How new technologies help Brick-and-Mortar stores to face e-commerce?
Brick-and-Mortar stores are not dead…
Most people think that Brick-and-Mortar stores are collapsing because of the emergence of e-commerce. However, if we look at figures, physical shopping is far from being dead. In the U.S., in 2017, while online sales increased of 16% to represent 13% of market shares, in-store sales still increased of 3,6% with a very large part of market share (Source: Internet Retailer)
… they are evolving to being more human-oriented…
What we have to understand is that the buying cycle is changing. Online sales should not be seen as a competitor to in-store sales but as a complementary way to complete a sale.
Brick-and-Mortar stores have to be more than just a « sale area ». People visiting stores are looking for information, advices, and experience. They need to find a place that facilitates their shopping. Physical stores have to be more focused on the customer experience they want to create and convey.
… thanks to new technologies that improve Customer Experience
New technologies largely participate to improve this Customer Experience. They sound like buzzwords but are actually one of the main strengths for in-store retail to face and adapt to the large increase of e-commerce.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) adapted to Computer Vision is probably one of the most useful technology aiming to make shopping experience easier. Retailers have thousands of ways to use Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning to improve customer experience. For example, Sephora is using a device called Color IQ which scans skin color thanks to a camera. The device analyzes the data and generates a unique Color IQ number to help the user find the right lipstick, foundation and concealer shades. A more known example comes from Amazon Go cashier less store. People entering the store only have to scan their mobile phone. While they are in the shop, hundreds of cameras and sensors track the products they pick up and place into their basket, so that when they leave the store, they will be automatically charged for what they picked up.
Augmented Reality (AR) is definitely changing the shopping experience. Customers can virtually test out paint on their walls or try on clothing, sunglasses or makeup.
Complementary to AR, Virtual Reality (VR) is more used for the business side. It will enable managers, redesign, change and test the configuration of their store to see if it meets customers’ expectations without needing to move any furniture or break any wall.
Facial Recognition software can collect data such as age, gender or any other criteria, but also capture the areas of the store where a shopper tends to stay, how long it takes to choose a specific product and what is the mood expression on his face. This information helps the stores managers to better understand who their customers are, and to adapt their marketing and merchandising strategy depending on the analyze of the data collected.
In short, all these technologies are offering customers a better and more personalized experience to make their in-store shopping easier and more pleasant.
Check-out Dencity, a solution based on Facial Recognition and Deep Learning
Dencity is our traffic analysis solution built around three bricks:
• Detection, recognition and counting: Dencity is able to detect gender, age and count every customer entering or leaving an area
• Customer behavior: Dencity detects people and builds a heat map to help visualize the popular areas or heavy traffic
• Data analysis: Dencity provides an analytics platform which can be personalized depending on your needs
Dencity helps you to evaluate the impact of your marketing strategy, increase you traffic, improve space-use efficiency and understand better your visitors’ profiles.
More information on : dencity.io
Do you want to know more about WASSA?
WASSA is an Innovative Digital Agency expert in Indoor Location and Computer Vision. Whether you are looking to help your customers to find their way in a building, enhance the user experience of your products, collect data about your customers or analyze the human traffic and behavior in a location, our Innovation Lab brings scientific expertise to design the most adapted solution to your goals.
Find us on:
· GitHub
· Our WebSite
