the future of retail is here
We regularly meeting with agency and brand partners to share innovations in the marketing industry. Recently we took them through a topline look at the Future of Retail with a focused eye on the Grocery channel given their priorities. While created for one of our client partners, the information is applicable to others.
It is humbling talking innovation with one of the world’s largest marketers. However, the fact is that our Shopper Marketing partners do not always have the access to innovation that their corporate or brand colleagues enjoy. More than inform or inspire them, our promise was to provide actionable learning, while also making innovation accessible to them. The exciting news is that a number of shopper marketers who are leading accounts such as Meijer, Publix, Wakefern, Giant Eagle and Wegmans immediately expressed interest to apply these innovations to their business challenges.
Given the expansive and multifaceted nature of innovation, we focused where we saw the greatest relevance and application: Wayfinding & Navigation, Augmented Reality, Internet of Things (IOT) @ Retail, Modular Pop-Ups, Voice @ Retail and Facial Recognition. For sake of time, we will highlight the following.
Wayfinding & Navigation that we have all come to enjoy with Waze to simplify our transportation journey is now being applied to simplify (and even gamify) our shopping journey. As consumers create their shopping lists, they can now see their path in-store mapped on their phones to speed their trip, while relevant suggestions can be made that add value. When in doubt, shoppers can use the voice function to simply ask where to find the coffee aisle. One of the best examples is Sam's Club Now where the store has become a “lab” to test these new innovations and gain real time learning.
Augmented Reality is increasingly being applied to elevate shopper marketing and enable brands to unleash powerful content that inspires consumers beyond product, price and function. For brands that are awash in content, we see rich potential to unleash that brand content to bring these rich stories to life during pre-shop, shop and post-shop phases. An award-winning example of AR applied in a shopper context include 19 Crimes, as well as this recent Jack Daniels experience.
IOT (Internet of Things) is being felt all around us, but now coming to life in-store. As featured recently in Incite, Cooler Screens is transforming the cooler doors into beautiful digital displays with real time and personalized messaging to enhance the shopper experience, as well as inventory management and reduced out-of-stocks for retailers. This capability will continue to span other aisles and it’s the type of in-store innovation that we should all have on our radar.
Modular Pop-Ups have great potential to drive incremental sales in non-traditional and unexpected venues without cannibalizing existing channels. In these moments of aperture, brands can deliver specific products relevant to those moments. These modular units enable brands to engage consumers on their journey AND on their terms, including colleges and universities. Other areas include commuting and transit touchpoints including train/bus stations and airports.
Facial Recognition has particular benefit to brands in the business beauty as consumers can virtually try on products as featured recently at Globalshop, as well as this “lift & learn” demonstration in the ever-popular whiskey category. The technology can transform your look from hair color and lip color, as well as your wardrobe such as the shirts and shoes demonstrated at Globalshop.
As innovation often starts overseas and migrates to North America, we provided a global view featuring this store of the future from Alibaba in China (see the Freshippo video). This smartphone-powered experience from home to in-store is happening now and sure to become more ubiquitous. With Amazon Go the closest comparison in the US, I wouldn’t underestimate Jack Ma or Jeff Bezos.
In closing, two key principles of innovation are exploration and experimentation. These examples highlighted here provide actionable test & learn opportunities that we can apply with agility for any of our clients. Come back to this blog because we will be taking a proactive and holistic view to help brands and agencies to look beyond their categories, channels and countries as their best results partner.