It’s easy to get tunnel vision when it comes to looking at trends in your market. You are so concerned with servicing your local demographic properly that you lose perspective and potentially miss a learning opportunity from other markets worldwide. In this week’s Retail Technology Insider roundup, we look at retail technology trends that are shaping international retailers and how different markets are choosing to adapt technologies running the retail roost these days.
Location and Voice Technology are the Future of Retail
Location has always been a key component in international retail strategy, but how has it evolved with the technology now available? The Conversation featured a story from Gary Mortimer, Associate Professor in Marketing and International Business, Queensland University of Technology, and Louise Grimmer, Lecturer in Marketing, Tasmanian School of Business and Economics, University of Tasmania, exploring location and voice technology’s role in the changing Australian retail landscape.
They explained the push from Australian consumers to merge the in-store and online shopping experiences. “Since retailers initially operated their online and physical stores as separate entities, customer demand for a seamless shopping experience across all channels and touch points was not being met.” This adaptation of technology into the shopping process is also perfectly exemplified by the advent of digital home assistants and the use of voice commands for shopping.
Mortimer and Grimmer wrote, “While we are not going to stop wandering through our shopping centres anytime soon, our desire for a seamless digital and in-store experience will be satisfied by blending mobile, micro-location and voice technologies.”
Read the whole story here.
Smart Retail Set to Shape Industry
Suning, a leading Chinese retailer, presented findings around smart retail at the Boao Forum for Asia last month, revealing the increasing influence that technology has on the retail industry in Asia.
Natasha Spencer of Cosmetics Design Europe reported that the corresponding whitepaper from Suning commented on how “the pursuit of better lives and quality shopping experiences will be the impetus for further development in smart retail, while innovations and the capability to integrate all consumption factors and scenarios is critical.” The presentation also explained how the linear retail model of make-sell-consume will be overtaken by the model of experience-buy-make.
Read the whole story here.
DIY or Die: Singapore’s Brick and Mortars Turn to Experiential Shopping to Survive
Sandra Sendingan of Singapore Business Review reported on how experiential shopping is giving Singaporean brick-and-mortar businesses a real shot at competing with e-tailers. She wrote, “As a growing number of establishments in Singapore close up shop after falling to the might of e-commerce, analysts are placing their bets that experiential retail is set to give Singaporeans a reason to go beyond their online shopping apps, visit malls again and breathe life into the struggling sector.”
And even though brands like Hang Ten in Singapore are facing massive store closures, perhaps this presents an opportunity for international retailers to spend more time and resources on creating a personalized, and more technologically savvy shopping environment for customers. RTI has extensively explored the importance of hybridizing brick-and-mortar shopping experiences and how customers today respond very positively to more tailored and memorable shopping experiences.
Read the whole story here.
To stay updated on the latest trends and best practices in retail technology, subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on Twitter.
