September 29, 2023 • 35 mins
Curiosity and a deep understanding of consumer behavior have been the driving forces behind Melissa's journey from working at Target headquarters to her current role as Director of Retail Strategy for digital solutions provider, CI&T. She joins us to shed light on some of the biggest tech mistakes retailers are making today and the potential risks that come along with them. We corner every aspect of retail technology, discussing how many brick-and-mortar stores are falling behind by not leveraging technology to increase efficiency, and the underestimation of the importance of an appealing and efficient online presence by some retailers.
We grapple with the challenges retailers face, from time and financial investment into the right tech to the fine line of providing just enough information without overwhelming the customer. Melissa shares her experiences and insights on the tug of war between decision-makers on how much to push the consumer into a step-by-step process, the potential loss of shoppers who don't want to follow through, and the implications of providing either too much or too little information to the consumer.
The retail industry is continually evolving, with customer experience, AI, and emerging trends shaping the way consumers interact with technology. In our conversation, we explore how accessibility and experience play crucial roles in technology adoption and how retailers need to stay ahead of the curve by keeping a close watch on consumer behavior and new technologies. It's a deep dive into the complex world of retail technology that you won't want to miss.
Connect with Melissa on LinkedIn
RetailWire is the retail industry's premier source for news, analysis, and discussion. With a focus on the latest trends, technology, and consumer behavior, RetailWire provides a platform for industry experts and thought leaders to share their insights and perspectives. Whether you're a retailer, supplier, or service provider, RetailWire is your go-to destination for staying informed and ahead of the curve.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
Welcome to the Retail Wire Podcast, your source for
all things retail.
Whether you're a seasonedindustry veteran or just dipping
your toes into the world ofretail, our podcast is your
one-stop shop for the latesttrends, insights and discussions
that are shaping the future ofretail.
Let's dive in to today'sepisode, melissa.
What's the biggest tech mistakeretailers are making right now
(00:35):
and what's at risk for them?
Speaker 2 (00:37):
Tech mistake.
Sadly, there are a few, I think.
In terms of thebrick-and-mortar store, I don't
think it's being incorporatedthe right ways.
I'm seeing some smart fittingrooms being approached in ways
that are really tough forconsumers to actually leverage
and creates more inefficienciesrather than seamlessness.
I would go with that one firstand foremost.
Speaker 1 (00:58):
Let's back up a little bit, because I jumped
right in with the first questionwhat's your current role and
your focus in your career?
Speaker 2 (01:06):
I am the director of retail strategy for a digital
solutions provider called CINT.
I have been here for almostthree years.
My role is to identify emergingand current retail trends so
that we can stay on top of ourclient work and ensure that
we're providing the besttechnology stack for the most
optimized consumer solutions inthe retail space.
(01:29):
We do also have financialservices clients.
We have health and lifesciences clients.
My focus is just the retailindustry and making sure our
offering is relevant to theneeds of retailers today for
their consumers.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
I'm really curious what drove you to focus on
retail technology.
Was that always an interest ofyours or did it evolve over the
years?
Speaker 2 (01:52):
It definitely evolved by way of working at Gartner.
Actually, I originally startedat Target headquarters.
I was in merchandisepresentation and store design,
partnering with buyers forTarget Canada to make sure that
the experience was reallyshoppable in the domestics
category.
While I was there, I realizedthat I actually wanted to take
(02:14):
an earlier step in the path topurchase journey and identify
from market research what theconsumer insights were that
would drive shoppers todifferent parts of the store.
That's really what fascinatesme in just shifting consumer
behaviors.
I ended up at Gartner for aboutsix years.
It was then that I was reallyexposed to the technology that
(02:35):
powers the actual retail trendsand strategies.
When I ended up at CINT and thefact that they are a digital
solutions provider and theyreally focus on the technology
that enables these experiencesit, just by nature of the role
that they hired me for, ended upbecoming a big part of my
career and what I'm alwaysthinking about now.
(02:56):
It's not just what areconsumers doing and how do they
want to shop, but what does thetechnology then need to look
like to enable that shoppingexperience for them?
Speaker 1 (03:08):
It makes me think like this isn't the type of
career where there's a clearbachelor's degree program
designed specifically for it.
Speaker 2 (03:18):
How have you been able to?
Speaker 1 (03:19):
keep up and learn.
Is it on the job?
