Retail metamorphosis
Digitization, 2 years of pandemic, new customer behavior and much more have led to profound changes in retail.
What do all these developments mean for the area of self-service and unattended retail?
What strategies have large retailers used to leverage tech innovation for a competitive advantage?
Merging in-store and online shopping
Global retail will generate more than $26 trillion in revenue in 2021 and is projected to reach $30 trillion by 2024.
The merging of an "in-store" and "online" shopping experience has become the most important success factor in retail.
In store purchase
Consumers choose one In store purchase mainly about:
- to be able to enjoy a location
- being able to touch and feel products before buying,
- To avoid delivery times and shipping costs and
- mainly because of the uniqueness of the product range.
online shopping
Hinges score that online shopping however, due to:
- of convenience and simplicity,
- the 24/7 availability,
- Loyalty programs and special discounts
- As well as still for hygiene reasons (due to the COVID-19 pandemic).
Integration into existing technology
The main concern of retailers is the integration of new technological solutions into existing systems. When asked which elements are most important when deciding on a technological investment, integration with existing systems took second place. This makes sense because the respondents "Integration into existing technology" identified as the most difficult challenge in integrating a new technology into their company. While finding the right balance is a major challenge, retailers need to work with the mindset of consumers.
What options does brick-and-mortar retail have?
Evolving in tandem with changing consumer desires to continue offering consumers “convenience” and in-store customer experiences that are imaginative and free.
What is the role of "unattended / self-service retail"?
Through the use of innovative techniques, "in-store" experience elements are expanded to include a real 24/7 offer and the consumer is given more autonomy in terms of time, place (partially) but in any case with regard to the decision-making and purchasing process. Consumers are thus less subject to the constraints of retail processes, which often pose a barrier due to location and time (opening hours).
Dealers are uniformly convinced of one technology and more than a quarter (26 %) of those surveyed see this technology as having a major impact on the industry in the future: Artificial Intelligence AI (Zipline 2022 Retail Technology Report). For retailers, AI is becoming a key factor and the existing and especially the future tech stack must be aligned with it.
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