The retail sector has been in a state of flux for the last decade. The world is changing and it’s hard to keep up with all of the evolutions in today’s society; ecommerce, social media, global pandemics, and smart devices have all had a great impact on the retail sector.
One thing is clear: retailers need to evolve, or they will get left behind.
Here are seven new innovative retail solutions and technologies that will play a significant role in the retail sector, including helping retail chains stay one step ahead of their competition while also providing customers with an enjoyable shopping experience.
Smart retail solutions, or smart retail technologies as they’re also called, are a new breed of software and hardware designed specifically for retail ecommerce.
Online retailers and physical store chains can use these tools to provide customers with a faster, more convenient, and safer shopping experience.
In addition, they help retailers keep up with the growing demands of customers who have come to expect so much from brands these days.
In today’s market, where customers have access to an abundance of information at their fingertips — thanks primarily to social media platforms — it has become increasingly difficult for traditional brick-and-mortar stores and online merchants alike to attract consumers’ attention.
In addition, consumers now want more than just a shopping experience.
The main benefits of smart retail solutions for retailers include:
One of the biggest smart retail benefits is that it enables retailers to provide personalized experiences for their customers.
This goes beyond basic e-commerce, where brands can offer custom orders or product recommendations based on users’ past purchases and browsing history.
Smart retail solutions allow retailers to engage shoppers in real-time by sending push notifications about new products to smart devices while they’re still in store, thus providing them with a customized shopping experience without even having an online presence at all.
Another benefit when it comes to supply chain management is that these tools can help merchants reduce waste due to overstock and theft, increase revenue per square foot through better inventory accuracy, optimize stock levels so have fewer “dead” items gathering dust in stock, and improve safety by tracking inventory location.
Smart retail solutions help sellers to track and understand consumer demand for specific items. With this information, they can better predict how much inventory they’ll have on hand at various times of the year, which will allow them to adjust their inventory management accordingly.
In addition, they’ll be aware of which goods are going to expire and prepare for it in advance.
With smart retail solutions, retailers can have their staff focus on more important tasks instead of being bogged down by manual labor. This not only saves money but also increases productivity which has a positive impact on the bottom line.
Now that you know some of the benefits let’s dive straight into the seven smart retail solutions that are changing e-commerce.
This technology allows retailers to connect any electronic device, such as appliances, cell phones, laptops, and more, via an app or software linked with various sensors that track product inventory and consumer behavior.
According to Statista, there will be more than 25.4 billion IoT devices by 2020. With IoT solutions, retailers can monitor everything from when their products sell in real-time and how much shoppers spend on average in-store by using smart POS terminals no matter how busy the location happens to be.
They can also keep tabs on customer habits, so they know what kind of promotions will attract repeat business.
When combined with retail analytics, IoT devices provide retailers with deep insights into their customers’ purchasing habits. They can use this information to manage inventory levels and optimize the supply chain of the retail business as a whole.
IoT devices can also help prevent theft or loss by tracking store assets and inventory. This technology also enables retailers to quickly locate lost or stolen items with GPS tracking — making it easy to recover their merchandise.
These devices emit a Bluetooth signal that can be used to track customer behavior and drive sales by sending push-notifications and personalized alerts from the store’s app directly to customers’ smartphones about new products and special offers, based on their location within the store.
This technology is relatively inexpensive and can be implemented into any existing retail business without making major renovations.
These technologies allow retailers to enhance the shopping experience by putting customers right inside their store virtually, giving them an idea of what it would feel like before they even step foot inside.
For example, Ikea’s virtual reality app allows shoppers to preview what their furniture will look like in their homes before they purchase it — an experience that makes buying these kinds of products online much more appealing.
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