Intelligent in-store lighting interacts with 'personal shopper' app

An app that helps with the shopping: that’s something most of us would like to see (particularly if it could then unpack said shopping afterwards and make dinner while you put your feet up). Royal Philips has developed an intelligent lighting system that could bring this idea to life.

The system uses intelligent LED in-store lighting to communicate location-based information to shoppers via a smartphone app. The lighting communicates with the app to send the shopper special offers and information based on their location in the store.

Currently being piloted with retailers, the lighting system is being demonstrated at the Euroshop trade fair in Dusseldorf.

The system works by using lighting fixtures that form a dense network that not only provide high-quality light but also acts as a positioning grid. Each fixture is identifiable and able to communicate its position to an app on a shopper’s smart device. This enables the shopper to get information related to his position in the store as they move around the store and location-based services to be triggered. Communication with the smartphone is by Visual Light Communications.

If a shopper plans to make a Mexican meal for dinner, the app on their smart phone can serve as a ‘personal shopper’. It can point him or her to the aisle where they would find a jar of guacamole, or, if they preferred to make it fresh, plot a route through the aisles to the avocados, tomatoes, onions, chilies and limes. As the shopper approaches various products, the app could also introduce new brands available in the store or make suggestions for alternate recipes.

“The beauty of the system is that retailers do not have to invest in additional infrastructure to house, power and support location beacons for indoor positioning,” said Gerben van der Lugt from Philips Lighting.

“The light fixtures themselves can communicate this information by virtue of their presence everywhere in the store.”

Philips says retailers will also benefit from its range of LED lighting, which provides improved lighting levels and lower electricity bills.