‘Virtual’ Mitchell Modell welcomes shoppers to Modell’s Times Square flagship

New York -- Modell’s Sporting Goods has deployed cutting-edge technology in its Times Square flagship to welcome Super Bowl XLVIII fans. The sporting goods retailer has installed a virtual image of CEO Mitchell Modell to personally greet customers. The image is provided via Tensator’s “Virtual Assistant” digital signage solution, which creates the illusion of a real person.



The virtual Modell provides suggestions on Super Bowl gear, shares information on apparel, footwear, sporting goods and licensed team products, informs customers about the store’s loyalty program, how to sign up and even gives directions on where to find certain items. He invites shoppers to provide their email addresses upon checkout to let them know they’ll get up-to-date information on sales and be invited to special events including celebrity appearances.



With seven different scripts, customers are thanked, asked to email Mitchell directly to share their in-store experience, and reminded of Modell’s tagline “You Gotta Go to Mo’s!” An interactive panel allows shoppers s to choose to hear the information they need in Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish.



“The Tensator Virtual Assistant takes digital signage to a whole new, personalized level,” said Lynn LaRocca, senior VP marketing at Modell's Sporting Goods. “Our Time Square store is regularly really busy – and with the added Super Bowl traffic, we needed a real attention grabber. It’s fantastic to be able to capture the personality of Mitchell and have him be the one to guide, inform and connect with shoppers from all over the world as the face of the company and its brand.”