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← Back to IdeasSmart Stores: A Revolution for Retail Experiences & Operations?
If China’s fast-growing eCommerce ecosystem was already threatening the future of traditional retail stores, COVID-19 only further accentuated the trend, depleting brick-and-mortar shops traffic.
Despite the surge in online sales, the end of physical stores isn’t near - but their purpose is changing. The need to shift towards an omnichannel retail strategy has never been more obvious than today, and many brands already investing in processes, data and technology that allow a more seamless and refined online to offline integration.
The rapid development of 5G connectivity, cloud computing, IoT, big data and AI offers exciting prospects for retailers, from warehouse automation and innovative fulfillment systems, all the way to tech-backed personalized in-store experiences. Through digitalization, retailers can turn their smart store ambitions into a reality.
Having access to these tools and technology is just the beginning – transforming a traditional physical store into a smart store requires a much deeper look at the interaction between the business, the brand, sales channels, and consumers to ensure that digitalization delivers tangible value growth in the long run.
As they embark on their transformation journey, retailers typically wonder: How smart is my current store? In which ways can and should the smart store improve the customer experience? How can digitalization improve brand interactions across various touchpoints along the consumer journey?
In this new paper Are Smart Stores Effectively Delighting Consumers with Digital Technology? we explore the rise of modern retail, smart stores and unmanned retail services, provide a framework for brands to assess how mature their store is on the digitalization scale accompanied by real-life examples, and discuss how technological innovation enables frictionless shopping experience and increased business efficiencies.
Click here to download and read the paper.