Introduction
According to Walmart, Best Buy and various statistics, ordering online has become the new normal. Many believe that pick-up centers are all that is needed, but there are more interesting futures ahead for in-real-life shopping. Stores continue to offer an important platform for everyday conviviality and togetherness, just with fewer frustrating steps. Seamless shopping from digital to real means that service can be informed and personalized. We will still visit shops in search of random chats, smells and sounds, and just to experience the shelf full of jams first hand. However, when we want to find that special product, we get immediate digital guidance and can leave with the product without waiting in line or card waving.
Next steps
The shop is an optimal place to wait for our electric car to charge and many will want to pick-up deliveries personally for lower cost. The layout and navigation of a supermarket will be influenced by the way digital experiences are designed. Expect more communal favorites, peer-to-peer recommendations and personalized marketing in the physical marketplace. Stores will also function as entertainment hubs, where people can experience key brands in person. Digital apps will be more connected with the physical space, bridging the customer journey between online and offline. Walk-in-walk-out (WIWO) technologies will become more common, as a touchless economy becomes more widespread. Live streaming from shops and shopping events will cater to different kinds of audiences.
Opportunities
- Automate commerce - build health-secure WIWO stores
- Rethink consumers as an audience - Do live commerce - Use the store as a hub for information and entertainment
- Build new partnerships that combine digital and physical - sell online, provide offline pick up services in store
