A startup called June20 puts iPads on rails to bring online into physical stores

Retailers have been trying to bring together the information-rich world of their online stores with the touch-the-product advantages of their brick-and-mortar ones.

This had led to kiosks, mobile apps that point to inventory in a physical store, and location-based offers, among other efforts. This week, a startup is launching a new and patent-pending approach: Put a tablet on rails.

Called Converge, this is first offering from a Hayward, California-based company called June20. An iPad Pro is mounted on rails in a product aisle, and the customer can grab attached handles to move the tablet from product to product.

The back camera picks up a small QR code near the product, triggering the display of related product info on the tablet. CEO and co-founder Paul Chapuis told me there are “no blank spaces” between the QR codes, so the tablet will show either one product or the other.

[Read the full article on MarTech Today.]

About The Author

Barry Levine covers marketing technology for Third Door Media. Previously, he covered this space as a Senior Writer for VentureBeat, and he has written about these and other tech subjects for such publications as CMSWire and NewsFactor. He founded and led the web site/unit at PBS station Thirteen/WNET; worked as an online Senior Producer/writer for Viacom; created a successful interactive game, PLAY IT BY EAR: The First CD Game; founded and led an independent film showcase, CENTER SCREEN, based at Harvard and M.I.T.; and served over five years as a consultant to the M.I.T. Media Lab. You can find him at LinkedIn, and on Twitter at xBarryLevine.