June 2nd, 2016

Unleashing the Power of Intelligent Shopping … Through a Looking Glass Hong Kong-based Internet of Things (IoT) startup actiMirror relocated its base from Milan to the city, reflecting strong business traction and widespread interest in its level of innovation.

Human fascination with the mirror can be traced back throughout civilisation and its enduring appeal today is the reason why actiMirror came into being. actiMirror not only reflects a user’s
personal appearance, but it engages consumers on an emotional level by displaying real-time personalised content to suit each individual’s needs.
actiMirror also ensures better-informed decision making and boosts profits. Installed with sensors and using RFID tagging and biometric detection technologies, actiMirror helps retailers collect anonymous consumer data including essential insights such as sales conversion rates (trial vs buy ratios), in-store behaviour (including products evaluated prior to final selection and purchase), detailed consumer demographics, up-to-the-minute inventory and sales monitoring. This information is curated and delivered both to headquarters and locally, enabling wellinformed decision-making on key product focus, price-positioning and major sales promotion initiatives.
“With actiMirror, we are unleashing IoT’s potential to disrupt the retail, hospitality, healthcare and exhibition sectors, by delivering an emotional and unique experience to customers and valuable data analytics to businesses,” Victor Ruiz-Sanchez, CEO and cofounder of actiMirror, said. Relocation to Hong Kong Determined to challenge the status quo, Ruiz-Sanchez realised
Hong Kong’s advantages and in 2014, he decided to relocate the company’s headquarters from Milan to Asia. “We’ve considered a number of places. But Hong Kong enjoys several advantages that other Asian cities do not have – close proximity to Mainland China, rule of law, competitive tax regime, well-known efficiency, economic freedom and a can-do mindset.
These factors all blend together to make Hong Kong an ideal runway for our business to take off successfully. Hong Kong’s startup, angel and venture capitalist scene is also beginning to
consolidate and attract more potential investment partners,” RuizSanchez said. actiMirror’s Hong Kong operations includes a team of product development specialists and a sales force that focuses on worldwide business growth. So far, seven direct and 15 indirect jobs have
been created in this region. In fact, some 90 percent of the company’s business is software and only 10 percent is hardware. “Our proprietary software is the life blood of our business and it’s
worth noting that this is 100 percent made in Hong Kong,” he said.
Ruiz-Sanchez is optimistic about his venture. Quoting the KPMG Global Technology Innovation Survey (Autumn 2014), he said that Retail/Intelligent shopping was identified by 20 percent of the 768 global industry leaders interviewed by KPMG as the top vertical application with the greatest monetisation potential as a result of adopting IoT.
“How we shop today is changing dramatically in the era of Big Data,” declared Ruiz-Sanchez. “Data Analytics are instrumental in providing organisations with a massive competitive advantage versus their business rivals.”
In terms of doing business, he thinks Hong Kong has friendly customers to help run the company’s market validation projects and a supportive government for startups. “InvestHK has been instrumental in supporting actiMirror from day one. They gave us a welcome above the call of duty, guided us through different schemes available to startups and broaden our network. One does not often come across a team that is so committed to delivering on
its mission,” he concluded.