MediaMarktSaturn Retail Group presses omnichannel advantage home

“The big opportunity we see for ourselves as an omnichannel retailer compared to pure online vendors is our ability to combine the best of both worlds, analogue and digital.” So says Martin Wild, Chief Innovation Officer, MediaMarktSaturn Retail Group, in an interview with Retail Technology Innovation Hub.

This, he states, results in a unique experience for customers, thus strengthening their loyalty. It starts with digital features at the Point of Sale, such as electronic shelf labels, which enable the retailer to respond quickly to price changes by online competitors. 

MediaMarktSaturn Retail Group is also working on the likes of robotics and VR. “Robots are already in use in the first stores. They welcome customers and guide them to the products they’re interested in,” he comments. “And we’ve created Virtual Saturn – the first virtual shopping worlds for consumer electronics, in which customers can immerse themselves with VR headsets, and where trained shop assistants are on hand as avatars to provide advice.”

The next big thing, meanwhile, is artificial intelligence. “In the current batch of startups at our accelerator programme, we have some exciting companies with initial ideas for AI-based retail,” Wild says.

Read the full interview here.

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