Professor Steven King shares a preview of his upcoming keynote on the ICX Summit in Charlotte on the way forward for retail. ICX Summit will likely be hosted by Networld Media Group from September Sep 11.
The retail expertise is altering as quick because the tech underpinning it, each for operators and prospects.
Synthetic intelligence, digital actuality, blockchain, wirelessly-powered shows, holograms, and extra improvements are taking the buying expertise to new heights. However how can the common retailer faucet into tech to raise the client expertise with out breaking the financial institution?
That is the topic of an upcoming keynote on the Interactive Buyer Expertise Summit. Registration is now open for the occasion, which will likely be hosted by Networld Media Group in Charlotte from September Sep 11. The keynote tackle is to be delivered by Steven King, affiliate professor of innovation and rising applied sciences at UNC.
We reached out to King to study extra by way of e-mail interview.
Q&A with Steven King
Q: What are the highest rising applied sciences altering the retail panorama as we speak?
King: The important thing macro rising applied sciences clearly embrace AI and AR however in my discuss, we’ll dig into usable and useful AI and AR instruments which can be altering the retail panorama by way of how customers interact and the way ship merchandise.
Q: What are the professionals and cons of AI within the retail house, and the way ought to operators leverage it successfully?
King: AI is pervasive all through all industries and retail is not any exception. Operators should leverage AI to compete with the massive retailers who’re optimizing ever click on and each cargo. Some are selecting to construct their very own options whereas others are leveraging third celebration distributors. Every are worthwhile and every have considerations which we’ll talk about in individual.
Q: Augmented Actuality is comparatively new on this house; what are the highest purposes, and do you assume it’s going to develop in coming years?
King: When Apple unveiled Augmented Actuality natively on their telephones in 2017, they selected an espresso machine to reveal the ability of AR as a result of Apple knew this expertise will likely be enormous for retail. There are new instruments and integrations that make this a lot simpler for retailers than again in 2017, nevertheless it has been a lot slower than I anticipated. Within the subsequent couple of years, customers will count on AR of their on-line buying expertise in the identical manner they count on buyer evaluations or detailed pictures.
Q: For many who do not know, are you able to clarify blockchain expertise in a nutshell, together with its worth in retail and buying settings?
King: There was loads of good and dangerous printed about block chain. Blockchain is a digital expertise that securely information transactions throughout a number of computer systems, making it practically unattainable to change or hack. Consider it as a digital ledger the place each sale, fee, or stock change is completely recorded and shared with everybody within the community. For retailers, this implies extra transparency, higher safety, and probably decrease prices in managing funds or provide chains, because it removes the necessity for middlemen.
Q: Is there a distinction between how we should always apply rising tech within the brick-and-mortar house versus on-line areas?
King: I believe this dichotomy of brick-and-mortar vs on-line retailers is a harmful paradigm and one that’s damaged within the shopper’s minds. Leveraging rising applied sciences would require retailers to disregard this historic separations and use the expertise to interact customers in all points of their lives together with in bodily and digital areas.
Q: What’s the greatest mistake you see as we speak in making use of (or failing to use) rising tech in retail?
King:Manufacturers should experiment and check out new issues, however they should be fixing an issue once they do it. Do not constructed one thing for expertise’s sake, however construct one thing that leverages new applied sciences to resolve an previous drawback.
Q: You are the knowledgeable! Any closing ideas you’d prefer to share with our readers?
King: After we work with manufacturers, we leverage human-centered design, and we personalize that to model with guest-centered design or fan-centered design. Leveraging rising applied sciences require you to know your viewers and the way they may truly use the expertise not the way you assume they may use it. This requires getting exterior the company setting and speaking with actual prospects all through each facet of the method.
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