By Brian Walker
CEO & Founder, Retail Doctor Group
“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic” – Arthur C. Clarke (1)
Have you noticed another transformation occurring in retail that perhaps is not quite as overt, although equally just as, if not more profound as before?
Consider that in the growth of retail channels, our migration from a physically centred channel experience to online to omnichannel, with supporting channels such as social media and the almost complete retail ecosystem, is occurring at rapid speed, with our home being another central consumer touchpoint.
And technology fuelled retailing introduces us to another channel to integrate into our omnichannel offer. Some might say that our homes have become the extension of shops (or possibly an alternate).
Whatever that may be, the outcome is conclusive. The consumer in home experience is the next tangible linkage in the retail ecosystem.
Where once we would all visit the mountain, we now see the mountain visiting our home, and what makes this view obvious is the rapid increase in the way consumers spend their time.
The marriage of technology/ media and retail is truly upon us and will only develop more quickly into home-based retailing with its high convenience, accessibility, speed, linkage to the streaming content we watch leading from subscription through to prediction.
Brian Walker is founder and CEO of Retail Doctor Group, a retail advisory and consultancy group and the Australian elected partner member of the global retail expert’s alliance Ebeltoft Group. For further information on where to begin to improve your retail performance, contact our Strategy expert via businessfitness@retaildoctor.com.au or read more on our successful retail transformation projects here!
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