Is it life experience?
Where do you stay ahead onstaying educated on it?
Speaker 2 (03:29):
Yeah, you definitely have to be curious.
I think it's a great point thatyou bring up.
I did focus on marketing andundergrad and then when I went
to grad school, my focus wasalso marketing and market
research, just because I loveunderstanding what makes
consumers tick and why theywould buy one brand over another
or why they would go to acertain retailer over another
(03:49):
and just how their spendingpatterns would change stuff like
that.
But then I think it's thateducation mixed with.
I'm just a really naturallycurious person and I will get
bored if I'm not learning everyday.
I really enjoy going to placeslike Retail Wire every single
day to make sure that I'mstaying up on what's happening
in the space and whether or notconsumers are in lockstep with
(04:13):
the industry and what brands aretrying to push out for them.
It's a combination of gettingthat fire lit in undergrad with
market research experience andthen realizing that if I wanted
to actually put that insight andinformation into practice, I
would have to go to who actuallypowers those experiences for
retailers.
Speaker 1 (04:33):
It's really interesting.
The world of technology,especially, is one where you
kind of are on the front lines.
Whether you like it or not, youhave to be always there.
I'm curious being director ofretail strategy, how is that
shape your views and how do youthink that your point of view is
(04:57):
unique compared to yourcolleagues?
What did they look to you foras far as a unique perspective?
Speaker 2 (05:06):
Yeah, these questions actually go hand in hand,
because I would say what'sunique about me is I tend to be
a little bit idealistic in myapproach.
I'll go with the most blue skyideas.
I like to borrow fromcategories outside of retail and
learn there.
I love to travel and see whatinternational markets are doing
and what I can bring back aslearnings here, because I think
(05:28):
there are a lot of countriesthat are way ahead of us in
terms of providing shopperexperiences and doing things
that our retailers aren't evenimagining.
I like to bring a lot of thatinspiration.
I love going to art museums andsourcing inspiration there
because I like the way artiststhink about.
Speaker 1 (05:45):
I would not have thought of that.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
Yeah, it's a great place just to kind of mix up my
mindset and be exposed to atopic that wouldn't necessarily
make it into my day-to-day rolebut then forces me to think
about shopping differently.
That's really interesting to me.
My approach is unique in thesense that my inspiration
sources are kind of unique Interms of what my role at CINT
(06:10):
has taught me and how it'schanged how I think about the
space.
It's had to ground me a littlebit, because I will come in
pretty hot with some of theseideas and I'll say let's do this
, let's create this type ofexperience when we're crafting
some type of proposal for aclient and then we take a look
at the technology behind thescenes and we realize, okay, we
(06:33):
need to do this in baby steps.
It's not going to be overnightand it's also going to require
XYZ to happen first in order toget us to that destination.
I definitely didn't set outnecessarily to incorporate
technology into my career, butit has made me much more
realistic and a little bit morehumble when I start
(06:55):
brainstorming for a prospect orfor a client.
Speaker 1 (06:59):
It's interesting to think about technology as a
grounding aspect because oftenpeople see it especially now
with AI it's like the sky is thelimit.
We can do anything now butcoming from more of a marketing
and branding side, where you canbrand something any way you
want, it can be risky if youtake a completely different
(07:19):
anti-brand approach.
But technology being agrounding aspect to your
creativity is just such aninteresting angle I never would
have thought of.
Speaker 2 (07:30):
Yeah, it's kind of ironic when you point it out.
Sometimes it's the other wayaround, but for me that is
because I am a little bit uniquein my perspective.
I will go sometimes fartherthan technology can, versus the
other way around with mythinking, Speaking of technology
and kind of seeing a gap in themarket.
Speaker 1 (07:50):
where do you think that brick and mortar physical
stores are neglecting thistechnology?
Where is there a gap that yousee?
Speaker 2 (07:59):
There's just so many spaces to or room to create
efficiencies.
Yesterday I was shopping and Iwas asking a sales associate if
they had my size in somethingthey didn't in stock and I asked
her like, okay, well, you knowwhat can I do about that?
And she said, oh, you can orderit online and get it shipped to
your home, but I would havejust shopped online if I were
(08:21):
going to do that.
So I think there's an automaticgap there of how can we ensure
that retailers are achievingconversion in physical stores
when certain operationalefficiencies aren't humming
along like there aren't perfectin stocks, right.
