Episode 122 / Pandora / Jim Cruickshank / VP Global Digital Development & Retail Technology at Pandora
Overcoming Physical Retail Restrictions Thanks to Augmented Reality
Jim Cruickshank is the VP of Global Digital Development & Retail Technology at Pandora, where he has successfully implemented augmented reality (AR) technology during the Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns. His Shiny New Object is using AR in the retail space and how it can open up new avenues for brands to reach customers differently and overcome physical restrictions.
Jim’s background as a product development and management specialist spans over 20 years, with him having worked for big-name brands such as Microsoft and Marks & Spencer, as well as delving into numerous start-ups following his ideas. In his experience with start-ups, he saw the potential downside of not considering customers’ preferences during product development. This is how he developed a strong customer-centric approach ever since: “With a new product, get a raw form of it in front of the customer in advance of building expensive things.”
However, when the Covid-19 crisis hit and Pandora were faced with multiple store closures, less time was available for product testing and research. What became evident to Jim was that there was a large number of customers who were only used to going into physical shops for their purchases. The online experience already offered by Pandora would not be enough to satisfy their confidence issues with buying remotely.
As his Shiny New Object, augmented reality in the retail space was Jim’s solution. What may have seemed like a gimmicky idea pre-Coronavirus was put together thanks to a cross-functional team, tested in front of a small number of customers, and released extremely quickly. Through AR, shoppers would be able to use their smartphone camera to upload a photo of themselves and super-impose Pandora jewellery onto their image to test that what they wanted to buy would suit them.
“The good thing about digital is that you can measure absolutely anything,” says Jim. Pandora was able to measure that conversion was three times as high as for the typical customer by using this AR method. The key to the success, along with understanding the customer need? Having a stand-alone customer-focused cross-functional start-up team within the business, 100% dedicated to the task.
To find out more about Jim’s favourite product management books, his top marketing tips
and his thoughts on the challenge of working remotely, listen to the podcast.
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