'Smart tags' help Prada learn more about its shoppers

By Anne D'Innocenzio
Associated Press

NEW YORK — The most striking thing about the new Prada store in Manhattan's SoHo neighborhood isn't the round glass elevator or the sloping wood floor that displays $500 shoes.

A model demonstrates how to use a computer screen in a Prada dressing room. An image is captured from the radio-frequency tags and projected on a plasma screen beside the dressing-room closet. Prada via AP

The real magic in the fashion house's 17,000-square-foot store is the technology behind the scenes — innovations that other retailers are also looking to adopt.

Using a technology called radio frequency identification that embeds data in clothing tags, Prada sales associates armed with handheld computers can find out a lot on the spot. In what size is that blouse still in stock? What materials are in it?

Prada shoppers eventually will be able to create "virtual closets" and store information about what they tried on and bought in password-protected Internet accounts. They will also be able to opt for customer cards that detail past purchases and contain notes sales associates may have made on their preferences. Such cards would be readable either by associates' handhelds or at registers.

Although designed to improve the shopping experience and make stores more efficient, such technologies also carry risks for consumers concerned about privacy unless merchants set clear policies on the sharing of customer information.

The Prada store in SoHo, which opened nearly a year ago, is the first of a string of so-called "epicenters" the Italian fashion company plans, with Tokyo and Los Angeles stores scheduled to open next year.

Prada's use of "smart tags" on the sales floor — other retailers use them to track merchandise in warehouses — puts it at the forefront of a movement among merchants to expand their use of technology.

Internet kiosks in some Barnes & Noble Inc. and Gap Inc. stores enable shoppers to research products or order merchandise not on the premises. And Nordstrom Inc. is experimenting with storing customer information.

At least one other major retailer is trying out a different sort of tech tool.

Vocera Communications Systems is testing WiFi wireless technology at a Target store in Rogers, Minn. It bundles the functions of a walkie-talkie, phone and pager into a 1.6-ounce badge. Store associates wear them around their necks and operate them handsfree with voice commands.

In the Prada store's dressing rooms, customers can hang clothes in one Lucite box and accessories, like handbags and belts, in another. An image is captured from their radio-frequency tags and projected on a plasma screen beside the closet in the dressing room.

By pushing buttons on the screens, customers can mix and match outfits, and find out more details about the clothing.

Screens in dressing rooms will eventually be linked to the Web, enabling consumers to create "virtual closets." Just when such features will be available Prada spokeswoman Katherine Ross wouldn't say.

One loyal Prada shopper, Shawn Rubino of Rye, N.Y., was impressed by streaming videos embedded in tables in the store and said she was "excited about the technology." But she was concerned about the potential "invasion of privacy" from some of Prada's high-tech plans.

Ross said Prada has no plans to share any information with outside parties.

How Prada uses its technology to learn more about its customers remains key, said analyst Kate Delhagen of Forrester Research. While other companies store information online, at Prada "store clerks will have access to it," she noted.

Nordstrom has moved into similar territory by teaming up with Blue Martini Software Inc. to roll out customer relations software in its stores. The intention is to help sales representatives better track customers' purchases and tastes by storing individual shoppers' information in a central database.