So I think that's one bigopportunity.
There's also many stores thatstruggle with their fitting room
(08:43):
lines.
I won't necessarily name names,but there are certain retailers
where I know I'm not trying onclothes when I go there.
I'm going to have to just buythings and hope for the best and
potentially return, which makesme a horrible person because I
know better, but I don't havetime to wait in that fitting
room line.
Or similarly, with a cashregister line.
(09:03):
There are some stores that justreally struggle with that, and
those are all primeopportunities for technology to
intervene and make theexperience more efficient for
both the sales associate and thecustomer and kind of that
relationship, to be like the dotconnector in physical stores.
So those are our call outs thatI would make for sure.
Speaker 1 (09:22):
Just that example of they didn't have the size and
they turned you away, basicallyto fend for yourself.
Speaker 2 (09:29):
Exactly.
Speaker 1 (09:30):
Now an alternative would be the associate has a
device or technology to be ableto help you through that process
.
Maybe she saw you and thought,oh, here's a young person, she
can figure it out, but on theother side she might stereotype
someone who's older and go, hey,let me help you through that.
(09:52):
So missed opportunity there,because she kind of assumed that
you can fend for yourself andjust buy it online.
Hey, it's easy.
Speaker 2 (10:02):
Yeah, I think that's a good point.
I hadn't even thought aboutthat, but I do think now,
because so many brick and mortarchains have an online presence
most I think they do actuallyrely a little bit too heavily on
that presence sometimes, and itcomes at the cost of the
associate customer relationshipor just how positive the
(10:24):
experience ends up being inphysical stores.
And I think when you look at alot of retailers' websites as
well, the same thing ishappening in reverse, where
you'll look at a website andI'll think, oh, this is.
I mean, I'm conducting an auditright now for our annual
Connected Retail Report and I'mlooking at so many websites
every day and I'm so frustrated.
(10:46):
One, because we take care ofthose things.
So it's something that I knowcan be done better and I know
how it can be done better.
But two, I think it's happeningboth ways.
I think and I know you guys hadan article about this on
RetailWire today was just isOmniChannel strategy becoming
almost a crutch for retailers?
(11:06):
And knowing that they havemultiple channels, does that
mean that they're putting lessinvestment in each of them?
Because in aggregate, they'rejust spending so much?
You really have to build upevery single presence and you
can't assume that a consumer isgoing to just figure it out and
DIY the experience, because youhave other channels available to
them.
Speaker 1 (11:25):
That's good.
Are there categories, as you'redoing these audits, are there
certain categories of retailthat are just further behind
than others?
Speaker 2 (11:38):
You're smiling really big Okay grocery.
Because I really wanted to bring.
I'm trying to diversify theexamples in the report.
I want different categories.
I cannot, for the life of me,get a grocery example that I
feel super good about, in termsof both the aesthetics of the
(11:59):
experience and the efficiency ofit.
Usually it's one or the otherit's very shoppable, it's very
easy, but it's not visuallyappealing in any way.
Or it's the other way aroundit's a lot of fun to shop, but
it's not efficient, it's notmission focused, and consumers
are both today, and so I wouldsay grocery is part of.
(12:22):
It is because Americanconsumers don't really buy their
groceries online.
So maybe out of necessity,retailers are comfortable
letting that channel go a littlebit, but that's been very
discouraging for me to see.
Speaker 1 (12:35):
From my experience actually I have not shopped
grocery online probably for twoyears but I remember the
experience being almost like I'mjust looking at their inventory
, versus you shop at anotherstore.
There'd be a splash page,there'd be something showing
more the lifestyle or you wouldthink if you go to the organic
(12:58):
section there'd be somethingabout the lifestyle that
imprints that feeling.
But I felt like the productswere just lined up like just a
big inventory with categoriesyou can click through.
Speaker 2 (13:15):
Exactly, and grocery this is something I'm so
passionate about because groceryis such a routinized shopping
category for us.
We all have our local grocerystore kind of memorized and the
blueprint is in the back of ourminds.
We know exactly which aisleswe're likely going to go most of
the time, and so there needs tobe a parallel experience online
(13:38):
so that we feel confident thatwe can just zigzag through it
like we would in person, getwhat we need, but also feel like
it was a really enjoyableexperience, especially because,
for people who like to cook, itis part of that whole path to
purchase is brainstorming therecipe, figuring out what
ingredients you don't have onhand, all of that, and so we're
(14:00):
starting to see some grocerscreate content and incorporate
that into their websites.
