5 Trends that will redefine Retail Industry

Retailers round the world have a clear understanding that Covid-19 will have a significant impact over their business both directly and indirectly. It’s high time to think through and plan strategies with longer-term implications. Now that the consumer is becoming much more aware about all the available platforms to fulfill his day to day needs, it becomes the responsibility of the brands to regain the lost customer segment. They need to create and develop strategies which will help them to provide assurance to the customer in terms of safety and security.

Not only this, the quality now has to be 10X times better than what it was earlier because of the change in the buying behavior of the customer. Consumer is becoming more and more health conscious and will not compensate over the quality provided. A lot of changes are expected to happen in the next few months, and the one adapting to advanced technology will be the one leading the queue tomorrow.

Let’s look at these 5 trends which will change the face of the industry in the next few months.

1.   In-Store enhancement 

Covid-19 has shifted the scale of the online business exponentially towards an upwards direction. Shoppers on the other hand are reducing the store visits. Under such circumstances it becomes mandate for the brick and mortar to adopt and take measures to improvise the overall store experience.

One major key factor is the usage of the advanced technology and elimination of direct personal interaction with the customer. Under such scenario some of the highly equipped technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI), Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR) are going to take a boom in the coming next months to gauge the consumer behavior and to enhance the overall shopping process. More and more companies are investing in these advanced technologies to cope up with the new normal challenges. 

For instance,

Marks & Spencer’s in its Amsterdam store has incorporated Virtual Rail in order to push sales. Along with all the latest fashion videos, customers can browse through more & more life sized imagery of the prettiest dresses and trousers on a big screen. The major differentiating factor here is not just the in-store experience but also that the customer can see various models wearing the dresses of their choice. After checking the price and finalizing the product, the customer can place the order for free home delivery using store’s Wi-Fi. 

Another classic example to showcase how augmented reality is becoming a norm from a niche technology is well portrayed by John Lewis in partnership with Cimagine. This technology is equipped with the power to convert any open physical store into a Virtual showroom. Here AR is used to generate computer generated products like furniture and appliances, to the real in-store setting.

With the help of such technology customer can now envisage how furniture or a table would look like physically in their home. In short, it gives the privilege to the customer to try and use the product before buying and thereby reducing the cost of the brand to maintain and train a huge manpower. The level of experience any customer undergoes while browsing through the catalog is remarkable. 

2.   Fitting rooms in virtual reality 

In course of elimination of personal interaction, lot many stores will adopt Virtual fitting rooms where customers can picture themselves without even trying the merchandise. This will help to reduce the touch factor, and will help the brand to cut its huge apparel sanitization cost. It will also fix the problem of inventory management. These fitting rooms are any day going to add extra value both to the brand as well as overall customer experience.

As the idea of brain computer interface is gaining the momentum especially after Elon Musk’s announcement of Neuralink launch, one can imagine these virtual fitting rooms being even more realistic when placed inside the brain.

Rebbecca Minkoff’s interactive dressing room. It’s highly effective where customer can touch the mirror & instruct it to go as per their preference. The time any customer is in the trial room he/she can even order drink, and change the store lights as per his preference. These preferences are stored in the customer’s profile so the next time that particular customer walk back into the store, everything will automatically be like as he/she likes it to be.

After collaborating with Avanade, kohl’s has come up with an amazing digital fitting room idea where customers can just on a click get expose to all the different sizes & colors of the outfits followed by the accessories like bags & scarves which can work as a cherry on the cake for the store to create impulse buying behavior.

Moving towards the automobile industry, Jaguar with tech assistance from IBM launched a new in-store Virtual Reality. With the help of these high end technologies customers can see and experience all the models of jaguar on the screen. This in-store facility even provides the customers to sit in the car and simultaneously have a 360 degree view of the interior.  

3.   Contactless takeaways, ordering services and payments

Mobile application development is playing a very crucial role in all the industries round the world. Also known as ‘Mobile show rooming’ is going to transform the in-store experience in the coming next few months. Customer is becoming more and more conscious, preferring lesser personal interaction with faster checkout services.

