Why retailers are realigning with a connected retail experience – article by Paul Childerhouse, Pioneer Group
The recent report by the BBC has validated how technology can allow supermarkets to flex their prices during the day, showing just how much retail is changing.
It’s the most exciting thing we’ve seen in the retail market in relation to how digital signage can truly affect the productivity and profitability of retailers. Digital displays, along with customer data analysis means that retailers will be able to determine which items are most popular at certain times of the day and consequently adjust their prices, reflecting these instantaneously at the shelf edge.
Creating agile systems in store can solve business issues through connecting the retail environment to cutting edge digital signage solutions, demographic intelligence, social media and stock information. It’s possible for vendors to map out what the retail journey of the future might be for their customers and respond to their needs accordingly, creating digital signage that delivers. Electronics retailers can reflect prices as they change online, products which are selling out can see prices rise as the popularity is identified, or in store signage can quickly offer accessories to compliment the best selling products.
At the moment, the surge pricing model is common in other industries, such as hospitality and travel. Uber recently came under fire for raising their fares in the wake of the London Bridge terror attacks. This pricing – which is already present in the US and parts of Europe – was trialled by Marks and Spencer last year, using electronic pricing to sell discounted sandwiches in the morning in a bid to encourage shoppers to buy their lunches earlier. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-40423114 This kind of retailing can help minimise resource required for in the store, change customer behaviour, or just help retailers to pay for the extra resource needed over lunch.
Electronic shelf labelling enables dynamic and responsive pricing across single and multiple retail sites. We’ve partnered exclusively with LG Innotek to bring this technology to the UK and, with electronic shelf labelling being at the forefront of retail innovation right now, it will soon be much more commonplace across our supermarket aisles. When paired with digital signage systems which can also be updated alongside, this makes a compelling case for a digitally enabled shopping experience. This can also be extended to intelligent RFID tagging, where it’s possible to connect products on the shelf to digital displays so that electronic point of sale is triggered when the product is lifted by the customer. Signagelive are also showcasing how all of this can even be controlled by voice activated systems, making it as simple as speaking to the system to make rapid changes.
Paul Childerhouse, Group Director, Pioneer Group
The connected retail experience will transform the business model of in-store, just as it has online. Give us a call to find out about trials and innovations we have right now and we’ll help you get ahead of the curve for the new year http://pioneergroup.co.uk/.
