Ionut is the Co-Founder and CEO of Tokinomo. In the past, he worked as an art director at Saatchi & Saatchi in Frankfurt and he noticed that brick and mortar shops have little to no options when it comes to in-store marketing solutions for creative and effective campaigns.
Because he believes that brick-and-mortar stores and brands that sell their products in-store deserve better in-store advertising solutions he created Tokinomo. The awards-winning shelf robot helps retailers and brands promote products and engage with customers right at the point of sale.
Tokinomo, https://www.tokinomo.com/
Leader's Viewpoint
Backgrounds to launch your startup
For decades, retailers relied only on wobbles, cardboard displays, end caps, and floor graphics to attract the attention of shoppers. However, this was not enough. Working with various FMCG clients, I realized that there is no solution for creative brands that want to present their products in a unique way.
Some might say that the Internet is the future and that shoppers no longer shop in-store. However, this is wrong! Most customers still prefer to see, smell, touch, and compare products in real-time and that is why they shop in brick-and-mortar stores.
Since the expectations of customers are constantly growing, traditional POSM was no longer enough to attract and engage shoppers. This is how Tokinomo was invented.
With a combination of sound, light, and movement technologies, Tokinomo allows products to present themselves, to talk, sing, dance, and move. This innovative solution is not just a simple robot, it is an entire medium!
Points where the service is differentiated
For consumer goods brands selling in large format supermarkets, one of the greatest challenges is making a product stand out among competitors. For decades, retail has relied on the same-old in-store marketing techniques to increase sales: display booths, static POP displays, product demonstrations, and price cuts. Not only are they competing for customers’ attention but also struggling to reach sales increases over 20%. Tokinomo is different.
With their innovative combination of light, sound, and motion technology, Tokinomo robots help products move (and maybe even dance) ahead of the pack to reach sales increases of 200% or more while providing real-time analytical reports in its custom-made cloud platform. Tokinomo is a disruptive solution that opens a new era of in-store marketing and shelf advertising for FMCG brands and food retailers across the world. Its mission is to reinvent in-store marketing and make it more experiential and data-driven.
Future plans
Regarding future plans, we are working on developing new features for this product. The next development includes upgrades to our hardware and software. The main upgrades involve shopper detection based on gender and age, which will translate into better reports and more complex ways of targeting customers.
As of January 2021, Tokinomo is available in 30+ countries, all over the world and it is not stopping here. Soon, the innovative shelf robot is going to a globally recognized product.
Because we know how fast consumer expectations are evolving, we are constantly improving Tokinomo so that brands and retailers can benefit from the best in-store solution there is out there.
Tokinomo, https://www.tokinomo.com/
Interviewer: Takushi Miyao, StartupReview
Interviewee: Ionut Vlad, Tokinomo
