Tanishq leverages augmented reality at airport kiosks

With the help of AR, Tanishq kiosks let travellers at the airport try on jewellery, virtually. We spoke to Deepika Tewari, Associate VP, Marketing, Jewellery Division at Titan about the installation.

Tanishq teamed up with Milestone Brandcom, an outdoor specialist agency, to allow women travellers at Bangalore and Delhi airports to try on jewellery and experience the brand in augmented reality (AR). The kiosk used a platform called MirrAR to provide customers with the experience. The AR platform was created in collaboration with StyleDotMe - a startup focussed on the innovative application of AR and AI technologies for customer experiences.

A prospective customer tries on Tanishq Jewellery at Bridal Asia 2018

Deepika Tewari

Tanishq debuted this technology at the Bridal Asia show, Mumbai in 2018. We spoke to Deepika Tewari, associate vice president, Marketing, Jewellery Division at Titan about the installation. "We did the AR installation at the Bridal Asia show because there was limited stock you can keep there. A lot of brides had come in and they wanted to see options for bridal wear. This is a very good way to show them how the jewellery looks on them in the absence of being able to carry physical stock," she explains.

Tewari informs us that there weren't many challenges in execution at the Bridal Asia fair, but the situation at the airport was slightly different because airports are high-security areas. There were challenges in getting the technology through security and getting the promoters on site.

A glimpse of the AR technology enabled kiosk at an airport
Click on the image to enlarge

About the advantages that AR offers as opposed to setting up an actual store, she replies, "Each piece costs 3-4 lakhs, so it's very expensive to keep a jewellery kiosk at the airport. The kind of inventory I can show through AR, I can only stock in a large format showroom. After trying it on, if a customer likes the product, we will direct her to the nearest store. If someone's flying from Bangalore to Hyderabad and wants the product in Hyderabad, then we will direct her to the store in Hyderabad. We will intimate the store that the traveller wants a particular product and we'll make sure it's available for her. We can fulfil the order in every way possible - you pay online and we can even courier it to you."

A customer tries on jewellery at the airport kiosk
Click on the image to enlarge

Tewari also explains why an airport was a good place to carry out an AR installation like this and doesn't rule out the possibility of doing a similar activity at other locations like malls, in the future. "We were looking at a high-traffic point that our kind of TG frequents. We're more of a corporate customer brand. An airport is a place where we find our kind of TG. They usually have a 30-40 minute wait time which is enough for browsing and experiencing the brand while looking at the products. Nowadays, 30-40 per cent of travellers are women. That's why we chose Bangalore and Delhi - because you have a lot of business travellers at these airports. We had nearly 700-800 people try our virtual products. In my mind, that's a good number of people who have been exposed to the brand," she states.

The interactive kiosk allows customers to try on a range of products
Click on the image to enlarge

Tanishq's main TG is any progressive woman between the ages to 35-55 and she tells us that the brand is always looking for new ways to engage with its customers.

ALSO READ: Meet Deepika Tewari, the lady behind Tanishq's advertising

"What are the main ways you can try our brand out? You can go to e-commerce sites, walk into one of our stores or experience the brand at a fair or exhibition. This is the fourth way to experience the brand. It is a very high engagement experience that we gave customers. Not everyone in Bangalore has necessarily been to a Tanishq store, but people at airports are likely to be customers who would like to pay a visit to the stores," she points out.