Digital Signage

How We’ll Shop in 2030: The Future of Smart Retailing Technology

Technology is a part of our lives in every aspect, from dining, to socializing, to shopping; smart tech is improving all kinds of services. Nowadays, customers expect the same efficient and convenient shopping experiences when they enter a store that they would have when shopping online. Thankfully, smart retailing allows for automation that combats shoppers and retailers' challenges when competing with online shopping websites. Smart retailing can improve operational efficiency, encourage more sales, and reduce additional costs. By creating a positive experience in stores that is just as good and even better than online shopping, customer loyalty and trust skyrocket, enticing them to come back time and time again.

Smart retailing is an approach that uses the latest innovative technology to enhance the customer's experience in the store. Smart technologies can be used to give each customer a personalized experience, provide integrated advanced display technology, improve the purchase process, and create seamless on-demand customer service. The purpose of smart retailing is to create an authentically satisfying experience for the customer so that they return to the store in the future. With the aim to improve every element of the customer journey, smart tech improves the customer experience from the moment the customer sees the store, to the final purchase before they leave.

A demonstration of smart retailing at a department store.
A demonstration of smart retailing at a department store.

What Are Common Smart Store Solutions?

A female consumer experiencing smart retailing technology.
A female consumer experiencing smart retailing technology.

There are many smart retailing solutions that can be integrated into the everyday shopping experience. Each solution tackles real-life problems and aims to improve the customer's in-store experience. Some of the most common smart solutions include:

In-Store Robotic Fulfillment

New robotics technology now enables robots to be used in stores to pick and pack items for customers. By using digital screens to choose items, robots can handle the rest of the process! Allowing a seamless store visit for customers where they can purchase their items without having to look for them in the store, carry them to the checkout, or even bag them.

Customer Analytics

Customer analytics technology has emerged as a valuable tool for retailers seeking to improve the customer experience, increase sales, and stay competitive in the rapidly changing retail industry. By providing retailers with valuable insights into customer behavior and preferences, this technology enables them to make data-driven decisions that can have a significant impact on their bottom line.
One of the most valuable applications of customer analytics is data-driven marketing campaign planning. By analyzing data on customer behavior and preferences, retailers can design targeted marketing campaigns that are more likely to convert. This can lead to higher conversion rates and increased revenue for retailers. Additionally, data can be used to optimize inventory management, ensuring that popular products are always in stock and reducing waste. This can be particularly valuable during busy shopping seasons, when demand for certain products may be higher than usual.
Moreover, proximity marketing is a smart way to enhance customers’ shopping experiences by incorporating a variety of in-store factors. Retailers can use beacons and mobile infrastructure to locate customers, analyze their behavior, and offer highly customized products based on context. Additionally, they can use factors such as store layout, product placement, and visual merchandising to create a more engaging in-store experience. By tracking the indoor location of their customers, retailers can discover the most attractive products and provide tailored offers based on customers’ interests.
Proximity marketing also enables retailers to suggest other products relative to what customers are currently looking at, offer coupons based on previous purchases, and obtain advanced statistics to refine business strategies. By building a strong connection between customers and brands, proximity marketing helps to ensure brand growth and customer loyalty. Retailers can implement proximity marketing through beacons, geofencing, QR codes, and more to enhance the customer experience and drive sales.

Interactive Kiosks

Interactive kiosks are a smart way to provide a convenient shopping experience for customers. Interactive vending and pickup kiosks use integrated vision-based AI and analytics. This allows retailers to access products at all hours of the day while reducing store staffing costs.
Customers can browse and order products, check out their items at any time, and pick up orders quickly and efficiently. Smart vending and pickup kiosks are also beneficial for eliminating health concerns by creating a 24/7 contactless shopping and ordering experience.

Smart POS Systems and Seamless Checkout

By using smart POS solutions, the transaction station of every store, otherwise known as the Point of Sale, can be transformed from a slow and uninterested purchase experience into a dynamic, efficient, and personalized experience for every customer. Smart POS systems can include self-checkout, stationary terminals, and on-the-go scanners, allowing customers to checkout in a way that suits them best.
One of the most popular smart POS systems is a blended approach where a staff member processes the transaction using innovative technology. This can include a touchscreen payment device, contactless payments, automatic item scanning, and more, with the aim of making the shopping experience efficient, exciting, and enjoyable for every customer. In-store checkout has become a seamless process thanks to smart technology, with the rise of contactless card payments and digital wallets such as Apple Pay and Samsung Pay. These technologies allow for fast and effective purchases that take little to no time, providing a quick, easy, and hassle-free checkout experience for customers.

Digital Shelves and Display Technologies

Digital shelves enhance the customer experience by providing vivid displays that deliver targeted production information and live promotional offers. These displays capture customers' attention and can provide them with relevant information about the products displayed. By showcasing relevant information such as product features, ingredients, or discounts, customers can make quick purchase decisions without asking staff for assistance. Not only this, smart displays create an eye-catching and vivid focus point that captures the attention of passing customers in an instant.

Why Does Smart Shelving Matter to Retailers?

Smart shelving application in the retail store
Smart shelving application in the retail store

You might be wondering why smart shelving would matter to retailers. The answer is simple; it highlights essential information to improve the customer's experience in the store. Displays are strategically placed on the product shelf to intervene at the right moment in the customer's journey. This smart retailing application allows the customer to receive helpful information about the product without the need for staff assistance, meaning that they can make confident and independent purchases.
Using smart displays can also elevate sales and brand awareness. By displaying a brand's visuals below the product, the customer creates a relationship with the brand by interpreting the tone, brand messaging, and product information.
A fully integrated shopping experience is created by developing a strong omnichannel strategy. With the help of smart shelving, businesses can unite customer experiences through multiple channels, including online and in-store shopping. This can be achieved by displaying current campaign visuals and messaging on smart shelves in the stores. Seamlessly blending mobile and web experiences with brick-and-mortar stores.

Introducing Smart Shelves for Retailers

Smart shelves are the future of the retail experience. In the future, we hope that smart shelves will have the capacity to understand human language, content, and emotional states to support the shopper's needs. As smart retailing technology becomes more prevalent in our daily lives, smart shelves have the opportunity to enhance the customer experience. This can be achieved through showcasing products using enhanced capabilities to amplify the selling process.

Create stunning displays that enhance customer satisfaction and increase product sales instantaneously with a Smart Shelf Display. Deliver targeted product information, display promotional offers, and highlight product features so that customers can make informed purchases with ease. Optimize space, revitalize the shopping experience, and step into the future of retail. Discover our Smart Shelf Display today!

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