Shopping the Future
Worldwide retail sales hit $24 trillion last year, not exactly small beer. The massive retail business is switching on technology and is changing so fast that analysis is always chasing reality. That doesn’t it mean it shouldn’t try, and IDC have some useful signposts for retailers in its top 10 predictions for worldwide retail 2017.
Watchwords are transformation, disruption, integration, expectation and security. Here are five IDC predictions that lift the experiential side where the game will be won:
1. By 2019, digital transformation Investments will triple, drawing funds away from store capital and profoundly changing the retail industry
2. Intelligent assistants will become a must-have app in 2017 and support shoppers’ “jobs to be done” in context-aware omnichannel conversations by 2018
3. Retail mobile enablement will triple mobile investments in 2017 and double spending on wireless infrastructure through 2019
4. By 2019, 20% of major retailers will use augmented reality to enrich the product selection experience and convert shoppers to buyers three times faster
5. By 2019, artificial intelligence will change how 25% of merchants, marketers, planners and operators work, improving productivity by 30% and key performance indicators by 10–20%
How technology and emotionality come together with a human touch is the key. Is it convenient and compelling, intimate and inspiring? Retailers need to be irresistible, not robotic, across all four consumer touch points: See it; Search it; Shop it; Share it.
