What once used to be completely manual has now become digitised. Yes, we are talking about retailing. Retailing was always in store and physical shopping(shopping experience). Now retail has moved on to the digital world and has got so much to offer online. Now users prefer online shopping to offline. Digitisation has played a crucial role in retailing.
When we mean digitisation we do not only mean going from offline to online, we also mean the advances that have been happening like how Artificial Intelligence is playing a crucial role. Augmented reality and data analysis have been playing a huge role in lifting the user experience to new heights. Undoubtedly, technology can do much more to the retail world, but the question is how do we include the human touch to all these and make things even better?
It has been studied that only the technological advancements are not enough to make a user completely satisfied with their retail experience but human touch is also required. Although we have chatbots in place, customers still do prefer talking to real people regarding anything. Also, studies show that customers prefer having a good shopping experience with a store to go back to them again. To them, the experience matters more than the price. So, to make things work the way we want, we need to ensure digitisation still has that human touch to it. Here’s how we can augment user experience:
1. Going online as well as offline:
If you are all online, by now you would have realised the potential of having a physical store. Albeit customers love shopping(shopping experience) online, they still want to see the product physically before taking the plunge. Online only brands have confirmed that more than 50% of the customers do prefer knowing the look and feel of the product before buying. Even Amazon has an offline grocery shop called Amazon Go in Seattle. It’s about time you considered having an offline store, if your presence is only online.
2. Innovation:
Coupling both the physical and digital world can be really rewarding. Using the technology everywhere possible in your operation can be really helpful in freeing up the time of your employees. Employees should necessarily be kept happy to perform well in their jobs. Remember we are trying to add more human touch to our customer’s retail experience? This is one way to go about it. Customers do love a demo from employees to make a decision if they need the product or not.
3. Augmented Reality:
The real reason that Augmented Reality came into picture was mainly because of how customers took the words of the sales associates to make a purchase. Sales Associates trying to flatter customers is one thing, but their opinions do really matter. Needless to mention, augmented reality and human touch, in this case, the opinions of sales associates are necessary to enhance user experience.
4. Employing data analysts:
If you are in the retail business, then you should have data analysts who are good at what they do. Data is very important. Customers love to see what they require. Data analysts can observe the customer behaviour and provide you with the necessary insights that will help you enhance customer experience.
