A Touch of Help
How a bridal showroom and a tech giant simplified the wedding dress hunt
Imagine if the overwhelming decision of picking out the perfect wedding dress could become more manageable with the push of a button, or in this case a touch-screen.
Last year, bridal gown designer and manufacturer Priscilla of Boston decided to do just that and simplified the dress selection process by partnering with Hewlett-Packard to bring interactive touch-screen catalogs to their showrooms. Using HP's large display TouchSmart technology, customers can swipe and touch their way through a highly customizable digital version of all six of Priscilla of Boston's lines.
"We want our brides' process of finding their look of a lifetime to be exciting and enjoyable," says Kimberly Minor, Priscilla of Boston chief fashion strategist. "The dress selection process is now simpler and brides can be sure, within a shorter period of time, that their potential gown of their dreams is not overlooked."
Brides-to-be can sort gowns by choosing a preferred silhouette, neckline, fabric and price. There are also options to zoom in on a dress's details and even see a video of the gown as it moves down the runway. When a bride has found that perfect dress (or dresses), she can tag it as a favorite to pull up again later.
The feature started out in the company's San Jose, Calif., showroom but has since expanded to five other cities - Philadelphia, Houston, Boston, Denver and Scottsdale, Ariz.
Kirk Godkin, HP's manager of commercial desktops and displays, Americas, sees the TouchSmart-enabled catalog as a way of delivering a more direct and personal shopping experience.
Godkin sees Priscilla of Boston's use of the TouchSmart technology as a more unique and engrossing application. "That creative process really demands a larger surface, productivity and performance," he says about creating the perfect dress on the 23-inch high definition display. "There's a level of addictiveness that comes from it."
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