Shopping with the Help of Technology

As e-commerce grows at an unprecedented rate across the globe, brick-and-mortar stores are working twice as hard to attract and retain customers. Online shopping keeps alive the desire for convenience. Retailers are leveraging technology to not just provide a seamless online shopping experience to their customers but also create a great in-store experience.

In fact, the industry is currently undergoing a major digital transformation. Reasons for this development include the rise of new technologies, changing patterns of consumer behaviour and the influence exercised by companies putting digital-first.

However, the response to these changes and new developments varies from business to business. But if retailers want to remain competitive in the face of the changing nature of the retail industry, they need to adopt a tech-empowered and customer-centric approach.

How Technology is Making Shopping Convenient

Technology has proven to be a game-changer for shopping and has levelled up the experience for customers. With the growth of technology, online shopping becomes more intricate. The tech-fuelled fast-paced platforms allow customers to shop from the comfort of their homes.

Sophisticated technologies like augmented reality (AR) and artificial intelligence (AI) are proving to be disruptive forces for the retail sector. AR can help retailers reduce returns significantly by providing an engaging ‘virtual try-on’ digital experience before buyers make their purchase. Innovative AR solutions enable customers to visualise items in real-time, from the comfort of their homes.

The 3D visualisations give shoppers the opportunity to see how products will look on them before they buy it, thus eliminating the temptation to order various items together to try out before selecting the final one and then returning all the others, a practice that’s highly common.

Customers who have already checked a product in its entirety feel assured that it fits well and looks good on them, making it less likely that they’ll return the item on its arrival. AR, hence, has infinite potential for the growth of e-commerce. AR-based shopping apps are being deployed on a large scale by retailers to mitigate the inconvenience and cost of returning a product, both for the buyer and seller.

The virtual try-on technology lends a competitive edge to brands when it comes to sales and marketing. Whether it’s a smart mirror in an offline store or a mobile app, virtual try-on offers a realistic and personalized product presentation to customers within seconds. The technology not only allows buyers to try out multiple products but even provides them product-related recommendations, thus driving sales.

Virtual try-on tech is also an invaluable source of information. For instance, retailers can track which items are selling the most and adjust their catalogues across various locations to provide what customers need precisely. It also helps reduce the huge costs incurred when goods are returned.

Mobile shopping is also making waves within the retail sector. Most shoppers find it easier and convenient to browse on their smartphones and spend time extensively to search for products that they wish to buy. Secure payment options on the web and express checkout make the experience seamless for online shoppers with the gateways allowing different modes of payment.

Kavita Jha, CEO & Co-Founder, KiksAR

Due to automated checkout, the payment gets processed much faster on the same page, whether a person is shopping from their laptop or mobile. In physical stores, the cashier-less stores take the checkout process to a whole new level. They use cameras, smart shelf sensors, and advanced computer vision technology to track shoppers and their movements so that they needn’t wait in long queues. Instead, they are charged automatically upon leaving the store.

As physical stores reopen, shoppers are demanding as many contactless experiences as possible. Technologies like cashless mobile payments and self-checkouts are experiencing new-found popularity, given a boost by the pandemic. Even physical stores are leveraging technology to make customers feel comfortable with the in-store experience.

Summing Up

With the help of technology, retailers are blending the offline and online shopping experience to provide more value to their customers. Here, technology is playing the role of an enabler for making shopping more convenient and easier. The Covid-19 pandemic has changed consumer preferences and raised health & safety concerns.

In order to keep up, retailers are reassessing the whole customer journey to identify where physical touchpoints can be made safe or replaced with safer alternatives. By deploying innovative tech solutions, retailers are not just enhancing the customer experience, but also future-proofing themselves against unexpected calamities in future.