Magik Book, the Portugal-based startup behind the catalogue that integrates with iPad, has launched the In-Store Smart Catalogue solution, a storytelling tool for brands’ physical spaces which combines a paper book with digital media on a TV screen.
The In-Store Smart Catalogue is designed for brands to inform and entertain their customers in the shop or showroom. Operated simply by turning the pages, Magik Book is built to be approachable, accessible, and impactful.
With the technology, the tech startup wants to improve customer interactions, using a physical book as the interface to digital content. The result is a hands-on, user-friendly alternative to the touch-screen digital signage commonly found, but often under-used, in retail settings.
The book format is well suited to brand storytelling and offers a straightforward, entertaining user experience that will attract and appeal to diverse customers in-store.
Turning the pages of the book prompts a response on-screen.
Each print page of Magik Book is synchronised to digital content. Video, imagery, music, web content, and online stores can all be included, blending online and offline for a “phygital” – the mix of physical and digital – experience.
The catalogues themselves look like regular paper books and communicate with screens via Magik Book’s patented technology.
The solution is aimed at retail brands, shopping centres, and automotive companies as a method of communicating with their audiences and advertising their products in their retail spaces.
Magik Book in the Porsche showroom in Porto, Portugal.
Each In-Store Smart Catalogue setup can work with multiple books, all of which can have a unique digital counterpart, so brands can offer a broad range of content. That also means that Magik Book clients can order new books as they please. The digital side can be refreshed at any time.
Installations can even be scaled up to include elements other than TV screens. Turning a page of Magik Book can be programmed, for example, to trigger an event within the room, such as music playing from speakers or the dimming of lights.
“Magik Book started as a catalogue for iPads. But we saw an opportunity in retail spaces where we believe most digital signage interactions are stagnant and not user-friendly,” said CEO Hugo Ribeiro. “So we developed the Magik Book technology further, scaling it up for our clients’ stores and showrooms. Our goal is always to create the absolute best experiences for brands and their customers”