Internet of Things or IoT is contributing to all sorts of sectors and the most recent impact, as the research around it observes, will be the retail market that revolves around the experience of the user. The research shows that shopping sites- both virtual and offline will become smarter, more networked and even more approachable and accessible once IoT takes hold.
New roles shall be created in retail business that will play pivotal role in shaping customer experience through a variety of visual and wearable technology which shall be further connected through communicational methods such as cloud, wiFi and Bluetooth. Now, 3D realities and augmented realities will become part of your shopping experience that will tell you all about the retail space and the range of products.
What are the points of transformation?
Of course, there are certain markers of this transformation and they will determine the extent of this new possibility in retail. Your biometric data shall be used by all these players and you can share your data through a network of objects present in both virtual and offline retail sites which will be further used to better your experience.
The biggest players
The research identifies six big players who will benefit the most from these transformation- Multisite retailers, entertainment retail business, hospitality retail business, specialist retail and virtual retails alongside interactive kiosks. Of course, coupled with this unprecedented data exchange will be a critical layer of security that shall be affirmed by the state-of-the-art technologies. More intelligent use of data from all sorts of sources and advanced data analytics are some of the features that will impact the retail environment immediately.
So, beyond the virtual, the physical should become more intelligent so that it can adapt to all sorts of new needs for consumers and provide a unique shopping experience for each retail visit. It will also open up new business models that will utilize customer interaction in a more immediate manner.
New skills required
These new roles are not simply new designations of old posts; rather, they require specific skill sets which displays an easy adaptation to the growing technology. Also, the new role needs to understand the fundamental organizational changes that are coming through this process in retail and work accordingly. Retails are quick to work upon this problem and are training a section of their stuff to ensure that they can face these new challenges.
So, a network of officers and professionals who will shape the customer experience at every moment can emerge in the near future who will also determine the usage of these new technologies in the most optimized way. Delivering ultimate user experience will become the top priority while the fundamental retail operations will go on in the back.
A revolution in consumer approach
Internet of Things, as most retail players have confessed, have completely shifted the attention from the basic retail business strategies to a new, unseen way of approaching retail by reshaping customer experience. Of course, they are trying to embrace this IoT revolution by reconfiguring their business strategies and sharpening their skills so that the virtual and physical create a seamless blend upon each other. This is probably the future of consumer habits where you enjoy a walk across a retail like you do browsing the pages of an online website.