product tag. Video plays. Product story, features, demo—right there in the showroom. This solution is part of our Assets domain and can be deployed in 2-4 weeks using our proven tech stack.

Industries

This solution is particularly suited for:

Retail Showrooms Museums Trade Shows Hospitality

The Need

Retail environments struggle with a fundamental problem: static product displays fail to engage customers and convert browsers into buyers. Most retail spaces rely on traditional signage and printed product information—methods that capture attention for only seconds and cannot adapt to customer interests or changing inventory. Sales staff cannot always be present to explain product features, benefits, or usage scenarios, creating friction when customers have questions. Without immediate, personalized product information, customers make purchasing decisions based on incomplete knowledge, leading to lower conversion rates and higher return rates when products don't meet expectations.

The cost of traditional engagement solutions is prohibitive. Interactive product kiosks cost $5,000-$15,000 per unit and require complex installation and IT infrastructure. Smaller retailers cannot justify this investment across multiple display locations. Meanwhile, product information becomes stale—outdated pricing, discontinued items, incorrect specifications—creating customer confusion and eroding trust. Video content exists in corporate systems but never reaches customers at the point of discovery. Product demonstrations, feature highlights, testimonials, and usage tutorials remain locked away in training materials or corporate websites where customers never see them.

Retail environments also miss critical engagement data. Without visibility into which products customers interact with, retailers cannot optimize product placement or identify bestsellers. Marketing teams cannot determine which products require additional promotional content or which categories customers are actively exploring. This absence of engagement metrics leaves retailers making inventory and merchandising decisions based on guesswork rather than customer behavior data.

Trade shows, museums, showrooms, and experiential retail environments face even greater challenges. These venues rely on high-impact product experiences to differentiate from competitors and justify higher price points. Visitors expect interactive, dynamic content—not static displays. Yet creating custom interactive displays for each venue or product is expensive and time-consuming. Museums managing thousands of exhibits cannot afford individual interactive displays for each artifact. Trade show exhibitors cannot bring complex technology infrastructure to temporary venues and must dismantle everything after the show concludes.

The most advanced retailers and experiential venues recognize the power of "retail magic"—seamless moments where product discovery feels effortless and delightful. RFID/NFC-triggered content delivery creates these magical moments: customer picks up a product or places it on a display table, technology silently recognizes the item, and relevant video content immediately appears on screens without any manual interaction or friction. This transforms the retail experience from passive browsing into active, personalized product exploration.

The Idea

Scan To Video Display transforms retail and showroom environments into engaging, interactive spaces where products trigger immediate, relevant video and content display. The system begins with RFID or NFC tag assignment to products. Products receive unique RFID tags (on packaging, attached to physical items) or QR codes that link each physical item to its digital content record. These tags are assigned during manufacturing or at point of receipt into the retail environment. Existing products that already have RFID tags (common in retail supply chains) can be leveraged immediately without additional tagging infrastructure.

The system places RFID/NFC readers or cameras in strategic display locations. For maximum engagement, RFID readers mount directly under transparent display tables—when a customer places a product on the table, sensors immediately detect the RFID tag without requiring any scanning action from the customer. This creates the "magic" moment: product placed, content appears. Alternative deployment uses tabletop pedestals with embedded readers or wall-mounted NFC readers for scenarios where under-table placement isn't possible. QR code readers use simple tablet or tablet-mounted cameras for lowest-cost deployments in venues where RFID infrastructure isn't available.

Connected display systems (TVs, tablets, digital signage) are networked to the OTP platform. When a product is detected, the system looks up the associated product record and triggers display of pre-configured video content. Content can include product demonstration videos (5-30 seconds), feature highlights, customer testimonials, usage instructions, pricing and availability information, or promotional messages. Multi-language support automatically displays content in the customer's preferred language based on system configuration. For tablets and interactive displays, customers can swipe through additional information, view related products, or add items to shopping carts.

The system includes a content management interface where product managers and merchandisers can easily assign videos and content to product codes. Non-technical users select a product SKU, upload or link video content, add text overlays or pricing information, and schedule when content appears (e.g., promotional videos during peak shopping hours). Content can be sourced from corporate video libraries, custom-filmed product demonstrations, supplier-provided marketing materials, or user-generated content like customer reviews and testimonials. The system supports different content profiles: retail stores show pricing and "add to cart" prompts, museums show educational context and artifact history, trade shows show competitive comparisons and visitor engagement CTAs.

Most powerfully, the system logs every product interaction as an engagement event. When a product triggers display content, the system records: product ID, location, timestamp, how long content was viewed, whether customer added to cart, and which videos were watched. These engagement events feed analytics dashboards showing product interest heatmaps—which products capture attention, which categories drive engagement, which content resonates with customers. Retailers can identify underperforming products that receive detection but no purchase conversion (indicating content or positioning issues) versus high-performing products with consistent engagement. This data guides merchandising decisions: move high-engagement products to better visibility, remove products with zero engagement, or create additional content for products with interest-but-no-conversion patterns.

For maximum flexibility, the system supports multiple trigger mechanisms. RFID readers detect tagged products. QR code scanning on tablets or mobile devices works for customers who want to engage with content. NFC readers at store entrances can trigger welcome messages or personalized shopping experiences. Barcode scanners at checkout trigger related content ("customers who bought this also purchased..."). This multi-modal approach accommodates different retail scenarios and customer preferences.

