Online visualisation. Live and hybrid shopping. Augmented reality. Many trends are surging ahead right now – both online and in physical stores. But what will be the main focus areas for the retail industry in the future? We asked the experts.
The article is part of the magazine ‘Tech & Retail’, which we have published with the Confederation of Danish Enterprise. Read it in full here.
What trends will shape the shopping experience in five years?
Tamira Snell, Senior Advisor at the Institute for Futures Research
Consumers of the future, with their fluid lifestyles, expectations and behaviours, will move between the desire for transformative purchase experiences and an expectation of convenient consumer journeys. The relationship between brand and consumer will be similar to that between friends or family, etc., and the purchase experience must be consistent with the values the consumer attaches to the brand. And if we have one good purchase experience in one context with one brand, we will expect the same for other purchase experiences in other contexts with other brands.
What will be important for businesses and entrepreneurs as they adapt to the future?
It will be important for brands, companies and entrepreneurs to think across silos and in new ways. In the process, companies will need to think holistically and understand the different spheres through which consumers move, online as well as in the physical space. The role of brands will increasingly be to move from a focus on creating and staging an experience to exploring what type of trusting relationship they as a business can establish with the consumer.
What trends will shape the shopping experience in five years?
Anders Wedendahl, Practice Lead for Retail Technology at commerce agency Impact
Experiences, community and 1-1 communication are going to be three key drivers of the buying experience going forward. Customers will even more want to feel a connection and be driven towards brands, retailers and pureplayers that show their “purpose”.
Only by taking ownership of the buying experience can brands create a strong connection with customers and provide a sense of personal touch, community and experience.
What will be important for businesses and entrepreneurs as they adapt to the future?
Ensuring data integrity and transparency. With this in place, access to customer data is unfolded and is essential to delivering the personal touch, creating new experiences.
As an entrepreneur, you must be focused on driving development within, or towards, what is considered Key Core Tech (Blockchain, AI, IoT and AR/VR). Technology that for now only scratches the surface of possibilities, but which together can open up development and value for society we cannot yet imagine.
What trends will shape the buying experience in five years’ time?
Mette Hjerrild Holm
Director, RetailTech Lab
We humans want to feel seen and heard, to be entertained and to acquire new knowledge. I believe that the buying experience in the future will be very much about experiences and service. Wherever the customer wants to shop in the physical store, on the PC or smartphone, the sale of goods will compete much more in the attention economy. At the same time, time is a luxury. Those who offer events, tutorials, inspiration, and time-saving solutions will have better opportunities to succeed in the retail industry. The smartphone will also become an important platform as the consumer has it by his side 24/7.
What will be important for businesses and entrepreneurs as they adapt to the future?
Retailers of the future must be constantly aware of where customers are and what they want. When customers shop online, companies get a lot of important information about customers’ interests and buying habits. Tech solutions can also be implemented in the physical store, helping the retail industry with useful information on customer behaviour etc. Customers are constantly changing their buying behaviour. An example is live sales, which has been widely used during Covid-19. There it becomes important to embrace the new technologies that can provide data based on camera technology, self-checkout etc, so that stores can optimise store layout, product selection and which times need the most staff present in the store. This can free up staff to make physical stores a destination for service and experiences.
What trends will shape the buying experience in five years’ time?
Viktor Pedersen, CCO and co-founder of Zliide Technologies
We believe in innovation around the convenience aspect of the buying process itself. Both offline and online, we will see consumers looking for the easiest, fastest and smartest way to shop. E-commerce has already shown us the market share that a few clicks, optimisation and convenience for the consumer can bring.
During and after Corona, more consumers have acquired a taste for e-commerce and the convenience it brings. We will see that buying experience, that data and that personalisation in retail.
At least
that’s the expectation – and perhaps even the demand – from the consumer.
What will be important for businesses and entrepreneurs as they adapt to the future?
The key is to have a mindset that makes you ready to go in new directions. It’s not a question of if something will happen, it’s rather a question of when. As a company, you have to be able to adapt without strong preconceptions – especially when it comes to new technology, which is evolving incredibly fast. And consumers, they follow.
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