But overall, the struggle hasbeen real to find a grocery
store that I really like.
Their online channel, and Iwould say some of the department
stores and discount departmentstores are struggling with that
too.
Speaker 1 (14:19):
Have you seen any standout stores that are leading
this tech change, whether it'sin store or website?
Speaker 2 (14:27):
So I am including I kind of broke my rule in my
report because I wanted all theexamples to have all three a
online store, a physical storeand an app.
But I came across Zeni opticalwhile I was doing all of this
and their website is Incredible.
(14:47):
They don't have abrick-and-mortar presence, but I
decided I need to include themin the report because they
incorporate virtual try-on insuch a precise way.
They have, you know, oralinstructions for just how to
walk you through getting the thedifferent glasses on and trying
them and making sure that itmatches with you know your face
(15:10):
shape.
But they have a whole guidewith that.
They have so many cool features.
I've been really impressed withthem.
So, and it's a very easilyshoppable website.
It's, yeah, it's a really coolexperience.
I would say definitely check itout if you haven't seen it.
Speaker 1 (15:24):
I've seen.
I've actually been a customerfor probably six years.
Yeah and Well, I mean theprices.
When they first came out it was, you know, $35 for a pair of
glasses prescription when you gointo a store and you'd have to
do like a double down deal toget even $99 frames.
So I I have probably like 12pairs of glasses from them
(15:50):
because I always buy likemultiple.
The virtual try-on is reallyinteresting.
You know, you have your, yourphone and you hit a button and
then you have to turn, turn yourface and it gets at least one
turn of your face so you cankind of see the glasses from a
few angles.
Speaker 2 (16:08):
Yeah, and I love that .
It coaches you through.
From an accessibilitystandpoint.
You know they have some writteninstructions and then they also
have those auditoryinstructions and I think that's
really cool.
It's so detailed and it tellsyou if you want this accurately
to scale.
Hold up, you know, a creditcard or your driver's license.
If you don't care as much, youdon't need to do that.
I've seen a few other websitesincorporate virtual try-on and I
(16:31):
tend to be kind of a naysayerof it just because I think we as
consumers are so tactical andwe don't really trust.
But I would.
I would trust theirs and thenalso Nick's cosmetics has some
really good virtual try-on, butyeah, I didn't end up going with
them in the report, so I don'tfeel as bad sharing that one
right now.
Speaker 1 (16:49):
It's, you know, not necessarily a sneak preview, but
it's a very cool website toexperience now One thing that
I'm curious about when an onlinestore is looking to incorporate
some kind of virtual try-on ora kind of a step-by-step process
, I Would think there's sort ofa push-pull between the
(17:10):
decision-makers.
Do we force people into thisstep-by-step process and we
could like lose people who wantto just go their own way,
because the old, the, the, thestandard way is, they can click
around, they can choose theiroptions and it's all kind of
selectable all at once.
When a lot of these streamlinethings like the virtual try-on
(17:31):
is kind of you have to do stepone and then step two, step
three, and there's that risk ofkind of losing someone who
doesn't want to follow throughthat.
Have you seen any of thosedecisions happening and and
where people have decided not togo with it because of just that
experience?
Speaker 2 (17:49):
That's a good question.
I mean, there are definitelystatistics on shopping cart
abandonment and the fact that ifyour website takes too long to
load, you can lose people thereon certain pages.
I would assume if some of thesevirtual try-ons are taking a
really long time to load, theywill absolutely lose consumers
there.
The nice thing is, when I'veseen them incorporated, like on
(18:10):
the Knicks website and on this,any optical website you can
definitely opt out of it.
You certainly don't, you know,have to try them on that way.
So I would think that anyonethat's engaging with it is open
to the fact that it may take alittle longer To experiment on
that website then it would ifthey weren't doing a virtual
try-on.
But one thing I did notice withthe Knicks website that I I
(18:31):
would like to see maybe improvedis the fact that when some of
the Shades are out of stock thenyou can't try them on virtually
.
So that's a little bit toughbecause with a shade that's not
the type of thing where you canjust buy a different shade
because it's in stock.
You it really has to match yourskin tone.
