Data is revolutionizing the business world, fueled by unprecedented technological advancement. There are already many sectors that are beginning to work with them, obtaining as a consequence, a greater knowledge of their clients and the launch of more personalized and therefore more effective actions. Retail trade is experiencing a very special moment, caused by this change in purchasing habits led by generations such as millennials and Z, which is forcing them to reformulate their business. However, why not take advantage of precisely the data they are capable of collecting, as well as existing technology? In this post I try to put you in a situation so that, if you work in this sector and have not yet got down to work, you can do so as soon as possible. Shall we start?

After the growth of online commerce, and the closure of those stores that have not known or been able to adapt to the new demands of the consumer, a state of bidirectional O2O arrives, that is, the transition from online stores to offline and vice versa.

This strategy is none other than making your offer available to the consumer, but through different channels, choosing the one that best suits them at the time of making the purchase.

Faced with this fact, traditional retail commerce needs to “get its act together” and technology could help give it a significant boost.

According to recent studies, approximately 82% of consumers claim to have purchased online in the last 3 months , using their smartphones to search for information about the purchase.

The younger generations, in the same way, affirm that they prefer the online shopping experience to the physical one , especially since with this first one they avoid queues and crowds of people, avoiding stores whenever they can.

Reading this, you may think that the days of retail are numbered, however, nothing is further from the truth, since the data tells us that more stores are opening than closing.

In the United States, for example, it is predicted that by 2023 online commerce will only represent 21% of total sales , with only 5% of these for grocery goods. These data reinforce the idea that the future of retail will be in those businesses that know how to create true omnichannel strategies – “ What is an omnichannel strategy ”.

But this omnichannel strategy is not so simple to carry out, since it requires the proper use of emerging technology, as well as the collection and processing of data that help businesses to better understand their customers and thus be able to offer them a CX shopping experience that meets your expectations.

The payoff for those retailers that know how to do this can be significant. He thinks that 83% of customers say they want their shopping experience to be personalized in some way, and according to various research, effective personalization can increase store revenue by 20-30%.

Among the technologies that can be taken advantage of from now on, would be machine learning and Big Data analysis techniques . These can help any retail business today to process the large amounts of customer data they already accumulate.

On the other hand, robots and automation systems are moving from factories to warehouses and distribution centers. The Internet of Things (IoT) allows products to be tracked through boxes or on shelves, with pinpoint accuracy.

For all this, we can say that now is a good time for retailers to accept the challenge of bringing together technology and data in the offline world.

The evolution of the customer journey in Retail

Data and Technology. The future of retail

Data is revolutionizing the business world, fueled by unprecedented technological advancement. There are already many sectors that are beginning to work with them, obtaining as a consequence, a greater knowledge of their clients and the launch of more personalized and therefore more effective actions. Retail trade is experiencing a very special moment, caused by this change in purchasing habits led by generations such as millennials and Z, which is forcing them to reformulate their business. However, why not take advantage of precisely the data they are capable of collecting, as well as existing technology? In this post I try to put you in a situation so that, if you work in this sector and have not yet got down to work, you can do so as soon as possible. Shall we start?

After the growth of online commerce, and the closure of those stores that have not known or been able to adapt to the new demands of the consumer, a state of bidirectional O2O arrives, that is, the transition from online stores to offline and vice versa.

This strategy is none other than making your offer available to the consumer, but through different channels, choosing the one that best suits them at the time of making the purchase.

Faced with this fact, traditional retail commerce needs to “get its act together” and technology could help give it a significant boost.

According to recent studies, approximately 82% of consumers claim to have purchased online in the last 3 months , using their smartphones to search for information about the purchase.

The younger generations, in the same way, affirm that they prefer the online shopping experience to the physical one , especially since with this first one they avoid queues and crowds of people, avoiding stores whenever they can.

Reading this, you may think that the days of retail are numbered, however, nothing is further from the truth, since the data tells us that more stores are opening than closing.

In the United States, for example, it is predicted that by 2023 online commerce will only represent 21% of total sales , with only 5% of these for grocery goods. These data reinforce the idea that the future of retail will be in those businesses that know how to create true omnichannel strategies – “ What is an omnichannel strategy ”.

But this omnichannel strategy is not so simple to carry out, since it requires the proper use of emerging technology, as well as the collection and processing of data that help businesses to better understand their customers and thus be able to offer them a CX shopping experience that meets your expectations.

The payoff for those retailers that know how to do this can be significant. He thinks that 83% of customers say they want their shopping experience to be personalized in some way, and according to various research, effective personalization can increase store revenue by 20-30%.

Among the technologies that can be taken advantage of from now on, would be machine learning and Big Data analysis techniques . These can help any retail business today to process the large amounts of customer data they already accumulate.

On the other hand, robots and automation systems are moving from factories to warehouses and distribution centers. The Internet of Things (IoT) allows products to be tracked through boxes or on shelves, with pinpoint accuracy.

