It seems like we hear about the next latest and greatest technology that will disrupt the retail industry pretty often these days. Quite simply, technology is evolving at the speed of light, and those technologies are being adapted to meet the needs of both consumers and retailers. While retailers have little choice but to adapt quickly or risk being left behind, users can pick and choose the ones people want to adopt. On the retail experience front, that opens up a ton of questions.
How do consumers feel about the technologies that are disrupting the retail experience as we know it? What do customers expect to find in the store of the future? The Oracle Retail 2025 set out to answer those questions and others. As PYMNTS.com shares, there were some truly fascinating takeaways that all retailers and landlords can walk away with.
For starters, there’s always a ton of talk about how everything is connected these days, whether that’s a result of constantly being plugged into social media or the web, but there’s also newer connections that need to be considered. That includes things such as the internet of things, wearable technologies, and even things such as drones or virtual reality. For consumers, they’d like to get to know you first before going all the way.
“Consumers clearly indicated that they have a conservative appetite for retail technologies that requires deep personal data and make decisions on their behalf,” said Mike Webster, senior vice president and general manager at Oracle Retail and Oracle Hospitality.
Don’t inundate shoppers with the need to ‘connect’ with you – or just assume that these customers want you accessing their smartphones and devices. That comes across as invasive and intrusive, and it can be a pretty big turnoff for many buyers.
“This signals brands to focus on building a strong foundation to win trust. Warm attitudes toward utilizing virtual reality and receiving recommendations for custom-made accessories produced with 3D printing points to consumers’ willingness to adopt new technologies if they are in control of their experience,” Webster continued.
The report also gets to the bottom of consumer interest in some other fronts. For example, 64 percent of consumers polled like the idea of using virtual reality to help them plan out a shopping experience and make wardrobe decisions. Quick delivery times are obviously front and center in the minds of retailers and consumers, and 67 percent of respondents are entirely fine with drones delivering their products in near real-time. The rest of the results are just as fascinating, so you’ll want to check them out and keep this in your back pocket to help you sort through future tech decisions.
