Five years! Well, that’s a lot of time, but definitely not enough in terms of technology. To be honest, as you are reading this blog, somewhere on this planet, something is being developed and it might be a breakthrough in technology or any other aspect. With that being said, five years is a sufficient time span for significant technological development to occur.
Today we are living in such an era where device convergence is making mobile phones such items people carry with them all the time. But because retail has transformed from traditional practices before mobile technology became ubiquitous, it is important to discuss how mobile solutions will continue to restructure retail in the next five years.
In this blog we’ll be exploring how mobile technology will be enhancing customer empowerment with augmented reality and artificial intelligence, shifting the retail culture to Dark Stores, and introducing face identification as a new secure payment method. So, look no further, here we go.
Augmented Reality: The New Experience
Augmented reality refers to the technology enabling to view and experience an augmented environment added to an actual environment in real time. Pokémon Go is an example of an augmented reality mobile entertainment app where users interact with characters added onto a visual representation of the environment captured through the phone camera.
Augmented reality works best with electronic sensory elements such as graphics, sounds, and location data within a mobile application. Most probably this technology will move ahead to include touch and scent as well, making this experience unbelievably real.
For example, there is building in Tokyo, Japan where have put up QR all over the building’s windows. With those QR codes, pedestrians on the outside can scan those and open the website to know more about the retail outlets there.
Augmented “Vehicles”
Irrespective of mobile technology and retail, brands are increasingly utilizing augmented reality in their product campaigns. BMW, Nissan, and Toyota for instance, provide three-dimensional views of their vehicles through QR codes printed in their sales magazines. Well, that just clever. This allows customers to view 3D models of the cars without physically visiting dealerships.
Artificial Intelligence to Empower Customers
As artificial intelligence becomes better, it will be empowering customers ever more. Back then, physical (retail) stores were the only place to access product information, while today we can sit in our homes and access the information in just a few seconds, no need to move from your place. The quality of product research has also improved since technology now supports price and let us run comparisons between different brands.
Moreover, mobile technology also nurture relevant product offers to consumers depending on their location, time, and weather. For example, Spotify will be able to advertise winter car tires for its subscribers logged in from the Northern Hemisphere in December.
Since we are talking about Mobile App Development, Instagram has recently modified its ads by introducing strategized marketing. These are run by machine learning algorithms; such applications can analyze and act according to their users’ needs and likes. The strategy is based on a user’s previous interactions, such as liking a post or following a brand, to advertise similar products that the technology assumes the user will like.
Moreover, marketing strategies that typically involved models as brand ambassadors will soon disappear as mobile technology is pushing brands to turn to online influencers instead.
Dark Stores and the Shift to Loyalty
The last few years are marked as a “blackout” period for physical store worldwide. Going to a retail outlet has now become a leisure activity because of the ease of online shopping and postal services altogether.
Searching for similar products with better value or return policies is now much easier than visiting stores thanks to specialized apps. All this will result in the rise of Dark Stores – with increased online shopping opportunities, customers will only go to stores for professional advice or hands-on experience.
Apparently, Dark Stores are already growing among French grocery retailers, where stores have transformed into just a location to collect orders. In five years, shopping-floor staff will only be needed to gather and pack the items in the store that very soon will be working more like a warehouse, to be honest. Isn’t that amazing?
However, mobile technology and App Development Companies will also make an impact on the employment. Experts for merchandising and sales will no longer be needed as they will be replaced with skills related to optimizing supply chain flows. As a matter of fact, companies will start looking for more tech-oriented requirements in job descriptions, while on the other hand traditional sales and direct customer assistance skills will be disregarded.
App Developers around the world have also stated that mobile technology in the next five years will shift the retail priorities from location to loyalty. Loyalty programs refer to the schemes of rewarding regular customers with larger discounts and other perks, and this strategy is increasingly implemented in retail.
Disruptive Payment Technologies
Now here comes the payment method. Well, it’s going to change due to improving mobile technology. We already have Samsung Pay, Apple Pay and other digital wallets. These innovations were brought to life by the need to provide quicker services and are predicted to become mainstream within the next five years.
On the other hand, NFC payments are quite common these days; mobile apps will promote the use of remote payments that include using an application or a cloud-based terminal, such as PayPal, to pay at an outlet. As a matter of fact, this technology has already been used in fashion shows in Japan, where the audience can purchase the outfits presented on the catwalk in real time.
As we are speaking of innovation, now might be the right time to bring up Apple’s feat on innovation. Recently, iPhone X promised to make the user’s face a new form of identification, where mobile payments will not require passwords or CVVs in the coming five years.
Wrapping up
In the next five years, AR and AI/ML will definitely be integrated into everyday marketing. As we are experiencing somewhat of a continuous shift to online shopping, the time is not away when dark stores will be introduced in the physical world, and retail employers will be looking for a totally different professional skill set.
Final Thoughts
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