How It Works

flowchart TD A[Customer Approaches
Display Table] --> B[RFID/NFC Reader
Detects Tag] B --> C{Tag Read
Successfully?} C -->|Yes| D[Extract Product ID
from Tag] C -->|No| E[Wait for Next
Interaction] E --> A D --> F[Query OTP Platform] F --> G[Lookup Product Record
and Content] G --> H{Content
Found?} H -->|Yes| I[Determine Customer
Language/Region] H -->|No| J[Display Default
Message] I --> K[Trigger Video/Content
on Display] J --> K K --> L[Log Engagement Event
Product ID, Timestamp,
Content Duration] L --> M[Update Analytics
Dashboard] M --> N{Customer
Interaction?} N -->|Views Content| O[Record Interaction
Duration] N -->|Adds to Cart| P[Record Purchase
Intent] N -->|Moves Product| Q[End Engagement
Session] O --> R[Send Data to
Analytics Engine] P --> R Q --> R R --> S[Update Product
Interest Heatmap] S --> T[Notify Marketing
Team of Trends] T --> U[Generate Insights
for Merchandising
Decisions]

Complete workflow from product detection via RFID/NFC reader through content lookup, display triggering, engagement tracking, and analytics dashboard updates for real-time visibility into customer product interactions and merchandising performance.

The Technology

All solutions run on the IoTReady Operations Traceability Platform (OTP), designed to handle millions of data points per day with sub-second querying. The platform combines an integrated OLTP + OLAP database architecture for real-time transaction processing and powerful analytics.

Deployment options include on-premise installation, deployment on your cloud (AWS, Azure, GCP), or fully managed IoTReady-hosted solutions. All deployment models include identical enterprise features.

OTP includes built-in backup and restore, AI-powered assistance for data analysis and anomaly detection, integrated business intelligence dashboards, and spreadsheet-style data exploration. Role-based access control ensures appropriate information visibility across your organization.

Frequently Asked Questions

How does Scan To Video work in retail environments without RFID infrastructure?
The system is flexible and works with multiple trigger mechanisms. If RFID infrastructure isn't available, tablets or mobile devices can use QR code scanning to trigger content display. QR codes can be printed on product packaging or displayed via signage. This approach works well for temporary installations like trade shows, museums, or pop-up retail where permanent infrastructure isn't feasible. Alternatively, simple NFC readers (low-cost, available for $50-200) can be deployed at display locations for NFC-enabled products.
What type of video content works best for Scan To Video displays?
Best-performing content is short, focused, and immediately relevant: product demonstration videos (30-60 seconds), feature highlights, usage tutorials, customer testimonials, or promotional messages. Avoid long-form educational content—viewers expect quick engagement while browsing. Many retailers use 15-30 second clips optimized for tablet/TV display without sound (with captions for accessibility). Include clear CTAs like 'Add to Cart' or 'Learn More' to drive conversion from engagement to purchase.
Can the system work with products that already have RFID tags from the supply chain?
Yes, this is one of the biggest advantages. If products already carry RFID tags for supply chain tracking, the system can immediately leverage those tags without any additional tagging infrastructure or cost. The system simply reads the existing tag, maps it to the product database, and triggers content display. This eliminates the expense and complexity of adding new tags, making implementation much faster and more cost-effective, especially for retailers already using RFID-enabled inventory systems.
How do you manage content for products with seasonal or changing promotions?
The content management interface allows non-technical staff to easily update or swap video content for any product without touching the system infrastructure. You can schedule content changes (e.g., 'Show Spring Collection video starting March 1') or create content profiles for different scenarios (e.g., 'Regular Mode' with standard demo video, 'Promotion Mode' with limited-time offer messaging). Time-based triggers automatically switch content at scheduled dates, and role-based permissions control who can modify content for each product category.
What happens if a product isn't found in the system—will customers see an error?
No. The system is configured to gracefully handle unknown products. If a product tag isn't recognized in the database, the display either shows a generic welcome message, blank screen, or can be configured to show 'Product Information Unavailable.' This prevents customer-facing errors and maintains a professional appearance. Meanwhile, the system logs unknown tag detections in an admin dashboard, alerting merchandisers to update product records or reassign tags for new products.
How does multi-language support work in international retail environments?
The system automatically detects customer location/region or can be configured with a customer language preference at checkout or via mobile app registration. When a product triggers content display, the system serves video and text in the selected language. This requires uploading multiple language versions of content (original language + translations) to the platform. For global retailers, this ensures consistent product experience across markets without maintaining separate systems per region.
How can retailers use engagement data from Scan To Video to improve merchandising?
The system provides detailed analytics showing which products receive the most interactions ('hot products'), which generate interest but low conversion ('consider repositioning'), and which are rarely engaged with ('potential candidates for removal'). Heatmaps show high-engagement zones in the retail space, guiding product placement. Retailers can test different content approaches (e.g., 'Demo video vs. Testimonial video for Product X') by tracking which content drives higher engagement or conversion. Over time, these insights guide inventory purchasing, promotional focus, and store layout optimization.

Deployment Model

Rapid Implementation

2-4 week implementation with our proven tech stack. Get up and running quickly with minimal disruption.

Your Infrastructure

Deploy on your servers with Docker containers. You own all your data with perpetual license - no vendor lock-in.

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Ready to Get Started?

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