Technological innovations are redefining the retail shopping experience of the consumers. The boundary line between online and offline shopping experience is slowly blurring and adoption of an Omni channel retail experience is vital for the success of the retailers. Brick and mortar stores are now thinking outside of the box, and looking to technology, for help in winning back customers who largely prefers online shopping. The growing trend of a new retail concept- showrooming is where people will visit a shop to browse the products available, test and try out what they want to purchase reminds us that the customers are still looking for a holistic approach to their shopping. Yet another way which offline retailers are adopting to compete with online businesses is beacon technology, where blue tooth low energy devices will find out the customers approaching the store and notify the staff for sending them personalized shopping updates and offers. The concept of the inspirational store is also novel, which enables to create a multi-channel environment for the retail shoppers. Bricks and Mortar retailers are now adapting to the requirements and embracing technology to remain relevant to the current generation of shoppers. This helps them in getting a better understanding of customer requirements in real time and based on this they can provide a much desirable customer experience which prompts the consumers to return on future visits.
The rise of e- commerce has lured the retail shoppers into the world of online shopping thereby creating challenges for the traditional brick and mortar retailers. However, Internet of Things is expected to play a crucial role in restoring some luster to physical stores. Connected visual sensors and retail analytics tools have started helping marketers make the traditional shopping experience more appealing. Replacing cameras in physical stores with IoT sensor monitors can help in monitoring different aspects of the health and performance of retail stores. It can capture customer behavior inside the store and can present that data in a variety of visualizations. Marketers can use these visualizations to understand the impact of different promotional displays or promotional signage and get a sense of how that is affecting customer behavior in the store. IoT can bring in more opportunities for the retailers to continuously monitor the health of their stores and make more personalized offers which will deliver more exciting customer experience for the shoppers. Read More
The shoppers’ expectations and habits are evolving faster than many retailers can adapt or even comprehend. The digitally empowered consumers can access anywhere and anytime the information on products, availability and price. This can also impact the customers’ purchasing behavior and shopping trends. This demands the need for retailers to become digital leaders, in order to transform their existing business models, redefine customer experience and increase the business efficiency. They should be powered by right engagement strategy along with the disruptive technologies including Cloud, Mobility, Analytics, IoT, Social and Security to become the real retail influencers for the consumers. We at Happiest Minds can help you in achieving some of the must have transformational efficiencies including Right product at the right price, place and time, Strategy for Showrooming/Webrooming, Single view of inventory, 360° view of customer, Omni channel shopper engagement and Rich User Experience. Check out our Retail Solutions.
Kiran Veigas handles Corporate Marketing at Happiest Minds. He has 14 years of industry experience spanning various roles in Marketing, Strategy, Product Management and Product Development in IT/Telecom. His educational qualifications include Executive Management Program (GMITE – General Management for IT Executives) from IIM-Bangalore and BE in Telecommunications Engineering.
