As we start looking at the post-pandemic world, it's important to understand how the last year has changed consumer expectations and behavior in the retail space. Expectations around retail digitization have increased and a desire for the personalized experiences prevalent in the e-commerce space. There's a desire for these experiences to be translated from the digital world into the physical.
The truth is, razor thin margins generally hold companies back from making major investments in the physical retail space. But, the potential opportunities could be huge for companies willing to begin the transition, as advanced digitization and connectivity in the retail environment is becoming a consumer expectation. Companies ignoring the trend could be left behind very quickly.
According to research recently commissioned by Appnovation, 47% of consumers are expecting retail spaces to use gesture recognition, 59% are expecting advanced sensor recognition and 61% are expecting touchless technologies in the physical retail experience post-pandemic.
In that same research, it was found that as we move away from the conditions created by the pandemic, 51% of consumers want to see self-service kiosks in retail environments and 58% want to see self-checkouts.
This creates an amazing opportunity for retailers to unify consumer data between the digital and physical worlds when 38% of consumers plan on a mix of both online and in-person shopping in the future. Retailers who can take advantage of the opportunity will have an edge if they're able to create a seamless experience between their online and in-person retail touchpoints.
In my latest article for Retail Customer Experience, see how retailers who can take advantage of the opportunity will have an edge if they’re able to create a seamless experience between their online and in-person retail touchpoints.