So you know, it's things likethat that I still think a lot of
(18:52):
these virtual try-ons Do haveto work through and and allow
for those aspects to be a bitironed out, because Maybe
there's a shade in there that Iwould want to buy and I could
waitlist myself for it.
But if I can't virtually try iton, I may just say I'll forget
it.
I'll try a different formula,either, you know, with their
website or with a differentretailer.
Speaker 1 (19:10):
It's very good point.
We kind of covered this, but Iwas curious why?
Why do you think that someretail websites are falling
behind, you know, is there anykind of specific Curtle or
challenge that they're thatthey're hitting?
Speaker 2 (19:25):
Yeah, I mean from a behind the scenes technology
standpoint.
So from more of the CINTperspective, there are
definitely challenges thatretailers are facing and they
are serving as hurdles andreasons why they're not able to
provide the best shoppingexperience.
And a lot of that is mostlyassociated with not wanting to
(19:46):
necessarily invest in either along term project and what's
required there, or also, if it'snot necessarily even the money,
part of it it is just theknowledge that a lot of other
aspects may have to be reworkedin order to overhaul some of the
other elements.
So when you think aboutcomposable architectures, for
(20:08):
example, getting a retailer to acomposable architecture ends up
being a really big victoryultimately, because then they
can make these tweaks throughoutthe technology stack later on.
That don't take apart the stackas a whole, but becoming
composable isn't somethingthat's done overnight
necessarily.
So I think that that tends tobe.
(20:28):
One of the big challenges is, ifyou're going to be a retailer
who realistically should havethat architecture, there are
going to be some hurdles thatyou'll have to accept things
like time and money and maybebuilding out certain teams to
really support that wholeendeavor.
So I think that's one aspect andthen, from more of the B2C side
(20:50):
.
Some of the challenges I see isjust deciding whether these
retailers want to be reallychaotic and throw all of their
merchandise at the consumerright away, so that they're
seeing everything, or being alittle bit more intentional
about it but then worrying thatthey're running the risk of not
exposing the consumer toeverything that they offer and
(21:11):
everything that they could sellthem.
So there were a lot of kind ofopposite end of the spectrum
examples, as I've been auditing,where some of the retailers
have absolutely everything onthe wall and they're trying to
see what sticks with theconsumer and then other
retailers just have very minimalmerchandising strategies but
the consumer might leave becausethey're not convinced that the
(21:33):
retailer sells what they'relooking for.
So that tends to be anotherchallenge that we hadn't talked
about before.
Speaker 1 (21:39):
So to kind of summarize that it's a tech leap
where there's some foundationalpieces that cost a lot to change
and may take.
Maybe the existing team isn'teven equipped to make that
change.
Speaker 2 (21:54):
Exactly, it's intimidating for a lot of
businesses.
I think it's absolutely worthit because it's a long-term
strategy, but sometimes inretail, long-term strategies are
terrifying to retailers becausethe industry moves so quickly.
Speaker 1 (22:08):
Yeah, and then that I thought of the word funnel when
you said the merchandisingstrategy.
Maybe the home page or thefirst things are advertising
bring them to kind of there'sdifferent strategies.
Maybe low-ticket items are thefirst thing and then once they
opt in, then there's kind ofthis middle level and then your
(22:31):
best customers kind of get toknow the select stock.
Yeah, I won't go down thatrabbit hole on this one, but I
would love to talk about thatsometime.
Speaker 2 (22:40):
Yeah, I mean, you can bring in consumers in so many
different ways, with differentpricing strategies, with
different merchandisingstrategies.
Absolutely, and when weconducted our personalization
research, what we saw fromconsumers was that they don't
want to feel like they'remissing out on being shown
product.
They want to make the kind offiltering decisions for
themselves.
So you do have to be carefulthat you show them a ton of
(23:02):
options but you're notoverwhelming them, and it's been
hard for me to find retailersthat are really striking that
correct balance from a virtualstandpoint.
Speaker 1 (23:10):
That's good insight, because you'd think I'm afraid
to show them everything.
But if you have enoughself-selecting usability, then
you should.
Speaker 2 (23:21):
Exactly, exactly.
Speaker 1 (23:23):
Is this something where retailers can invest in
small, incremental ways, or isit always a big fundamental
change?
Speaker 2 (23:31):
Yeah, absolutely, and I think that might even be kind
of a misconception when itcomes to composable
architectures is that you haveto do it all at once.
