Retailers everywhere are becoming increasingly reliant on technology. They are using it to help them to overcome challenges that are having an increasingly detrimental impact on their ability to make a profit.
Below, are a few examples:
Reducing the impact of increased competition using technology
The way people shop has changed drastically. A survey by McKinsey & Company found a 15-30% overall growth in consumers who made purchases online. When they go online, they are automatically exposed to retailers they would not have known about or considered buying from.
Building a stronger digital presence
To combat this increased competition, retailers are enhancing the way they use the following technology:
- Upgrading their websites to make them more responsive
- Tapping into the power of online marketing by engaging more creatively on social media and delivering special offers in more diverse ways
- Employing SEO agencies to boost the power of their website so they can outrank their competitors for important search terms.
Providing customers with a better shopping experience
In addition, they are working hard to provide a better service than their competitors. That means offering a bigger range and delivering products faster and in ways that suit the consumer. To do this more firms are offering workplace deliveries or using lockers to make it super easy for consumers to pick up their goods.
In a bid to improve delivery lead times further several firms are experimenting with drone deliveries. As you can see here retailers across all sectors are trying them out now. So, in all likelihood, they will be in wide use within the next few years.
Standing out in physical locations
As well as improving their online presence those that have physical stores are working hard to ensure that they stand out from the competition. Here are a few of the ways they are doing that.
Catching the eye of passers-by
Right from the start retailers have used eye-catching window displays to catch the attention of passers-by. The reason for this is that it flat-out works. All of the empirical studies we uncovered, showed that an attractively dressed window does catch the eye of people and draw them into a store. All of these studies were carried out before the use of digital signage in windows became the norm. Given the fact that digital screens are so striking, the chances are that modern window displays are even more effective than the static ones that were mainly used in the past.
Using technology to serve customers faster
Time is the one thing that most people are short of. The last thing they want is to be stood in a queue waiting to try something on, ask a question, or pay. Retailers know this and they are using technology to help them to speed up every part of the shopping process. Examples include:
- Offering self-service checkouts and other ways to pay super quickly.
- Enabling customers to ask questions via a phone app or touch screen while in store instead of waiting for a member of staff to become free.
- Installing smart mirrors so customers can see what items look like on them without actually having to try them on.
Equipping staff to work more efficiently
Using technology to help staff to be better at their jobs and be more efficient brings huge benefits. They can provide a faster service and get more done with the hours that are available to them.
It can also help with staff retention. Nobody likes to fail at their job. They do not want to let customers down. For example, to find that the item that the system said was in stock actually is not and that the customer has waited around for 15 minutes for no reason. It makes workers feel they have failed, plus, usually, it leaves them having to deal with an understandably irate customer.
That is why so many retailers are upgrading their stock control and POS systems so that there are fewer out-of-stock items. They are using wi-fi to enable shop floor staff to easily talk to backroom employees. That means it is no longer necessary for someone to trek to the stockroom to get something a customer wants. Instead, someone on the shop floor can ask a warehouse team member to find the item. They can then either bring it to the shopfloor or put it on a conveyor belt that sends it to the till area where the customer can pay for it.
The above are just a few examples of how retailers are using technology to thrive in challenging times. There are many more futuristic examples that you can find out about here.