For all this, we can say that now is a good time for retailers to accept the challenge of bringing together technology and data in the offline world.

The technology evolution of the customer journey in Retail

There is no doubt that, in the end, this technology will cause an evolution of the traditional consumer journey, since the appearance of these new technologies causes, in turn, a change in the shopping experience.

Let’s imagine the journey of the store of the future.

In this store of the future, any consumer arriving would be instantly recognizable. The store, through a specific system, would alert of the presence of the customer . This would be done either when your smartphone connected to the free Wi-Fi, or through facial recognition technology, if the point of sale had it, or through other similar technology.

The consumer would accept a session through their mobile device (Smarthphone, Smartwatch…), and the establishment would access the shopping list previously created by the consumer. This list would be built by the client quietly from his home the day before, through the scanning of articles.

Once inside the establishment, when you begin to walk through the aisles of the store, the screens of the smart shelves would light up , showing the items that correspond to that shopping list, as well as products on promotion or offers that may result as consequence of consumer preferences. In addition, it would highlight products that you have regularly purchased in other circumstances, as well as complementary to these.

Imagine that the consumer is tempted by some personalized promotion that has appeared on their phone as they walk down the aisle. This one, you could compare it with your usual purchase. To do this, he scans the corresponding products with his mobile, and thanks to augmented reality he would discover all the information on each one of them , in an attractive and comprehensive way. Thanks to her, he would opt for one of them in particular and put it in his shopping cart.

With the cart already full, the consumer would leave the store, not being necessary to verify anything , since the RFID scanners and artificial vision systems have already identified each item that he put in the bag, as well as his credit card, which are stored on file at the retail store, automatically loading as you walk through the door.

However, the customer experience will not be the only one that will be altered by advances in technology and data analysis. Employees are another of those who will notice a profound change in their work. Let’s see it.

The evolution of employee journey in retail

Technology will not only reshape the customer experience in tomorrow’s stores – working in retail will be very different too.

One of the great novelties could be the self-selection of hours, shifts… through a mobile application of the employee of the retail business in question. Through this, for example, any employee could select, one week in advance, which shifts they would be most interested in covering, even earn bonuses by volunteering for shifts that are difficult to fill. In the same way, the employee could exchange shifts if he had the need through said application.

Once the employee has selected and clear their work shifts, it is time to get down to work. One of the main and fundamental jobs in any retail store is to always keep the establishment’s shelves ready. Thanks to sensor-based monitoring technology , the employee knows the status of the stock on the store shelves at all times. through the machine learning , the replenishment schedule would be planned, and items would be delivered or picked up by robot carts that glide silently and safely through the store.

In this way and thanks to technology, employees could spend most of their time interacting with customers offering advice on new products and ways of use, or answering their questions.

To make dealing with the customer more personal, the employee would have a portable terminal which would allow him to access the customer’s preferences, as well as their purchasing habits . In addition, you can access in real time the level of stock and location of a specific product. In this way, it would offer a much more satisfying experience.

On the other hand, this technology would allow store managers to spend much more time planning promotional actions. and adjusting offers in collaboration with colleagues from other points of sale. In addition, some tasks that took a long time, such as the creation of associated reports, would now be automated using artificial intelligence tools.

In the same way, the store manager would have an automated alert on his mobile device when a situation required attention in real time . For example, that a promotion was working worse than in the rest of the stores. All this implies that the store manager could concentrate her efforts on performance and service improvements. Far more valuable to the firm than the usual tedious chores of today.

Finally, one of the great advantages that those establishments that embrace technology and data will have in time, is being able to launch promotions, ‘knowing’ what will happen to them, thanks to having previously tested them through virtual reality , and having used an interactive digital twin of the store.

However, the changes do not remain only in the client and the employee. Important advances and modifications will also be seen at the finance level. Do you want to know what I’m talking about? Well let’s go for it.

The evolution at the financial level in Retail

Another aspect that will vary and evolve significantly in the retail sector is everything related to the income statement.

Personalized offers and optimized assortments will likely increase sales and reduce waste . Similarly, upsell and cross-sell opportunities, either automatically or in person through employees, would increase the size of shopping carts, and in turn, conversion rates.

The profile of employees in retail will also change . Workers will have to be more qualified and closer to new technologies, and therefore they will expect to earn more, which will raise salaries by approximately 20%. However, total wages are likely to decline as automation and technology would help shift the balance of labor spending towards much more efficient value-added and customer-focused work.

Consultants like McKinsey estimate that the Store of the Future will achieve margins twice as high as today , with the added benefits of a better customer experience, better employee engagement and an easier-to-manage store.

This type of retail is in its infancy. However, all the technology I have described is accessible today to any retailer . Retail leaders must act now to prepare their organizations for a technological revolution in customer experience and efficiency, as I have discussed throughout this post, through technology, but also data and analytics.

At Inquisitive Technology we have the best professionals, experts in data management and transformation of this into knowledge and business value. In addition, we have an IT team capable of integrating any technology to the information needs of any Retail.