Shopping in the sci-fi age
Retail & leisureIn Jarosław Leśniewski’s opinion, there are five main trends thata re going to change the face of shopping.
Of these, the most developed so far are self-service kiosks. These are usually touch screens that also act as information points and digital vendors. They are already used in selected food & drink chains, but we will soon be seeing them in clothing stores, among others. With this tool the customer can check the prices and availability of selected products, place their orders and make purchases without using cash. Kiosks relieve queues during peak shopping hours and allow more orders to be processed, while contributing to reduced costs in the long run.
Another trend is the electronic label, which is a small display screen that replaces the traditional price tag on the shelf by using an electronic tag on the product. Using this eases the workload of store employees and increases their efficiency. Prices are displayed on the screens and can be easily updated. Electronic labels will also enhance the credibility of the store in the eyes of customers because they can be used to avoid incorrect or absent price marking.
Virtual changing rooms or ‘intelligent mirrors’, provide the customer with a virtual reflection of themselves which they can clothe with products from the store. Using the Kinect motion sensing system, the customer can change their clothes, colours and sizes just by moving their hands and thus create their own stylisations. If they decide to buy one of the items, the mirror will show them where to find it. Apart from clothes, make-up, hair dyes and nail polishes can also be tried on. Smart mirrors also work well in the corridor of shopping centres as interactive advertisement displays, showing how to get to a store, offering discounts or asking for opinions. Interactive displays are superior to rival systems – they are cheaper, more current and portray colours better while using less electricity. And they are clearly visible from long distances.
Smart baskets are another game-changing innovation. These can be equipped with a touch screen, weighing scales and a bar code reader, integrated with a mobile app. The accuracy of the purchasing process will be ensured by a camera installed in the trolley. After self-scanning and weighing the purchases, the consumer can choose whether to prefer to pay for them at the check-out or by using the application. This will also take the pressure off queues during peak hours, while maximising the store’s capacity and reducing employment costs. The system is already being introduced by Carrefour, among others.
“In 2025, the purchasing process will be almost entirely interactive and compatible with customers’ smartphones – as soon as they enter the car park. There will be no need to drive around looking for a vacant space because a map with this information will be displayed on the phone’s screen. It will also be possible to use the app for planning the route of the shopper and work out the best order to visit the stores that the customer wants to visit. Upon approaching a shoe store a message could be transmitted to them with a discount coupon valid only for the model of shoes they tried on a week ago but eventually did not decide to buy. Thus, taking their lead from e-commerce practices, brick-and-mortar stores will try to recover ‘lost baskets’. Standing in front of the window of the next store, the customer will be able to play Tetris on it, and if they win they could receive a 15 pct discount on the entire range,” predicts Jarosław Leśniewski.
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