Retail
Store of the Future
The future of Retail is here. The customer’s buying journey has shifted from brick and mortar stores to computers to any device connected to the internet, which is causing retailers to reimagine the role of the stores from being a sales outlet to showrooms to places where consumers discover and experience brands to fulfillment centers to part stores and part office. The existence of a store does not merely depend on the rental cost (or “four wall economics”) but on how the stores can be repurposed as another channel for the consumers to engage with the brands.
Similarly, Personalization is not limited to the personalization of promotions and offers, but gaining insights into consumer behaviors to increase the lifetime value of customers, and integrating personalization into all delivery channels to provide a consistent experience to the consumers.
Consumers are willing to switch a store or a brand if the retailers do not meet their expectations on shorter delivery times, alignment with ESG issues, and actions on Climate change.
The store of the future employs tools and technology to manage in-store inventory, merchandise planning, shelf life availability, provide omnichannel consumer experience, and better manage returns to improve the profitability of stores, brand experience, and contribution to online sales (e.g. BOPIS).