The next decade of retail will be characterised by the adoption and evolution of technology as part of the shopping experience, according to Retail Expert Scott Storey during a workshop at The Retail Conference 2011 last week.
Addressing a full workshop of retailers, Storey, MD of retail technology specialists CTS Retail, revealed that customers are increasingly demanding a seamless experience across a variety of channels and that this opened up more opportunities to 'get things wrong', especially as most retailers currently adopt a 'scattergun' approach to their multi-channel marketing.
According to research*, Storey revealed that 20% of customers wanted a consistent shopping experience and with statistics revealing that people typically use three different channels to research and buy a product, he urged retailers to stop making excuses not to invest and instead to look at what they did need to do in order to secure their future with the customer of tomorrow. It is no longer enough to offer multiple channels with multiple channels comes a greater risk to damage customer relations, whatever is offered must be consistent.
“The future of retail lies in creating a seamless and integrated customer experience across multiple touch points. Too often, we are seeing markedly different shopping experiences in store compared to online or via mail order and in this day and age there is no excuse for it. Customers want to have the same experience, regardless of what channel they use. They want you to recognise them, to remember what they purchased and to offer them options which meet their needs and the way you embrace technology will determine how well you achieve this,” explained Storey.
Storey also cited the past decade as being characterised by the internet, and believes that the next decade will be remembered for the developments in technology.
“The retail sector is bubbling away with technological advancements as more and more retailers explore ways to embrace technology into their shopping experience. From iPhone Apps and contactless payments to QR codes and sales by text, the next few years are going to be an exciting but challenging time for retailers. The question will be who will be brave enough to embrace the inevitable and who will choose to sit by the wayside, pretending they’ll be ok to just carry on doing things the way they always have,” said Storey.
*- YouGov survey
Addressing a full workshop of retailers, Storey, MD of retail technology specialists CTS Retail, revealed that customers are increasingly demanding a seamless experience across a variety of channels and that this opened up more opportunities to 'get things wrong', especially as most retailers currently adopt a 'scattergun' approach to their multi-channel marketing.
According to research*, Storey revealed that 20% of customers wanted a consistent shopping experience and with statistics revealing that people typically use three different channels to research and buy a product, he urged retailers to stop making excuses not to invest and instead to look at what they did need to do in order to secure their future with the customer of tomorrow. It is no longer enough to offer multiple channels with multiple channels comes a greater risk to damage customer relations, whatever is offered must be consistent.
“The future of retail lies in creating a seamless and integrated customer experience across multiple touch points. Too often, we are seeing markedly different shopping experiences in store compared to online or via mail order and in this day and age there is no excuse for it. Customers want to have the same experience, regardless of what channel they use. They want you to recognise them, to remember what they purchased and to offer them options which meet their needs and the way you embrace technology will determine how well you achieve this,” explained Storey.
Storey also cited the past decade as being characterised by the internet, and believes that the next decade will be remembered for the developments in technology.
“The retail sector is bubbling away with technological advancements as more and more retailers explore ways to embrace technology into their shopping experience. From iPhone Apps and contactless payments to QR codes and sales by text, the next few years are going to be an exciting but challenging time for retailers. The question will be who will be brave enough to embrace the inevitable and who will choose to sit by the wayside, pretending they’ll be ok to just carry on doing things the way they always have,” said Storey.
*- YouGov survey