Technology is rewriting operating models, enhancing consumer experiences, and influencing shopping behaviors across industries and it directly impacts consumers when they buy. With a thread-line of a difference between the rapid changes and their impact unraveling simultaneously before us, the new decade is looking forward to an increased and sustained reliance on online shopping. The shift towards internet-heavy and automated retail is altering the layers of tasks for the retail industry. From the in-store experiences, the devices, and supply chain tech, to e-commerce, multilingual voice assistants, and digital marketplaces, industry automation, and AI are all coming together to transform retail.

Online or offline, a retail outlet is a very interesting intersection of huge amounts of technologies coming together. The fast-paced, deep, and agile changes in technology will leave firms behind if they don’t formulate an integrated roadmap to navigate the transition and adapt holistically. A narrow focus on just technology will not have any significant impact on margins. In fact, it might only become a partially successful cost-heavy investment. Firms need to consider a company-wide perspective - a cross-functional relationship truly powered via technology that benefits every pocket - internally as well as externally.

Here’s a Deep Dive:

Cross-Industry Convergence - Retail as an industry is slowly emerging as an axis point for cross-industry convergence. Multi-brand giant retailers are finding ways to elbow new lines of products/services and leverage the most frequent consumer exposure touch-points. E.g Walmart’s Healthcare Supercenters’, and Dollar General’s foray into affordable healthcare products for rural consumers. A number of industry segments and product categories are well-suited for this type of setup. It could be great product-service compatibility. For e.g healthcare facilities and real estate, sports rehabilitation centers and sports goods, and so on.  With technology at their disposal, business leaders can explore common grounds and intertwined disruption for good.

Device Innovation - Smartphones along with advanced voice technologies, multilingual support, and facial recognition are already foraying in large retail outlets and small screens. As Internet-of-Things (IoT) connects devices and technologies, these outbursts are likely to enable control of multiple retail functions like staff management, voice-enabled order, checkout, and more - quite literally transforming omnichannel experiences and their timelines with the ability to meet the consumers when and where they choose to be contacted.

Payment Systems (Pay with Voice) - POS (Point-of-Sale) systems offer a host of inventory management, loyalty features, e-commerce options, management of multiple sales channels, and many other customized functions depending on your business. All of that is likely to be taken over by digital voice assistants that will cater to local languages. Profoundly altering how we interact with our devices, voice commands may soon offer contactless experiences. Discovery, sale, and checkout can take place conveniently with a ‘pay with voice’ option integrated into their preferred local language. Businesses can benefit from low cost and easily integrate the future of money in the digital world.

Logistics and Supply Chain Solutions - There are dozens of backend systems that enable the operations of online stores and their related activities like segregating, picking, packing, shipping, receiving, and sorting of products. Also, it’s one thing to have data and another to fetch accurate insights out of it. Predictive Analytics, one of the critical subsets of AI, will continue to empower retailers to better build their supply chain and logistic systems. Key areas where predictive analytics can add value are:

- Assortment Planning - Making optimal merchandise decisions by using variables like demographics, regional differences, store locations, shopping patterns, market trends, customer sentiments, and past performances.

- Inventory Management - As of today, predictive analytics does a lot of heavy lifting to prevent customer frustrations and productivity losses. This software can preempt the shortfall or excess of products and inform the company. This is a great advantage for cash-tied goods as it makes it possible for the customer to find what they want.

- Real-Time Promotions - The right time nudge can make or break the sale. This software can boost the tried and tested customer management strategies like reward programs and CRMs. They can further re-engage the customers and segment them based on certain predefined metrics.

Digitization and Metaverse - Immersive experiences will power a host of retail activities, especially with integrated technologies like AR and VR as they are best positioned to support contactless experiences on devices as well as in-person. These experiences don't require touch (are seemingly contactless) and need not be carried away physically with customers back home. So zero-contact experiences in public spaces are likely to increase in the new normal - easily pulling out brands from refraining and going all out to get as creative as they want to be.

Industry Automation/ Hyper-Automation - A few but very distinguished technological avenues are likely to transform in-store and virtual shopping experiences. Frictionless checkout is one. It means transactions would get really easy and fast. Online as well as offline stores can rethink their processes to ensure a safe and seamless checkout experience. The company called AiFi for e.g. is automating entire retail stores - for brands as well as retailers. Such automated stores could be a game-changer for specialty services, standardized experiences, or medical care facilities. It’s a linear and time-saving experience. Micro-fulfillment is second. It involves deploying small-scale automated warehouse facilities close to the consumer. These are robotic technologies that - once the user places an order - can automatically pick, pack and deliver goods in as less as an hour.

Business leaders are required to think, plan and act differently to capitalize on the opportunity that industry convergence offers, map the current and future customer needs, and make a case for how your organization would benefit and therefore build different business models that take you to a growth trajectory