For the second year in a row, two companies have won the main prize at "Handel im Wandel" (Trade in Transition), each receiving €10,000: CRÄMER & CO and Suggestio. The special prize goes to Innoactive.
The Munich startup Innoactive secured the special prize for a technology that enables retailers to virtually design their stores and visualize shelves filled with any product. The jury was impressed by the broad customer base and commented:
"The use of virtual reality technology in retail is not a vision of the future, but rather a reality already in many places. This will enable retailers to save space in the future and explore new ways of engaging with customers and expanding their product range."
Main prizes for interactive advertising screen and order processing
Suggestio equips interactive advertising screens with a sensor-based system. Customers can use gestures to swipe away irrelevant ads and request further offers for a product. This allows retailers to learn more about their customers' interests. Jury member Prof. Dr. Dirk Funck, Chairman of the Advisory Board of the Rid Foundation, explains:
"Suggestio conducts impact research at the point of sale. The seemingly anonymous customer in front of the shop window becomes more transparent, allowing retailers to optimally adapt their marketing measures."
The denim retailer CRÄMER & CO has developed software designed to optimize order processing in brick-and-mortar retail. The company now wants to sell its software to other retailers. The jury's statement states:
"CRÄMER & CO's order processing impressed with its practice-driven innovation process, directly derived from its own business. The software solution also opens up opportunities for other retailers to become more efficient and thus more competitive in order picking for shipping goods ordered online."
The Günther Rid Foundation and UnternehmerTUM The competition is organized with the support of the Bavarian State Ministry for Economic Affairs and Media, Energy and Technology, the Bavarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (HBE Handelsverband Bayern), and the Bavarian Chambers of Industry and Commerce. The competition will continue in its third round in 2017.
