339 GDPR-compliant leads from 378 sessions in 3 days for Peek & Cloppenburg
Peek & Cloppenburg marked its 120th anniversary with a 3-day store activation. UpReach supplied an UpReach Compact Lite with AI background removal — visitors picked a background and the AI model placed them into the chosen world in real time. Within 3 days the setup generated 378 sessions and 339 GDPR-compliant newsletter leads — a lead conversion of around 90 percent. Added data value: the postcode supplied in the opt-in delivered regional trend insights into where the anniversary visitors came from.
More than 200 B2B brands from across Europe trust UpReach — from agencies to enterprise corporations.
The initial situation
120 years of brand history is a major occasion — the activation has to match the significance of the anniversary. Classic anniversary displays with discounts or sticker material create short-term attention, but no measurable newsletter lead pipeline and no data insight into the visitor structure.
The activation had a threefold brief. First: an interactive experience that honours the anniversary occasion and gives visitors a personal take-home — not just a discount. Second: GDPR-compliant data capture with image-rights clearance for re-using the shots in P&C marketing. Third: a data layer that goes beyond pure lead capture — P&C wanted to know which regions the anniversary visitors travelled from, so future marketing activity could be targeted more precisely.
The operational requirement: a 3-day setup with high footfall in the store peak, with no staff operation at the touchpoint, and live data visibility for the marketing team throughout the run.
The UpReach solution
UpReach deployed an UpReach Compact in the Lite configuration in the P&C store. The software interface was designed in the anniversary look — visitors could choose from several curated backgrounds (anniversary worlds, P&C brand sets) and were placed into the chosen scene in real time by AI background removal. AI processing was GDPR-compliant, with consent before capture.
After the shot, visitors could download the result straight to their own device or take it away as a physical print — both output channels available in parallel.
The conversion lever was the GDPR-compliant data gate before image output: email address, newsletter opt-in with timestamp, image-rights confirmation for re-using the shots in P&C marketing and — the decisive extra question — the postcode of the home address. This data layer let P&C identify regional trends in where the anniversary visitors came from.
The UpReach KPI dashboard gave the P&C marketing team live visibility of all the data: sessions, lead conversion rate, postcode distribution, output-format choice, print-to-digital ratio. More on the hardware: /produkte/compact.
Setup & Logistics
Lead time 3 weeks: 1.5 weeks for interface design and anniversary integration (background curation, software UI in the anniversary look, the photo-email template in the P&C brand layout, the print layout with 120-year branding), 0.5 weeks for hardware wrapping in the anniversary design, 1 week for logistics preparation and a pre-installation test of the AI processing against the background library.
Build by an UpReach technician the day before the activation start, including camera calibration to the store lighting and a test of the print pipeline. During the 3-day run the activation worked in kiosk mode with no staff operation — branch staff were briefed on the workflow for general questions, but were not responsible for operating it.
The cloud CMS delivered real-time data: sessions, lead conversion rate, a postcode heatmap of visitor origin. After the activation ended, the lead pipeline was transferred to the P&C CRM via REST API, including all metadata for marketing automation.
Results by the numbers
sessions
GDPR-compliant newsletter leads
days of always-on activation
The lead conversion rate of around 90 percent (339 leads from 378 sessions) is among the highest documented figures in comparable retail activations. The lever was the combination of an experience-led AI output and the need to release the image for delivery — releasing the data had a visible, immediate return.
The additional postcode data layer was the real strategic value. From the 339 leads, P&C could identify regional clusters of anniversary visitors — information directly usable for steering future marketing activity (regional newsletter segmentation, local out-of-home advertising, branch-activation prioritisation).
The GDPR-compliant newsletter leads flowed into the P&C CRM in real time — no CSV exports, no manual data maintenance. Marketing automation for the anniversary follow-up campaign could start without delay.
Key takeaways from this setup
AI output produces above-average lead conversion: a 90 percent lead conversion is exceptionally high and only possible when the image experience itself is the main reason for releasing the data. Classic photo activations without AI background removal typically sit well below this.
A postcode in the opt-in is more than compliance: the additional postcode data layer created measurable strategic value beyond the raw lead count. For retail brands with a branch network, regional trend tracking is a direct marketing-operations resource.
Image-rights clearance belongs in the data gate: anyone who wants to use images for later marketing has to clear the rights at the touchpoint — not afterwards. The GDPR data gate is the natural place for it, because the data release happens anyway. Clearing image rights after the fact fails in practice on the response rate.
UpReach Components Used
Hardware
UpReach Compact (Lite configuration)
Software 01
AI background removal (GDPR-compliant, consent at the terminal)
Software 02
White-label UI in the anniversary look, background library with brand sets, GDPR data gate with image-rights clearance and postcode capture, print and digital output in parallel, UpReach KPI dashboard
An anniversary or occasion activation for your retail location
UpReach builds AI activations for retail anniversaries and occasion campaigns — with postcode tracking and CRM integration for regional marketing insight.
