Japan’s PanoPlaza helps retail management visit franchise stores virtually

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Japan’s Kadinche Corp is announcing today that well-known Japanese discount chain Don Quijote will be using their PanoPlaza service (a 360-degree panoramic virtual shop) on their intranet.

This is an interesting use of the panoramic store-front technology, which has mostly been used as a consumer-facing service that allows visitors to browse stores on the web in a manner that reflects their actual layout and appearance. But the folks at Don Quijote saw a need for a way to browse their own stores online, in the interests of keeping their many stores (more than 160 in Japan) so far) up to date on changes to its interior and its merchandise presentation.

Kadinche Corp explains in its announcement that typically when a new Don Quijote store opens or when new staff are hired, representatives from its headquarters would have to physically visit each store show them how merchandise should be shelved.

As you can see in the photos below, the panoramic view gives a great overview of what the interior of stores look like. Don Quijote has so far added over 600 panoramic photos, covering 21 stores and 50,000 square meters of area.

It’s interesting to see Kadinche Corp’s technology used in this manner, because I was a little skeptical when I first saw this technology that customer interest in online/virtual storefronts could be sustained. But serving corporate customers in such a way is an interesting twist for PanoPlaza. I’m told the company has some other projects coming up, so I look forward to hearing about those as well.

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