The digital tech retail shops are using right now
Bricks and mortar retail shops have a huge battle on their hands when it comes to fighting back against online retailers and the choice, convenience and prices they offer. One of the ways they can best do this is by embracing the latest technologies to ensure that their customers get an excellent retail experience and to make their stores seem just as attractive as all of those online shops that are popping up everywhere right now.
There are numerous ways that digital technology can be used to give a better retail experience, engage tech-savvy customers and boost brand awareness of the companies that use them. To highlight exactly what is possible, take a look at the following retail stores and the tech they are using to put them ahead of the game:
QR codes and robots at Hema
QR codes aren’t exactly new in terms of technology - they’ve been around since 1994 - but the way that the Chinese retail company Alibaba has been using them in its flagship bricks and mortar store Hema for the past few years is very interesting.
Customers at Hema are able to scan QR codes with their mobile devices in order to access a range of product information that could be useful in determining whether they wish to purchase a product or not, including product source and expiry dates.
The company has also created its own app which enables customers to pay for their goods quickly and conveniently in a manner that tech-savvy consumers are now very familiar with.
Perhaps even more impressive is Hema’s in-store dining area which is entirely run by robots. Diners can use the Hema app to choose a seat and order their meal. Robots pick products and deliver them to the kitchen, and then deliver the food when it’s ready. Unfortunately, they haven’t yet mastered the art of cooking, but you have to admit it’s still pretty impressive.
The Frame Styler tool at Specsavers
Picking out a pair of glasses that will flatter you and do the job they are intended for can be a long-drawn-out process. If you’re at all vain, you could end up trying on a store’s full of spectacles before you settle on just the right pair to make you look amazing. Specsavers understands this, which is why, in 2018, they launched their in-store Frame Styler service to make things a whole lot easier.
The Frame Styler service uses special imaging software in conjunction with tablets to create a 3D model of the customer’s face. Based on that model, the software, and a few other details such as age and gender, is able to recommend the most suitable glasses to flatter. The glasses can then be virtually “tried on” much faster than it would be possible otherwise. In a time when cheap glasses suppliers are popping up all over the internet, it is inventions such as this that will really help brick-based glasses companies stay in the game.
Autonomous shopping carts at 7Fresh
7Fresh is a Chinese supermarket with a difference - it makes shopping for groceries in an actual store, far more convenient than ever before by allowing customers to use autonomous shopping carts.
These smart shopping carts will follow their designated shopper around the store, for a unique hands-free experience, which is so useful to disabled customers and well just anyone who finds it difficult to control an unwieldy trolley. The store is kitted out with special smart mirrors that can sense when a customer something up, displaying all the relevant information about said product too, for even greater levels of convenience. It’s exactly this kind of thing that could convince shoppers to forgo their internet grocery shop for a real-world experience.
Nike House of Innovation 000’s Speed Shop
Last year, Nike opened a brand new store in New York, which they named the Nike House of Innovation 000. This store was to include a number of futuristic digital elements that serve to vastly improve the customer experience.
Perhaps the most interesting thing to be found in this flagship building is the six-floor Speed Shop. This is a unique studio area where Nike’s customers are able to try on Nike’s that they first reserved online, to see how well they fit. These shoes are kept in individual lockers with the customers’ names and can be opened with the customers’ own smartphone.
Not only that but customers can avoid having to stand in line, by checking out on their mobiles if they’re happy with the shoes they reserved. This combines the convenience of buying online with the ability to try before you buy seamlessly and is sure to be used far more widely in the future.
Self-checkout at Zara
Depending on where you live, you may already have experience the self-checkout experience when shopping for groceries but the fashion industry does not seem to have embraced the trend on the whole. Zara, however, has been operating self-checkouts since 2018. They have implemented slick self-checkout kiosks, which are ideal for anyone who needs to buy a new pair of pants in a hurry.
Although this is an excellent development, we may be waiting a while for other companies to follow suit. Security tags and the prevalence of people who try to con self-service machines mean that human staff and a good security company are still paramount to many companies in high-value businesses, and it will take far more advanced systems until that changes. Even then, some humans will likely still be required to provide security and ensure things run smoothly.
VR showroom at Audi
Buying a car takes time. You have to research your options, ask for opinions from friends and family, visit dealerships to see what the cars are like, or do you? Not if you’re buying an Audi who have made the whole experience far simpler by creating a virtual reality experience, personalised to you, which will allow you to virtually create your ideal car, check it outin very realistic detail and even virtually give it a test drive, cool right?
Digital price tags at Kroger
Kroger is a major US grocery store chain, so when in 2018, they started putting digital price tag tech into their retail spaces, people sat up and listened. The tech, named Kroger Edge, enables prices to be displayed digitally along with nutritional info and product information.
The major benefit of this tech is that the stores can instantly change prices and info with a minimum of human input, which mostly benefits the company right now, but in the future, Kroger aims to allow customers to view info on their smartphones, sync with shopping lists and alert them when they are coming up to an item they need in the store, which will be a great benefit to customers too.
Automated checkout at Amazon Go
Amazon is a name that’s synonymous with online shopping, but the internet giant does now have a bricks and mortar presence. Their Amazon Go stores are ones to visit if you want to see how the future of physical retail could go. They make the physical shopping experience as close to the online shopping experience as it is possible to get, utilising sensors, computer vision and deep learning to create a store that is wholly automated.
You can literally visit the store, pick up the products you want and leave again without having to do anything more. Unfortunately, you still have to pay - the cost of your goods is just deducted automatically from your Amazon Go app. Neat, right?
Interactive windows at Ted Baker
We all know that storefronts are important if you want to attract customers into your physical store, but fashion brand Ted Baker took it to the next level in 2017 when they made their store window interactive.
The company, working with Nexus Studios, in their Regent Street store in London, used interactive windows, which could take photos of customers’ faces and play sound effects, as part of their “Keeping Up with the Bakers” campaign. It was creative, fun and new and it encouraged lots of people through the doors, which is exactly what you want from a new advertising campaign.
The Beauty Hub at Sephora
Massive beauty company Sephora, who is known for being digital trailblazers online, in 2017, launched several brand new ‘connected stores’ located in France. These stores utilised a number of digital technologies that enabled customers to create virtual lookbooks, have virtual makeovers and test out the makeup without, you know having to actually apply it to their physical face. Makeup buying just got a whole lot more fun!
As you can see, there are lots of ways that digital technology can be used to enhance the bricks and mortar store experience in such a way that it becomes just as, if not more, appealing than online shopping experiences. Learn from the examples above and you could secure the future of your retail business while creating a buzz about your brand at the same time. What’s not to love?