Make the high street relevant again
By adopting new in-store tech, can brick and mortar retail fight back against e-commerce?
Traditional brick and mortar retail is under threat, as shoppers turn to options online. But by adopting tech innovations, such as grab ’n’ go purchasing and VR, can the high street regain relevance in the minds of consumers, both young and old?
We spoke to over 1,700 users — our bees — in the US and UK to understand what consumers want from their shopping experience. Can new innovations bring Generation Z — soon set to become the dominant consumer generation — back to the stores without alienating older shoppers?
New consumers, new tech
Gen Z (under-25s) are keen on new tech changing their shopping experiences, and the two most common words they use to say how they feel about in-store innovations are “curious” (50%) and “excited” (41%). In contrast, while older shoppers (over-35s) are similarly curious (47%), they are far less likely to be excited (26%) — indicating a greater fear of disruption to established routines.
Younger shoppers are also eager about tech that’s focused on automating the process. Their top three favourite innovations are grab ’n’ go purchasing (47%), virtual reality showrooms (40%) and drone delivery (39%).
Over-35s also like grab ’n’ go (44%), but are less enthusiastic about everything else. They are less keen on VR VR showrooms (28%) and drone delivery (27%) — for them, having personalised in-store adverts and offers (31%) is more relevant.
Less socialising, more (efficient) shopping
We also detected substantial differences towards the whole concept of what going to the shops is for.
For example, across all age bands people use self checkouts because of efficiency — as it’s quicker to ring up items themselves. However, there’s a big difference between younger and older shoppers with regard to social interaction — while only 1 in 5 (21%) of older shoppers say they self checkout to avoid talking to people, 2 in 5 of Gen Z (38%) do exactly this — and they shared with us why.
“I enter the store and can easily locate all of the items I’m looking for,” explained a 22-year-old American man. “I am able to grab those items in an efficient manner, without having to travel all over the store and backtrack. I am then able to check out with minimal interaction.”
Older shoppers tended to value having ample amounts of time and good customer service.
“My ideal shopping experience would involve me getting what I want at a great price and having great customer service,” a 37-year-old woman from the UK tells us.
“Having time to find what I really want, I go through the whole store, scanning as I go,” were the words of another British woman, 45.
Gen Z do have souls
“I’m not a big shopping fan so generally prefer an efficient shop, with friendly staff on hand if required”
— UK male, 25
So does this mean younger shoppers see human presence as an obstacle to their ideal shopping experience?
Well, not exactly. They aren’t against social interaction per se, just when it’s unnecessary. After all, the majority of this age group (68%) say they would enjoy the time-saving benefits of retail tech, but would still like to have staff around in case they need them.
“I’m not a big shopping fan so generally prefer an efficient shop, with friendly staff on hand if required,” explained a 25-year-old man from the UK.
So, Gen Z aren’t ready to do away with shop assistants just yet — and despite being happy to use automation, they also have concerns about it. For example, they are more worried about stealing and loss of privacy as a result of grab ’n’ go technology than older shoppers.
And what about job losses? Well here there is unity — across age groups, 2 in every 3 said this is a consequence of automation that worries them.
Is the future soulless shop floors?
But what can brands take away from this? Firstly, whether concerned or not about the disadvantages of retail tech, the majority of people across all age groups believe the time-saving benefits outweigh the drawbacks.
Shoppers are time-poor and are beginning to favour speed and efficiency over customer service, particularly among Gen Z. And when it comes to tech innovation, the new dominant consumer group prefer practical solutions — like being able to check out without problems — rather than fancy stuff like VR showrooms.
In order to achieve speed and efficiency, the answer is automation. But younger shoppers don’t want a soulless shop floor devoid of any human presence — they still want assistants there to do what they believe they are supposed to do: assist, not socialise.
And finally, most people are concerned about the loss of jobs. So will having a human face be an important USP for brands on the high street in years to come — rather than a robot one?
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A quick word on our methodology: The figures in the article are taken from Streetbees community members in the UK and US, carried out in October 2018. All of the data was collected by mobile and web surveys, and is accurate to within 5 percentage points 19 times out of 20.
