Peak venture capital funding for tech startups may be slowing down, but that doesn’t mean the end is nigh. Technological innovation will continue to drive the global economy into the next decade. While big data moved to the forefront of tech in the past ten years, the goal of the next ten years will be […]
Tag Archives: retail
How to Turn Your Buyers Into Brand Believers
Ask the tough questions: Does our brand offer value beyond the suggested retail price? If not, how can we improve our relationships with customers?
People First: The Golden Rule of Retail Digital Transformation
Perhaps, the most common mistake made by retail companies in planning and executing digital transformation is to treat technology acquisition as a goal in itself. You will find that the code of “people first” as the golden rule of retail digital transformation will make great sense if you start to follow this rule. Organizations that […]
Why Geographic Segmentation Still Matters in 2019
Where customers live plays a big role in what they buy — and smart brands will take that into account as they develop offerings. While online platforms make it possible to buy anything from anywhere, that doesn’t mean people will.
Don’t Just Create an Event, Create an Ecosystem
Building a community is an essential step in establishing any company or brand as a leader in its respective industry. A brand community gives your consumers a place to engage, express themselves, connect with other like-minded individuals and more. It’s those engaged, expressive consumers who then become your brand evangelists and help increase brand awareness […]
When Will You Be Able to Use Cryptocurrency to Buy a Pack of Gum?
Is cryptocurrency the payment of the future? Or is it another fad that will fizzle out before it really gains traction? Crypto advocates may be frothing at the mouth to promote mass adoption, but without a serious rethinking, crypto is destined to remain a barter tool for only the truest believers. To become a viable alternative to […]
Use AI to Deliver a Seamless Consumer Experience
Old-school marketing techniques that include guesswork held up by flimsy market research don’t always reflect what consumers want. But now retailers can eliminate the guesswork and incorporate real consumer feedback to gain a competitive edge. Plus, Millennials are excited to work with robots, complain to robots, and date robots, so it comes as no surprise that they want robots to help […]
How IoT is Impacting the Brick-and-Mortar Retail Experience
Retailers have to get with the times if they want to compete in the online marketplace. That means evolving to meet customer needs, managing change, and matching the pace of modern consumers. Luckily, there’s a whole world of IoT opportunities available to retailers. There are options for customer engagement, process optimization, and internal audit tools […]
Internet of Things in Retail: What’s in it for Retailers
Internet of Things is transforming and revolutionizing every aspect of our lives. Be it leisure, business, retail or healthcare, almost every industry is settling to adopt new technologies and IoT is no exception. According to McKinsey an estimated of 20 to 30 billion connected devices will be available by 2020 with a total worth of […]
The Role of AI in Assisting Customer Experience
To track all of the most relevant companies in the Intelligent Assistance ecosystem, refer to the “Intelligent Assistance and Bot” landscape provided by VB Profiles and Opus Research. From being the plots of sci-fi thrillers to being seen as threats by the working populace, Artificial Intelligence (AI) has during the last few years jumped into […]
How retailers will use emotion AI — online and in store
Whether customers feel good or bad about their experiences is ultimately underpinned by their emotions. This doesn’t matter what context they are in — every interaction is emotional. As consumers, our shopping experiences mean quite a lot to us. If we stand in ridiculously big queues or receive terrible customer service, we are most likely […]
How to become an omni-channel, data-driven retailer
In today’s digital age where customers are as likely to buy a product from an e-commerce website as from a brick and mortar store, delivering a seamless and value-adding shopping experience has become more important than ever before. The multiple shopping channels available to customers and the competition posed by other retailers have made it […]
Why many major American companies have struggled in China: Amazon
This article is part of a series about the importance of cross-cultural design, other installments of which have been published over the last month. Before mentioning anything about Amazon, the scale of its problem must be described. In 2014, after disappointing results for their business in China, Wolfe Research Analyst Aram Rubinson estimated that Amazon […]
8 predictions for the future of IoT in 2017
Every year IoT brings new things to biotechnology, manufacturing, home living and every aspect of our daily lives. We’ve seen it disrupt traditional industries, transform our cities and contribute to the autonomous transport of the future. It sits in an ecosystem where machine learning, AI and data analytics help us understand our world more than ever before. […]
Here are the 6 major trends for IoT in 2016
The Internet of Things is moving from futuristic to commonplace. The huge amount of active devices in 2020, projected by IDC, Gartner, and Juniper, don’t seem as colossal as they did at the start of the year, due to a variety of ambitious and successful IoT projects. IoT has been most effective in the industry, […]
Is Amazon Go a sign of the downfall of a retail workforce?
Any time a disruptive technology with industrial or productive applications comes into play, the question arises as to whether or not that technology will result in the loss of jobs. This issue has been tackled extensively in the manufacturing sector, but what about retail? Are robots and IoT technologies putting our retail workforce at risk? […]
This beacon platform influenced $14.5 billion in Black Friday sales
inMarket, one of the world’s largest beacon platforms, says its analysis shows its platform influenced $14.5 billion in consumer spending during the Black Friday weekend. The platform noticed 370 percent more beacon detections than the same time last year, showing the rise in beacon engagement from both consumers and retailers in 2016. See Also: Estimote Mirror […]
5 IoT innovations that can’t advance without wireless power
Until wireless power goes mainstream, the Internet of Things (IoT) will fail to reach its potential. And by “wireless power,” I don’t mean the power pads that masquerade as wireless chargers. True wireless power eliminates the need for all power cables and contact. It resembles Wi-Fi in its ubiquity, safety, and range. Essentially, there’s a […]
How can robotics bring real innovation to the warehouse experience?
E-commerce is challenging the retail environment in many ways from fitting rooms to customer relations. Then there’s the challenges before products even hit the store, as warehouses full of goods struggle are faced with the challenge of finding staff to find, pack and deliver orders. The top three challenges facing supply chain executives, as identified […]
Estimote Mirror combines smart beacons with TV displays
Smart beacons are currently limited to displaying personalized or relevant data on the smartphone, but that might not be the case for much longer. Estimote, a leader in beacon tech, has launched the Mirror, a beacon that connects to TV displays. A retailer can connect the Mirror to a TV through HDMI and USB, usually […]