Pico Plus’ unique 360-degree integrated marketing capabilities allowed Pico to play a significant role throughout the planning and implementation of a new large-scale retail laboratory in Shanghai. Named ‘Explorium’, the laboratory is an omni-channel platform and exhibition dedicated to conducting rapid experimentation with omni-channel techniques and trends that are shaping the future of retail.
Explorium is operated by the Fung Group in partnership with Pico and IBM. It is located within more than 23,000 sq. m. (nearly 250,000 sq. ft.) of trade exhibition space at LiFung Plaza, where it provides a controlled setting for businesses to observe and explore in real time how consumers interact with new technologies, products and environments.
Among the technologies in the laboratory are virtual-reality fitting rooms, magic mirrors that bring images to life and 3D printing for creating customised products. Brands are also using Explorium to understand opportunities in China for their products and services, based on consumer feedback collected and analysed at the laboratory. Retailers are also using it to test different store concepts.
Lawrence Chia, Pico’s Group Chairman said, “We are extremely pleased to have our strong project team working with leaders from the retail and data technology industries and have played a vital part in the strategy, planning and execution of Explorium in areas related to branding, experiential marketing and digital media.”
Fung Group Chairman Dr Victor K. Fung said the initiative was sparked by challenges occurring in retail across the world, especially in China. “Everything we thought we knew about how consumers decide upon what they buy, where they buy, when they buy, how they buy and how they pay is changing.”
Dr Fung added that there were no preconceived ideas about which omni-channel business models would emerge from Explorium. “As with most experiments of any lasting value, the greatest measure of success may simply be how much we learn from the results,” he said. “A key advantage for participating brands and retailers is that, with Explorium, they can experiment, incubate and iterate at high speed while minimising their cost and risk.”
