Technology in retail
Retailers are no stranger to the benefits of using technology either. Whether it is displaying the products to customers, providing information and the ability to pay for said product in an incredibly short process. Compared to travel to a brick and mortar store and trawling through the many options the store has to find out they don't have the product you want, to then visit another store and repeat the process again, you can't deny that technology has changed the way we shop.
Retailers should factor in that customers have more means to buy online now than they use to and have the abililty to browse and buy no matter where they are or time of day.
Making the purchasing life of a customer easier isn't the only bright side to technology in retail. Retailers can use the information from their customers to work out current trends and behaviours. With this information they can react to the ever changing customer needs more quickly. Technology for retailers opens the doors for the use of Big Data. This source of data is seen to be extremely valuable and should be a tool that everyone in retail has in their arsenal which can help in discovering and analysing new information.
"Every enterprise needs to fully understand big data – what it is to them, what is does for them, what it means to them –and the potential of data-driven marketing, starting today. Don’t wait. Waiting will only delay the inevitable and make it even more difficult to unravel the confusion.
Once you start tackling big data, you’ll learn what you don’t know, and you’ll be inspired to take steps to resolve any problems. Best of all, you can use the insights you gather at each step along the way to start improving your customer engagement strategies; that way, you’ll put big data marketing to work and immediately add more value to both your offline and online interactions." Forbes
Therefore, if retailers are not currently doing so, they should embrace technology as a part of their strategy.
For more information, read Tech is key player in retail strategy for 2016 from Raconteur.
Source: Raconteur