Technology in Retail

Nur Asri is an associate at Larisa Ortiz Associates.

As we continue to move forward in this digital age, consumers are expecting simpler and seamless processes at home, at work, and at the retail store. As a result, retailers are making significant investments in technology in- stores to meet these consumer demands for a connected and convenient shopping experience. Here are some ways that retailers and brands are using technology to enhance consumer experience but also personalize marketing, improve logistics and customer service in brick-and-mortar stores.

1. Data Integration: Understanding consumer preferences, personalized marketing

Connecting data from smart appliances, mobile phones and other portable devices to digital systems helps businesses understand how customers actually use products and services, and which ones are preferred. To take advantage of this data and metrics, retailers can begin using devices to facilitate a more seamless retail experience in the store, and at home, to integrate products and services.

Retailers can use “customer genomes” to create highly personalized offers, promotions and experiences.

Source: Let's Talk Payments.Com

Macy’s and Apple are using in-store beacons to provide personalized offers directly to customers via mobile devices. House of Fraser, another department store in the UK, inserted beacons into mannequins for a proximity marketing campaign. When shoppers download an app and browse in- store, they receive information about the clothes on display. In other bigger retail stores, in-store shopper tracking systems have been installed to pinpoint a customer’s location. Retailers can then send targeted messages to customers (via smartphones) about nearby items.

Hugo Boss Heat Sensor in Regent Street store.
Source: Bloomberg

In London UK, Hugo Boss uses heat sensors to track customer traffic in its clothing stores, which helps store managers organize priority merchandise in high-traffic areas.

Monsoon Accessorize uses multichannel data sources from in-store and online customers to deliver unique personalized offers via emailed receipts. Similarly, UK department store John Lewis is partnering with an omnichannel personalization company to customize product recommendations for each individual shopper.

Walmart Media Exchange is using data collected from store sales, social-media platforms and third parties to supplement data from its Savings Catcher loyalty program. From the data, Walmart plans to create customer segments, and eventually individual customer profiles, to make better offers, as well as to improve targeted marketing.

2. Building brand/ product awareness: Educating consumers on what’s available on offer, sharing products through social media

Photo: Fashion Network.Com

Sephora has installed display screens showing latest trends, make-up tutorials, and new Made in Sephora exclusive offerings updated by theme each month. The screen greets customers as they enter the store, much like a mall directory screen. In addition, Sephora also has Beauty Boards. These are physical social media platforms to like a look, tag products used and share with the Sephora beauty community. Finally, Sephora’s snapchat geofilters feature highlighted products in-store and are designed to engage everyone within a mile of a store.

3. Product Testing: Allowing consumers to test products digitally or via augmented reality

Again, at Sephora, the Beauty Hub is a virtual look book which provides a catalog of beauty inspiration while the Virtual Artist service enables customers to test looks on an iPad or connected mirror. Developed with Pantone, the Color Profile application helps choose the right foundation shade with almost scientific precision. Recommendations are then made from all the complexion products available at in-store.  

Marie Claire’s pop-up store in NYC SoHo, called “The Next Big Thing Concept Shop”  has dressing rooms with interactive mirrors from Oak Labs that recommend accessories for outfits being worn. Similarly, Clarins beauty stores now feature Sensor Mirror Pro virtual skincare mirrors developed by MemoMi to educate consumers about their skin types so they are able to select the most suitable skincare products.

Photo: Connected-store.Com

Finally, fashion retailer Uniqlo has also piloted a “Magic Mirror” technology from Sharp that allows customers to virtually change the colors of clothing they’re trying on while standing in front of the mirror.

Photo: Ikea

Even when consumers aren’t physically in stores, they are now able to test products thanks to advanced technology. Ikea will soon enable shoppers to virtually test drive merchandise before making a purchase via an augmented reality app called Ikea Place. The app will allow customers to virtually place any Ikea furniture in any space and share the images with friends. The app will automatically scale furniture with 98% accuracy. This enables customers to experience how light and shadows will render on furniture within the space, and is intended to make buying decisions easier and inspire customers ahead of purchasing products. Other furniture retailers such as Wayfair and Ashley Furniture are similarly preparing to launch such initiatives with their products and brand.

Ashley Furniture will take technology a step further and feature in-store virtual reality tech bars that will combine a guided iPad-based space configuration experience with VR headset visualization, allowing shoppers to design and visualize their own homes.

4. Payment Processing: Easy and seamless payment methods

With a smartphone in every pocket and imaging technologies now available for scanning products, faster alternative checkout methods will continue to grow across the retail industry, predicts Tony Rodriguez, CTO of digital identification solutions provider Digimarc.

Self-service checkouts have gotten more sophisticated in grocery stores and moved into other retail sub-segments, such as home improvement, fashion and electronics stores. Tesco, a grocery store in the UK for example, is testing a high-speed checkout solution that automatically scans products placed on conveyor belts. The system can process up to three customers at a time.

Apple Pay at Whole Foods. Photo: Eric Risberg

Integrated mobile apps and “contactless” mobile payments now also enable visitors to make seamless cashless transactions, supported by MasterCard and Apple Pay, from anywhere within the store, including via fitting room mirrors. The Sephora store at Newbury Street, Boston, for example, has no cash registers because staff associates can process payments digitally, on their phones from anywhere on the floor of the store.

Since Apple’s launch of its Apple Pay solution, retailers including Staples and Whole Foods have announced plans to accept Apple Pay at their retail locations, adding to an impressive list of other major brands such as Bank of America, Disney and McDonald’s.

5. Customer service: Efficient appointment bookings, improve staff efficiency, deliveries

Many stores now enable customers to use an integrated mobile app to book one-on-one appointments with fashion stylists, and sign up for a variety of in-store events and activities. Neiman Marcus, for example, has already piloted this at their pop-up store in SoHo.

To free up store employees’ time, Lowe’s has also begun rolling out customer-helping robots into the aisles of 11 stores in the San Francisco Bay Area. Lowe’s Innovation Labs unit worked with Silicon Valley start-up Fellow Robots on the LoweBot. The robots allow store associates to devote their attention to customers that need more thoughtful advice and personalized service. Likewise, Safeway grocery store helps customers locate stock and obtain product information through its Just for U service app. The app also goes a step further by helping shoppers create and sort their shopping list by store aisles.

Wearables, or ‘smart glasses and other connected devices intended to be worn on the body’, are another productivity booster. Tesco distribution center workers wear armbands that track the goods they are gathering. The band also assigns tasks to the wearer, forecasts task completion time, and quantifies precise movements among the facility’s shelving and loading bays.

The advancement of such technology amongst retailers will serve to deliver a seamless shopping experience for customers. However, even with all of these gadgets, customers still walk into brick-and-mortar stores to get the personable experience of getting expert advice from a staff person who’s tried and tested products for themselves. From 2015 report on Navigating the New Digital Divide, Deloitte noted that “one in three customers still prefer to consult store associates for assistance when selecting and validating products.” Retailers must therefore adapt and learn to balance both the human experience and technological convenience in stores to attract consumers in the digital age.