Usage of these applications will help the customer to navigate towards the product of their choice in a much easier manner within the store. The application becomes a one stop destination for anyone visiting the store. One can compare different products using the app, check the price of a particular product, get promotional offers, and pay using the app to avoid standing in queues.

Companies are working hard to evolve and come out as a winner via adopting several technologies like computer vision, deep learning, algorithms, and sensor fusion to automate much of the purchase, checkout, and payment steps associated to a retail transaction.

Amazon Go is an amazing example of hassle free shopping in a store where customer can easily pick a product and walk out of the store without being checked out by the cashier.

Qudini is again helping the organizations as well as the customers to fight coronavirus while keeping life and safety in hand. The company is providing solution related to the Virtual Queue management, appointment booking, and task management. It enables the organization to follow social distancing norms, and thereby winning the trust of the customer for taking such precautions.

In-store drones by Walmart are also going to become an essential technique after this time. It is an advanced technology where the drone will locate the product from the warehouse generally restricted to only staff and deliver the good to the customer in the store itself. It ensures safety and security of all the customers while they are in the store with minimal staff. This technology is going to take a boom in the coming days where the customers simply have to order the product, and it will automatically reach the counter with no 3rd party involvement.

Robotic AL powered assistant and much more such innovations are taking place round the world. Contactless shopping experience is definitely the new normal for next few years. The companies which are working in the direction of this trend are the ones leading the future.

4.   Delivery system

Barista has partnered with Fintech platform Dotpe to introduce contactless takeaways, ordering, and payments. Consumers just have to scan-order-pay through their phones without any third party involvement in the process. Soon after scanning the QR code placed at the window of the Barista store, the menu pops up and he/she can place the order digitally. After the order is complete the store sends a message over the whatsapp number of the customer, and they pick it from the takeaway counter via paying online.

This was one of the example among the hundred others happening in the industry.

Now with the changing era total delivery time has reduced significantly. Beyond experience companies will have to push hard and improvise the overall supply chain management system to deliver the right quality good to the right customer. Remodeling and restructuring business strategies are the hour of the need. With customer spending more time shopping online companies will have to dig in ways to deliver goods not in a span of days, but hours to remain ahead of their competitors.

Amazon drones and Google self-driving cars are two very significant and amazing examples of showcasing the changed times. Using these technologies it has become very easy for countries to deliver healthcare equipment, and medicines to the ones in need at a much faster rate. Not only this essential food packages, and other goods can also be delivered at an ease. These innovations prove that “change is the only remedy to survive”. People are expecting huge amount of innovation from the brands in the coming next few months. The ones fulfilling their expectations are going to lead the race. Thinking and planning about long term should be the goal.

5.   Al distance assistants      

With situation getting normal companies need to build a trust factor both in the minds of the customer as well as its employees. Safeguarding the lives of its people is very important for any organization at this hour. If the staff is healthy, only then they deliver their best on the floor. They are the ones who are portraying the company directly to the customer.

Not only is the frontend staff’s security important but also the ones at the backend. Under such circumstances it becomes very difficult for the organization to follow the social distancing norms, or sanitizing after each activity.

Lately, Amazon has come up with a new technology known as “Distance assistant” via which the authorities can keep a track over their employee’s movement. The company’s distant assistant combined with TV screens, depth sensors, and AI-enabled cameras to keep a check and give feedback.

More and more startups have come up with physical solution like bracelets & pendants which use Bluetooth signals to sense proximity and then buzz or beep when workers break social distancing norm. In the next few months, more such technologies are going to take birth soon after offices and industries resume to new normal working. Such precautions deliver a message of assurance in the minds of the people.  

Lastly, adapting to emerging technologies is fast becoming the new currency. Absolute scale, rapid innovation and data-analytics expertise are now as important as local leadership.