This is a Q&A with the Illinois Technology Association.
Have you ever wished you could see into the future? For retailers and brands, our software serves as a sort of crystal ball – we develop 3D store and product simulations that allow companies to visualize, test and present new in-store concepts that will engage customers – before they hit the shelves.
1. In 25 words or less, what is InContext Solutions all about?
Our unique platform allows companies to mitigate risk by visualizing and testing store concepts in a virtual space before creating anything in the real world.
2. What problem do you solve and how do you solve it better than the competition
Retailers and brands need to innovate their go-to-market processes if they want to keep up with today’s shoppers. We’re driving ideas and innovation with virtual technology that enables teams to ideate, evaluate, and activate at speed, scale, and cost – minus the real-world risk.
We offer a one-of-a-kind enterprise-wide platform used by everyone from insights professionals to marketing teams to the c-suite. We give users access to cloud-based 3D store and product simulations, so they can better understand how shoppers react to in-store concepts and then share those learnings through hyper-realistic images and videos.
3. How did you get started?
InContext started out as the brain child of two of our co-founders, Rich Scamehorn and Tracey Wiedmeyer. With backgrounds in market research and technology, they wanted to figure out how to do virtual store research for large brands and scale it for the web. Initially, InContext mostly served as a consulting firm. After gaining more and more investors and clients, they quickly realized that there was a need for a SaaS platform allowing customers to use the simulation tools and do it themselves. Thus, ShopperMX was born in 2012.
4. Where do you see InContext in two years? Five? Ten?
We’re at an exciting point right now in that we are poised to completely transform the way brands and retailers go to market from here on out. In the long-term we are looking to expand our offerings and industries. Virtual and digital technology will be commonplace for everyday business needs, and we’ll be an integral part of that.
