Smart Retail

So what is smart retail? And how will it change the future of retail?

Some people think that physical stores will disappear over time. We will buy everything online, And if we want to "look" at the products we want to buy, we're going to do that through virtual reality while we're sitting at home on the couch.

However, it’s pretty hard to imagine that today’s shopping practice will vanish. Many individuals love going to a physical shop and also enjoy looking for the item, it's an undeniable joy for them, even if they can purchase something from their desktop readily.

Yet still, the stores of the future will change sooner or later, even now some of the physical shops have already changed for the future

When we talk about “smart retail”, we are talking about the use of techniques and technologies used to make the customer experience more satisfying and more personalised.

The idea is to get the customer to experience a customised experience so that the customer wants to return to the establishment in the future. In order to achieve this, ideas such as “customer journey” in the store, are relevant.

The “smart” interaction with the customer can start a few meters away from the establishment. Depending on where the client is, personalised messages will be sent to the customer’s phones and these will let them know about their product and the price or discounts.

Customer service will also be quite different. Although some establishments will keep human employees, in other shops, they will be replaced by screens equipped with artificial intelligence, and maybe even robots.

Lastly, the way you pay in the future will also be very different. The cashiers and the queues will eventually disappear for good. The customers will pay for their purchases through their phones. In some cases, this will be done automatically, so that when the customers leave the establishment, they will get charged straight away.