Smartphone-toting consumers are embracing a world in which they can find out about (if not buy) almost anything they encounter out in the real world, anytime. Learn from this article how brands are already capitalising on this trend.

Trendwatching.com flagged POINT & KNOW as one of its 12 Crucial Consumer Trends for 2012, but now presents a full Trend Briefing showing how POINT-KNOW-BUY will reshape consumers’ info-expectations, search behaviour and purchasing patterns.

That consumers crave information is nothing new. Information and knowledge give consumers power, control and certainty (or at least the illusion thereof). Therefore they will forever be in demand by consumers searching for the best of the best. Equally important, the discovery aspect of information adds a fun factor, too.

After a decade of near-obsessive Googling, instant access to information with the right (textual) input is now expected, a way of life. The next frontier is visual info-gratification: consumers accessing information about objects encountered in the real world, in more natural ways and while on-the-go, simply by pointing their smartphones* at anything interesting.

And just as ‘going online’ is no longer limited to sitting in front of a computer (at a desk!), discovery will no longer be tied to text search. People will be able to immediately find out about (and potentially buy) anything they see or hear, even if they don’t know what it is or can’t describe it in words.

*As with so many digital consumer trends, the (always-in-your-pocket-if-not-in-your-hand) smartphone is a big driver, and so is the coming together of a ‘visual’ tech ecosystem (everything from QR codes to better visual search) that will fuel full-blown POINT-KNOW-BUY.

So, a definition of POINT-KNOW-BUY:

With textual search and information now abundantly available to most people most of the time, the race is on to make instant visual search and information ubiquitous too. Any real world object (if not person) will soon be able to be ‘known’ by on-the-go consumers equipped with smart phones, which can be pointed at anything to retrieve/find related information on a whim. And yes, some commerce may follow from that as well.

Caveat and the future

POINT-KNOW-BUY is still an emerging consumer trend. The desire for ever-present, easy-to-access information is there, but it’s important to remember that many of the technologies listed opposite are still developing, and there is still some way to go before the process becomes ubiquitous, seamless and (most importantly) reliable.

Indeed consumers’ INFOLUST will only be truly satisfied when:

• It becomes possible to POINT-KNOW-BUY almost any visual object – not just designated ones, or those with codes.
• The software is seamlessly integrated into devices, and doesn’t require dedicated apps.
• Image / audio recognition is able to cope out and about in the real world of poor lighting, background noise and awkward angles.

The tech platforms of the now and the future that will enable full POINT-KNOW-BUY: