High-tech retail locations offer single shoppers a streamlined experience
Implications - Consumers often opt to shop with companions, but as daily demands rise and many shop solo, brands are offering assistance through technological innovations. This shift towards catering to the individual shopper is drawing consumers who would otherwise shop online back into stores, and offers an experience that suits their schedule.
Trend Themes
1. Interactive Retail Displays - Brands are offering assistance through technological innovations, such as interactive digital touchscreen displays that integrate form and function, providing opportunities to draw in new customers and clients.
2. Virtual Shopping Assistants - Simulated shop assistants, including life-sized virtual women that are able to assist shoppers, are being created to provide a unique experience that ties in with the brand image.
3. Instantly Shoppable Ads - 'Le Fast Shopping' uses shoppable billboards that make use of Bluetooth, QR codes, and JavaScript to allow scanning an item, learning additional product and brand information, and making a purchase instantaneously.
Industry Implications
1. Retail Industry - Technological innovations provide opportunities for unique customer experiences that can differentiate brands from competitors and draw in consumers.
2. Fashion Industry - Body scanning booths, fashion consultation apps, and virtual shopping assistants are providing personalized recommendations for fashion items and changing the way consumers shop online and in-store.
3. Marketing and Advertising Industry - Shoppable ads are becoming more popular to create a more efficient and quick shopping experience for consumers, providing opportunities for advertisers and marketers to explore more creative forms of advertising.