You definitely don't.
It's just that when you do that, even though it's baby steps,
ideally you're doing it with theintention of it ultimately
being to execute on a long termvision.
(23:52):
But there are certainly waysthat you can bring in technology
providers that Are not going torequire you to overhaul
absolutely everything about yourstack in one go, and, for us at
least, we do really work withour clients to ensure that it's
the right approach for them, andwe bring in the partners that
(24:13):
actually are relevant to theproject, based on what their
needs are and what they wantthere.
So it really just depends, butI do think that's surfacing.
Another component of theintimidation experience that
some of these retailers aregoing through is feeling like
they have to do it all at once.
Are they really have to committo doing it all at once to keep
(24:34):
up with consumer demands, and Ithink that's also stopping a lot
of them from making thosedecisions for sure.
Speaker 1 (24:40):
Let's let's jump into the holiday season for sites.
You've been looking a lot intothis and I'm curious from your
perspective this is.
It could be just opinion or youmay have some solid data on
this, but what are some of thosetech trends that are key for
this upcoming holiday season?
Speaker 2 (25:00):
So I think we all know that I will definitely be
incorporated in even more waysthan retailers had previously
been incorporating it.
They've kind of giventhemselves permission now
because it's been such a hottopic in the space.
The way I see it beingincorporated is definitely to
elevate customer serviceexperiences, so we're not going
(25:23):
to be seeing the traditionalchatbots that consumers get
really frustrated with.
We will actually see GenerativeAI being used as a tool here,
will also see AI leverage tooptimize delivery routes and to
make sure that demandforecasting is more accurate
than ever before, which I thinkwe'll all be very grateful for.
I also think in stores will seemore point of sale technology
(25:47):
introduced, just so that we cancreate some of those
efficiencies, because I do thinkconsumers will be flocking to
brick and mortar At higher ratesthan at least the last two
years, and I know you know someretailers are already attempting
to experiment with point ofsale solutions more, but I think
the holiday season is a greattime to really roll that out and
ensure that consumers areflowing through the store as
(26:08):
quickly as possible.
So that's that's anothertechnological aspect that I
think we would see, and thentons of QR codes.
I know we're already startingto see those, but I think those
will be more likely to be usedin the future.
So those are just a few things,but I do think it can be
overwhelming to roll out newtechnology during the holiday
season, but I think that thisyear having everybody excited
(26:30):
about AI has also kind of openedthe floodgates for everyone to
be excited about other potentialTechnological innovation in
retail.
I'm hearing a lot of customerexperience.
Yeah, yeah, it's always thecustomer experience.
Everyone has to enjoy the pathto purchase, otherwise I think
(26:51):
they'll go elsewhere.
I really do.
Speaker 1 (26:54):
And I heard the word AI, so whoever was playing a
drinking game?
Speaker 2 (26:58):
with that, that keyword, you got it in terms of
AI.
Now, that's an interestingthing because so many people are
excited about it and there havebeen a few other trends in the
past.
Speaker 1 (27:10):
You know, every year there's the retail conferences.
Talk about the retailconferences, and the retail
conferences are very much in thehands of the people who are
interested in the retailconferences, and I think that's
the best you know.
Every year, there's the retailconferences.
Talk about another differentthing, right?
So metaverse.
(27:31):
What was the other one?
Speaker 2 (27:35):
Omni channel for a lot and like connected commerce.
There's been a lot of differentbuzzwords.
Speaker 1 (27:41):
I think there were some years where cryptocurrency
was a thing.
Speaker 2 (27:45):
Oh yeah.
Speaker 1 (27:47):
And it's like all of those, at least the metaverse
and blockchain had someexcitement but also some a lot
of fear, and I think AI has ahealthy amount of fear but, like
in general, people are able totouch it, type into it.
If I mean, I would, I would betI don't know what 75 percent of
(28:08):
marketers have tried it.
I don't know there should besome stat there, but it seems
like anyone I talked to doesn'thave like a fear around it.
They have like a practical I'veexperienced it.
Right, it helped me organizesome kind of spreadsheet to help
me do this.
I wrote my resume with it andso there's that's something that
(28:29):
I think metaverse or blockchainor some of the other things
have not had, which is thatpractical hands on experience
that counters the feardefinitely leads to more of a
friendly acceptance on theconsumer level.
Speaker 2 (28:46):
Totally.
I think the word that comes tomind is really accessibility,
and we last year did ask ourconsumers how many of them had
shopped in the metaverse and howmany of them intended to, and
the numbers were absurd, wheremost people I think it was 80
percent said they hadn't yet,and we measured this across all
(29:07):
generations and no generationwas over indexing really on
being in the metaverse.
The same thing to your pointgoes with blockchain.
I know cryptocurrency wasreally big in the gambling
community, especially startingin like 2014.
I felt like that was beingtalked about a lot, but both the
metaverse and cryptocurrencyare similar and I know there's a
lot of overlap between them,but they're similar in the sense
(29:30):
that they tend to really startwith younger generations and
they are not necessarilyaccessible to all because, like
you said, they're very nervewracking concepts for
generations that wouldn't havebeen born into using them,
whereas with something like chat, gpt, anyone can go online
right now, can give it a try,can see how useful it is, how
(29:53):
harmless it can be.
Certainly, generative AI has adark side.
I think we all can acknowledgethat but that there's also, you
know, a very positive side tothe innovation there, and so I
think that that barrier tendsnot to exist with AI, especially
because also retailers havebeen using AI For years.
They just weren't reallytalking about it.
(30:14):
It was inherent in a lot oftheir modeling and so now that
it's being talked about andthey're sharing the examples and
use cases for it, I thinkpeople are realizing oh well,
that's been happening for awhile, like I've seen those
examples in action, which makesit less scary in a lot of ways.
Speaker 1 (30:32):
Okay, this is more of a wild card question.
So look into the future,knowing that you're someone who
looks at this blue sky, lookingat the art gallery, and you
think of something really crazy.
What is one big innovation thatmight catch retailers off guard
?
Speaker 2 (30:50):
This is a very tough question because I think it will
come from technology, and Ithink it will specifically come
from consumer orientedtechnology.
So Consumers will learn somesort of behavior and expectation
from a new consumertechnologies that is rolled out,
(31:10):
and then they will kind ofdemand it of the shopping
experience.
It doesn't happen that oftenand I think retailers thought
that's what the metaverse wasgoing to be.
I don't necessarily think itwas, but I do think one aspect
of it in particular could stillsurface as something that will
(31:31):
catch retailers off guard, andthat is just that a couple days
ago, roblox announced a few newbenefits to the experience and
just kind of features andfunctionalities you can do like
a live call to someone withinRoblox, as long as they have the
account.
So they're really getting moreand more lifelike and, yeah,
(31:53):
incorporating some featuresthere that I think will change
the way consumers want tointeract with technology when it
comes to shopping as well.
So that, and then we have a newyou know a bunch of new Apple
announcements coming out in justtwo hours.
I wouldn't be surprised ifthere's something embedded in
there that may throw retailersfor a bit of a loop as well.
Speaker 1 (32:13):
Okay, are we going to float it like a mystery?
Speaker 2 (32:16):
Yeah, because I genuinely have no idea.
I don't know.
I just have a feeling, justgiven the feedback that Apple
was given on their lastannouncement with I'm blanking
on the name, but the gogglesVision Pro.
Vision Pro exactly.
Just given the feedback and thenature of how that was received
(32:40):
, I think maybe you know therewas some pressure put on this
next announcement to be a bitmore impactful, and I wouldn't
be surprised if that impacttrickles into the retail space.
I truly have no clue what itcould be, but I just I think
that whatever throws retailersfor a loop is going to be rooted
(33:01):
in consumer native technologythat we really start to love and
adapt to, and then we want tobring the behaviors that it
teaches us to the shopping space.
Speaker 1 (33:12):
So it could be a takeaway that retailers should
look to the consumers what arethey doing in their personal
life and what are they going todemand that retailers are going
to conform to that kind ofpersonal behavior, rather than
looking to other retailers whomight be pushing something of
their own.
Keep your eyes on consumers.
Speaker 2 (33:37):
Exactly.
I always think that innovationshould come from some sort of
hidden gem discovery that issourced through consumer
behaviors and consumer insights,because it goes back to push
versus pull right, and if youare pushing things on consumers
that don't align with theirinherent behaviors, it's you're
(34:01):
fighting an uphill battle.
So I definitely think retailerscan always benefit from
learning from the consumer andthen cultivating an experience
that is still innovative andedgy, but it aligns with our
needs and expectations that arealready existing.
