Do you know that online shopping represents less than twelve percent of the total retail spending? Even though e-commerce is growing at an inception rate, thanks to e-commerce development service, still one really gets surprised at this disparity. Various studies show that over the course of a few years, online sales will surge three times faster compared to the overall retail business.
In this era of the latest technology trends, it isn’t all about sales. Online shopping has modified the expectations of consumers. Nowadays, most people have got used to the effects of faster, personalized and convenient means of shopping online. Frankly, this isn’t something you can expect from a brick-and-mortar retailer. Even though online shopping is one of the best It technology trends, still there are few physical stores who really meet the high expectations of buyers. Most importantly, they are able to offer the required experiences that people get from e-commerce sites.
Various studies show that almost one-third of consumers like to stay at home and wash dishes rather than visiting physical stores. So, the end question comes is what can retailers do to attract customers. Well, the answer is simple. Turn towards e-commerce development service and build an e-commerce website.
So, in practice, it means using one of the best technology trends to transform the store. Here the major goal is to make the shopping experience of consumers faster, convenient and more personalized.
What Digital Transformation Means For Retail (i.e. In Actual Sense)
At its highest level, digital transformation is one of the best it technology trends. Here it really means using digital technologies for creating game-changing business innovations. These innovations will disrupt the existing industries or even there are chances it will create some new ones too.
The only drawback one might have is the difficulty to drive that to specifics. A perfect example can be online businesses like Uber and Spotify. These are one of the technology trends in today’s era and something that people rave about. Spotify helps in making the physical media for delivering music irrelevant. While in the case of Uber, this tech will connect people who want a ride, with people who have cars (the ones who have some ride capacity). Here, in both the case, the economics of the impacted industry was changed in a radical manner.
Even though in today’s era of it technology trends, retail still involves transferring the possession of physical goods to a consumer. Frankly, you can’t digitize a sweater (yet) and there hasn’t been any business which can beam a chocolate cake or lasagna right to my kitchen counter when you need them right-away. Seriously, the technology you see in The Jetsons is still far away.
This single thing, where there involves the transfer of physical or real goods to a consumer is the biggest roadblock that one might face while taking on the digital transformation. Plus it can be one of the top inhibitors which might make retailers assume that digital transformation won’t necessarily impact them like in other industries.
The Real Picture
Just check out how consumers acquire products. It clearly stands out that every part of the shopper’s journey is getting digitized. Here the only exception is the physical transfer of goods. In addition, there is even the last bastion of the physical which revolves around the fact of the making the apparel fit or the touch and feel aspect with regard to the non-apparel items.
In today’s technological trend, the fit is getting digitized and it is right on progress. Stores are created for delivering end-to-end shopping experience. Here the retailers hold the information regarding the store itself. And consumers won’t need that kind of experience. So, it is not surprising to see that the store traffic getting low and the store’s sales taking a huge hit.
However, it is more than that and such kind of issue is present at the surface level. The deeper problem is the retail model. Retail, as we know, is product-centric. Each thing about retail is nothing but transferring product right from the supplier or factory to the consumer. For being successful in such kind of model, it is necessary for the retailers to purchase at a lower rate, sell high and try to optimize each thing that is between them.
Here the profit and differentiation in each of these steps are getting picked off through the digital transformation. Even though digitization is one of the major technology trends, but for retail the option of buying low is challenging. This is especially in the case of purchasing national brands. Unless you have the volume available like Walmart, you can never get anything for a lower price compared to your competitors.
Digitalizing In-Store Experience For Attracting Huge Customers
- SpeedOnline shopping has become revolutionized due to the various it technology trends. Customers have become used to getting personalized recommendations while they shop at online stores and marketplaces. Now if you are purchasing a new camera online, then the website will automatically show some extra commodities which you might find interested to buy. It could be a camera bag, an extra pack of batteries, or even a set of lenses.Now such kind of product suggestion will easily enhance the experience of the user, along with assisting shoppers to ensure that they have everything that they need. One of the technology trends like AI (Artifical Intelligence) can be used for generating customer recommendations on the POS. Frankly, such kind of system will be using the historical purchase data for making required product recommendations. This will be conveyed by the staff to customers through personalized suggestions.
- PersonalizationOnline shopping has become revolutionized due to the various it technology trends. Customers have become used to getting personalized recommendations while they shop at online stores and marketplaces. Now if you are purchasing a new camera online, then the website will automatically show some extra commodities which you might find interested to buy. It could be a camera bag, an extra pack of batteries, or even a set of lenses.Now such kind of product suggestion will easily enhance the experience of the user, along with assisting shoppers to ensure that they have everything that they need. One of the technology trends like AI (Artifical Intelligence) can be used for generating customer recommendations on the POS. Frankly, such kind of system will be using the historical purchase data for making required product recommendations. This will be conveyed by the staff to customers through personalized suggestions.
- ConvenienceNo doubt, when it is related to convenience, there is nothing which can beat online shopping using mobile or smartphones. The best part of one of this it technology trends is that you can do it wherever you are or whenever you want. So, it means that right on your commute to work, being stuck in the line, late at night in the bed, etc. Of course, it might not be a mighty easy thing for physical stores to compete in such level of comfort, but there is an abundance of tools which retailers can use like e-commerce development software to make shopping more faster and buyer-friendly.
Right Technology At Right Time
For delivering the right kind of experience that modern customers want, it is necessary for physical stores to change. Keep in mind that digitalization is required, however, it must be undertaken in a strategic manner. In today’s era of latest technology trends, there are various tools which can be used to enhance the in-store experience.
But there are certain things you might have to think about before implementing the new tech for revolutionizing your store. Some of them are the ROI goals of this tech, using the tech in the customer journey and improving the customer’s experience. So, if you really need any kind of assistance on the kind of technology you need for your business, just contact our digital software consultants.
