After a fiercely contested 24-hour hackathon, IT consultancy BJSS was crowned winner of this year’s Tech. Sprint with a multi-step solution that nudges shoppers towards eco-friendly products.
BJSS beat off competition from retail marketing agency Barrows and digital agency Isobar in a three-way final after a gruelling hackathon at this year’s Tech. conference.
The teams were tasked with solving the challenge of ‘how can technology cut the global carbon footprint?’
The judges credited the “camaraderie, teamwork and sheer brilliance” of every team and praised them all for coming up with a viable proposition that would be both useful and meaningful in today’s retail world.
BJSS’ winning entry featured a chatbot that talks consumers through the environmental credentials of products during the checkout process, and nudges them towards potentially more eco-friendly options.
It involved a mocked up website for a jeans retailer that informed customers about the environmental impact of products, including how they are made, transported and their longevity.
Customers are shown a subtle ‘eco rating’ when shown the products, and once they add a product to their basket a chatbot pops up asking if consumers wish to know the eco rating.
If a customer engages with the chatbot they are asked if they wish to see similar jeans that are more eco-friendly and given the option of switching the product.
BJSS believes such a system would still benefit a retailer because the average transaction value of eco products is higher.
The system also had the ability to show the retailer statistics on how the chatbot impacted basket size and the value of products that would have sold without the nudge to another option.
It also included a recommendation algorithm offering products based on the purchase behaviour of similar consumer.
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