China Paradigm interviewed Dmitry Shklyar, the founder of three tech companies in China, to learn a little more about Digital Signage in China, what it means, the link with VR and AR in China and the future of interactive technologies in China.
Dmitry Shklyar, a tech expert and multicultural entrepreneur in China
Graduated from LAAS Institute of Asian and African Studies of Moscow State University with a bachelor’s degree in oriental studies and Chinese language, Dimitri came to work in China in 2006. He had a strong international experience since he worked in China, Israel, and Russia. Throughout his career, he implemented several successful projects in China with big companies like Coca-Cola or Visa.
After having advised foreign companies in China for years, Dmitry is now focusing on O2O (Offline to Online) market sales and advertisement solutions for offline and online businesses.
In 2016 he founded Eastidea, which marked the beginning of his entrepreneurship in China.
Interactive technologies in China: three services to increase sales
Dmitri founded Eastidea as a business integrator that helps international companies to reach the Chinese market by minimizing risks and using new technologies. The head office of the company is located in Shanghai, and they actively cooperate with the leading world and Chinese brands, media agencies, and suppliers of hardware for digital signage in China. Also, the company is the reseller of digital and traditional media platforms in Shanghai, Beijing, and Hong Kong. Their business approach is to help companies that have already decided to move to China with all the necessary things with a dedicated team in China, and after a year, the company has to choose either it wants to move to China alone or begin a partnership or revenue share model with Eastidea.
Eastidea mainly works with AI technology, VR content, and interactive technologies in China. To do that, they work with Screemo and Addreality, which are two other tech companies in China founded by Dmitry.
Screemo is specialized in creating a gamified interactive experience to clients by connecting digital screens and user’s mobile. This tech company in China has been launched in Tel Aviv and operates all around the world with big brands like Microsoft, Publicis, SINO Group… Addreality aims at shifting Digital Intelligence into physical Store. The idea is to use data from the consumers’ behavior collected through digital signage to analyze it inside the stores, streets, or subway. It helps businesses to understand the impact of their retail strategy in China and their conversion rate.
What innovations for digital signage in China?
‘‘Digital signage is all the indoor and outdoor media, digital screens which are operated by some digital content systems.’’
According to the PWC, by 2019, OOH advertising revenue (out-of-home) in China will be around 8.60 billion dollars, which means that China will be the first OOH market in the world.
Eastidea believes that using an AR-based technology on these screens in the stores could really help brands increase their sales by nearly 3%. It is an excellent achievement without putting too much investment on the marketing side.
He takes an example on how to smartly use digital signage in China and how to best collect data in China:
At the cashier area in a store, where people don’t like to wait but just want to buy their products, using this type of interactive technology in China could be extremely powerful. The consumer just put all the products she chose on the trail and then, in front of her, a 21-inch screen with a camera that recognizes the visitors will offer her a discount. It could be a specific message or a special offer for example:
‘‘You have a large chance to get one bottle and get one for free if you do it right now’’.
With a time of only a few tens of seconds to decide, this encourages the consumer to immediately take advantage of the offer that is targeted according to his tastes and what he has bought.
Obstacles when working in interactive technologies in China and data collection in China
Dmitry explained that the main problems when working in the OOH market in China do not come from the coding part of the software or hardware. You can find very good software developers. But, the problem is about the final quality, the final point of delivery. So you have to specify you need high standards of quality. But that’s the only main thing Dmitry thinks about because regulations are not a big barrier. Foreign companies in China just have to make sure their solution will not interfere with the local regulations.
‘‘The bureaucracy is the instrument of controlling the whole country with 1.3 billion people, so this is the instrument when you have to follow up with the rules. That’s it.’’
Listen to this episode here:
