I walk into a mobile phone shop to buy a new phone. I am greeted
by a holographic sales person, who asks me to pick up a tablet from the nearby counter.
I sign into the tablet and it shows me all the phones I have used in the past along
with my past data usage patterns. Within seconds, it analyses my mobile usage
from my bills and additional app usage from the android data bank. Now I am
presented with some exciting options of the latest superphones with upgraded features
and benefits. By stepping up to one of the futuristic tables, I am able to now know
more about the product which is placed on an interactive touch table. Once I
select one of the phones, I am asked to go to one of the exit kiosk where I am
greeted by an automated payment kiosk that prints out the bill and asks me to
pay by card or cash. Now this is going
to be true pretty soon but right now this is my imagination which has created
this retail experience using the various latest technologies available. It is
just a matter of aggregating the power of different applications and devices to
create a unique experience.
Industry experts thought it would be hard to replace people
from the retail environment as they are the face of the company who delight the
customer with their human touch. But now it all seems a myth as soon we would
be touching the pinnacle of the ideal retail environment where there would not
be any people. Retail clothing brands have started placing tablets on which you
could select and combine different garments to design your own get up.
Restaurants are placing tables on tables so that customers can order food on
touch of a button. Dominos offers an app for keeping track of the delivery or
pick up, and for pick up you name pops up on the app and on the stores digital
signage. Recently they even delivered their first pizza through a drone.
To study the retail environment in detail marketer have started
studying the shopping behaviour of consumers. It is being referred to as shopper
marketing, there are agencies and teams comprising of researchers who are
studying every move of the customer in the shops. The question is will sales
people get replaced by digital systems? Now many brands have already set up systems
that are reducing the human interaction, while there are others who are
empowering the front-end sales team with technology. Maybe it depends on the
value of the offering and how the customer wants to be valued by the brand.
Following are some videos from brands who adapted digital technology to delight
their customers’.
Westpac and Google Glass
Design your own jersey
Nike Digi Wall
Tesco Virtual Shopping
Dominos Drone Delivery
Multi-Touch Interactive Restaurant Table