With the passing of time, a lot of retailers have started to experiment with the latest technology. Although, we know that technology is really important to any retail organization, and retailers are doing their best to serve their customers. On this journey of customer satisfaction, retailers work towards implementing the ideas and also ensure that the entire process is seamless.
Over the years, customers have become connected to their favourite brands in a way that was never seen before. One of the most common ways is by interacting with them on the various social media platforms where the brands educate and provide relevant information to the consumers. The future of retail looks like this: A customer walks into a store and a sales associate says, “Welcome back.
We think you’ll like this product.” The product offered is chosen not only by using the consumer’s prior purchases but also by the store’s intelligent software. The software knows the product’s characteristics (including style, fabrication, color, design, fit, etc.) match what the customer likes. The software is not using the kind of algorithm that Amazon uses to sell books (“customers who bought this also bought these other things”); it’s much more sophisticated than that. It works the way Spotify recommends new music.
Spotify looks at the many characteristics of a song and identifies how it compares to other songs, making its recommendations highly personal, targeted and effective. We are no longer in the business of brands creating value in the rarefied confines of their owned-and-operated supply chains, protected from the extremes of competition that they could afford to extract value through a series of imprecise, expensive, third-party handoffs. As the shift from physical to online stores continues to gain momentum, the legacy institutions will still comprise the greatest share of brand fulfillment, even as their singular power over consumer choice and brand strength is eroding.
A wave of digital retailers is moving from the internet and into some of the empty mall space left vacant by companies in bankruptcy, like Sears and Payless ShoeSource, or trimming back their real estate, like Gap. One venture capital firm is at the center of the new normal in retail as traditional sellers scale back their footprint while digitally native companies open some of their first brick-and-mortar locations.
Headquartered in Venice, California, Fifth Wall Ventures has backed more than a dozen businesses, including electronic scooter maker Lime, co-working platform Industrious and real estate analytics company VTS. It has $305 million in assets under management, investing mostly in tech and real estate. Now, it has its eyes set on retail. Fifth Wall has raised $64.5 million as of November, and has a target of $200 million, for a new retail fund, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
I bought the shorts and, returning to the hotel, I searched the internet for the sandals. I found them on birkenstock.com and was completely dumbfounded by the choice on the site – there are literally hundreds of style/colour combinations to choose from; far more than I had ever seen in any store – the choice was incredible!
Second example. I am a keen skier and, in the past, have treated myself to Kjus skiwear, which is expensive, stylish, technical clothing. The only physical retail stockist in the UK is Snow+Rock, so last month off I went to the Kensington High Street branch. I found a pair of black salopettes but didn’t like the colour of the jackets and so I returned home to look online.
On kjus.com I bought a jacket, two further pairs of salopettes and three mid-layer vests. None of these options had been available in the store. Department stores survived for decades when consumer behaviour didn’t change very much – as they controlled store opening hours, the locations (stores) where you could obtain the product and the selection.
Now via the internet and mobile, the consumer is in control with 24/7 opening hours, a variety of delivery options and in most cases access to the whole product file of every brand.
References:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/richardkestenbaum/2019/02/04/retail-technology-nrf-oracle-barneys-zebra-technologies-columbus-consulting-infor-steve-sadove-true-fit-revolve-group/#44d41b016399
https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/329922
https://www.warc.com/newsandopinion/news/from_banner_ads_to_brand_creation_the_digital_retail_revolution/41688
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/03/04/meet-fifth-wall-the-vc-firm-helping-online-retailers-open-more-stores.html
Over the years, customers have become connected to their favourite brands in a way that was never seen before. One of the most common ways is by interacting with them on the various social media platforms where the brands educate and provide relevant information to the consumers. The future of retail looks like this: A customer walks into a store and a sales associate says, “Welcome back.
We think you’ll like this product.” The product offered is chosen not only by using the consumer’s prior purchases but also by the store’s intelligent software. The software knows the product’s characteristics (including style, fabrication, color, design, fit, etc.) match what the customer likes. The software is not using the kind of algorithm that Amazon uses to sell books (“customers who bought this also bought these other things”); it’s much more sophisticated than that. It works the way Spotify recommends new music.
Spotify looks at the many characteristics of a song and identifies how it compares to other songs, making its recommendations highly personal, targeted and effective. We are no longer in the business of brands creating value in the rarefied confines of their owned-and-operated supply chains, protected from the extremes of competition that they could afford to extract value through a series of imprecise, expensive, third-party handoffs. As the shift from physical to online stores continues to gain momentum, the legacy institutions will still comprise the greatest share of brand fulfillment, even as their singular power over consumer choice and brand strength is eroding.
A wave of digital retailers is moving from the internet and into some of the empty mall space left vacant by companies in bankruptcy, like Sears and Payless ShoeSource, or trimming back their real estate, like Gap. One venture capital firm is at the center of the new normal in retail as traditional sellers scale back their footprint while digitally native companies open some of their first brick-and-mortar locations.
Headquartered in Venice, California, Fifth Wall Ventures has backed more than a dozen businesses, including electronic scooter maker Lime, co-working platform Industrious and real estate analytics company VTS. It has $305 million in assets under management, investing mostly in tech and real estate. Now, it has its eyes set on retail. Fifth Wall has raised $64.5 million as of November, and has a target of $200 million, for a new retail fund, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
I bought the shorts and, returning to the hotel, I searched the internet for the sandals. I found them on birkenstock.com and was completely dumbfounded by the choice on the site – there are literally hundreds of style/colour combinations to choose from; far more than I had ever seen in any store – the choice was incredible!
Second example. I am a keen skier and, in the past, have treated myself to Kjus skiwear, which is expensive, stylish, technical clothing. The only physical retail stockist in the UK is Snow+Rock, so last month off I went to the Kensington High Street branch. I found a pair of black salopettes but didn’t like the colour of the jackets and so I returned home to look online.
On kjus.com I bought a jacket, two further pairs of salopettes and three mid-layer vests. None of these options had been available in the store. Department stores survived for decades when consumer behaviour didn’t change very much – as they controlled store opening hours, the locations (stores) where you could obtain the product and the selection.
Now via the internet and mobile, the consumer is in control with 24/7 opening hours, a variety of delivery options and in most cases access to the whole product file of every brand.
References:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/richardkestenbaum/2019/02/04/retail-technology-nrf-oracle-barneys-zebra-technologies-columbus-consulting-infor-steve-sadove-true-fit-revolve-group/#44d41b016399
https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/329922
https://www.warc.com/newsandopinion/news/from_banner_ads_to_brand_creation_the_digital_retail_revolution/41688
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/03/04/meet-fifth-wall-the-vc-firm-helping-online-retailers-open-more-stores.html
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