Industry Feature: Technology and the Future of Retail

The retail industry is seeing a new future emerge in its industry. Not unlike how e-commerce changed the face of the retail industry by allowing companies to have online storefronts without the overhead of a brick-and-mortar shop, now mobile technology and social networking are changing things up again.

Take for example new, upcoming mobile technologies such as augmented reality. With this technology, shoppers might be able to access information like what the latest clearance sales are, by holding up their camera phone to a section in a store. Augmented reality apps can make it possible to see where the clearance racks are located in the camera’s field of vision. From there, shoppers can discuss a potential purchase with friends on a location-based social network or Facebook before deciding what to try on. Then, they can virtually see what the item will look like on themselves, without ever stepping into the dressing room.

Mobile apps and social networks aren’t the only new technologies facing retailers. Now retailers have the ability to better measure Internet buzz, and opinions of their brand in the blogosphere. Gone are the days of using only focus groups to get a read on what the consumer thinks of your product. This is a great leap forward for retailers, but finding ways of using this technology to their advantage can be somewhat of a struggle. Coming up with a cohesive plan to address both positive and negative feedback of a brand is crucial, and one of the things the Amadeus Consulting Search Visibility team does particularly well.

New tools can be developed to help combat the unique challenges of e-commerce stores as well. Many online retailers find that shopping cart abandonment is one of the biggest problems they face. Things like shipping costs, lack of instant gratification, and not having a peer group there to assure a consumer he or she is buying the “right thing” are all barriers to consumers completing purchases online. Technology solutions can be built to combat each of these barriers to decrease the number of shopping carts abandoned.

Finally, a retailer can use technology to finally solve the ever-elusive puzzle of how to “cross-channel” its brand. Many retailers with an online, catalog, and brick-and-mortar channel currently treat its consumers of each channel differently and separately, but with advances in new technology and applications they may be able to cross-channel market more effectively. There are big obstacles to this strategy, because integrating online and in-store operations, promotions and inventory isn’t as easy as it may sound. But retailers can turn to technology solutions companies like Amadeus Consulting for help. We can help build systems to perform cross-channel strategies like:

• Launching promotions online and in-store seamlessly that can be used in either place
• Tracking inventory real-time from both online, in-store and catalog (phone) purchases
• Effectively utilizing loyalty and gift card programs in each channel
• Merchandising and branding activities that carry across all channels

There are many other ways in which we can help retail clients. Contact our business development team today to learn more.