Retailers are taking an innovative approach to connect technology with the in-store experience.One partnership between a retailer and technology has caught the eye of beauty bloggers and loyalists.

Sephora, the No. 1 beauty product retailer in North America, announced a partnership with Pantone to develop Pantone IQ in stores.

It started with a common shopper’s problem—finding the right color foundation makeup that matches your skin color.

To tackle this, Sephora partnered with Pantone to leverage scanning technology available for years in the design and production industries. Within seconds of scanning your face, the kiosk identifies your ideal shade of foundation by assigning a Pantone Skintone Number.

Type this number into the kiosk iPad, and you are provided a range of brands with shades that deliver options that perfectly match your skin. This simple digital experience opens up an ownable and innovative market for Sephora and allows shoppers to shop by their Skintone Number in-store or online.

This example is part of a formula that resonates with shoppers—meaningful technology that solves a key problem with a simple digital experience. The result is effective technology that gains shopper loyalty and transcends the brick and mortar location once the Pantone IQ number is assigned.

Facebook + Hangers: An Unusual Partnership Fueling Social Media Purchases

One Brazilian retailer is harnessing the power of social media in a partnership with Facebook.

Fashion house C&S debuted digital screens mounted into merchandising units that display Facebook “likes.”

By showing the increasing tally of “likes,” C&S hoped that approval from the online community would encourage shoppers to purchase an item of clothing.

Shopping by Remote Control

A clever repurposing of QR codes is helping men find the perfect jeans. Connecting dressing room service with product interaction, the QR codes rolled out by retailer Hointer may have ultimately cracked the code on making shopping enjoyable for men.

By scanning the QR code, customers can have their desired size delivered into the dressing room within 30 seconds without having to dig through piles of denim in the store.

Additional features allow shoppers to browse over 150 denim options for wash, fit and size, plus a swipe-and-go kiosk means men experience all transactions in their hand.

The Bottom Line

Retailers are taking shopper insights to new levels with these innovative partnerships, capitalizing on social media and shopping technologies to drive transactions.

As with all innovation, ROI will be the key factor that tells us if these partnerships and technologies move the needle. Meanwhile, these retailers have brought amusement and have infused confidence into the shopper’s routine, thus enhancing the shopping experience.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Katie Neil is vice president, account management, Anthem (Atlanta). She leads the Atlanta office providing brand, digital and consumer marketing services for The Home Depot, L’Oreal Paris and Newell-Rubbermaid.