Speaker 1 (34:17):
That's a really good insight.
I think we can wrap up there.
Thank you, Melissa, for yourinsights.
This is I've learned so muchfrom you.
Love to just have you back onthe show sometime.
But thanks to everyone fortaking the time out to listen to
today's episode, and if youfound today's discussion
valuable, don't forget to hitthe subscribe on your favorite
(34:37):
podcast platform.
And for latest news, engagingdiscussions and a vibrant
community of retail enthusiastslike Melissa, be sure to visit
our website, retailwirecom.
See you next time.
Welcome to the Retail Wire Podcast, your source for
all things retail.
Whether you're a seasonedindustry veteran or just dipping
your toes into the world ofretail, our podcast is your
one-stop shop for the latesttrends, insights and discussions
that are shaping the future ofretail.
Let's dive in to today'sepisode, melissa.
What's the biggest tech mistakeretailers are making right now
(00:35):
and what's at risk for them?
Speaker 2 (00:37):
Tech mistake.
Sadly, there are a few, I think.
In terms of thebrick-and-mortar store, I don't
think it's being incorporatedthe right ways.
I'm seeing some smart fittingrooms being approached in ways
that are really tough forconsumers to actually leverage
and creates more inefficienciesrather than seamlessness.
I would go with that one firstand foremost.
Speaker 1 (00:58):
Let's back up a little bit, because I jumped
right in with the first questionwhat's your current role and
your focus in your career?
Speaker 2 (01:06):
I am the director of retail strategy for a digital
solutions provider called CINT.
I have been here for almostthree years.
My role is to identify emergingand current retail trends so
that we can stay on top of ourclient work and ensure that
we're providing the besttechnology stack for the most
optimized consumer solutions inthe retail space.
(01:29):
We do also have financialservices clients.
We have health and lifesciences clients.
My focus is just the retailindustry and making sure our
offering is relevant to theneeds of retailers today for
their consumers.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
I'm really curious what drove you to focus on
retail technology.
Was that always an interest ofyours or did it evolve over the
years?
Speaker 2 (01:52):
It definitely evolved by way of working at Gartner.
Actually, I originally startedat Target headquarters.
I was in merchandisepresentation and store design,
partnering with buyers forTarget Canada to make sure that
the experience was reallyshoppable in the domestics
category.
While I was there, I realizedthat I actually wanted to take
(02:14):
an earlier step in the path topurchase journey and identify
from market research what theconsumer insights were that
would drive shoppers todifferent parts of the store.
That's really what fascinatesme in just shifting consumer
behaviors.
I ended up at Gartner for aboutsix years.
It was then that I was reallyexposed to the technology that
(02:35):
powers the actual retail trendsand strategies.
When I ended up at CINT and thefact that they are a digital
solutions provider and theyreally focus on the technology
that enables these experiencesit, just by nature of the role
that they hired me for, ended upbecoming a big part of my
career and what I'm alwaysthinking about now.
(02:56):
It's not just what areconsumers doing and how do they
want to shop, but what does thetechnology then need to look
like to enable that shoppingexperience for them?
Speaker 1 (03:08):
It makes me think like this isn't the type of
career where there's a clearbachelor's degree program
designed specifically for it.
Speaker 2 (03:18):
How have you been able to?
Speaker 1 (03:19):
keep up and learn.
Is it on the job?
Is it life experience?
Where do you stay ahead onstaying educated on it?
Speaker 2 (03:29):
Yeah, you definitely have to be curious.
I think it's a great point thatyou bring up.
I did focus on marketing andundergrad and then when I went
to grad school, my focus wasalso marketing and market
research, just because I loveunderstanding what makes
consumers tick and why theywould buy one brand over another
or why they would go to acertain retailer over another
(03:49):
and just how their spendingpatterns would change stuff like
that.
But then I think it's thateducation mixed with.
I'm just a really naturallycurious person and I will get
bored if I'm not learning everyday.
I really enjoy going to placeslike Retail Wire every single
day to make sure that I'mstaying up on what's happening
in the space and whether or notconsumers are in lockstep with
(04:13):
the industry and what brands aretrying to push out for them.
It's a combination of gettingthat fire lit in undergrad with
market research experience andthen realizing that if I wanted
to actually put that insight andinformation into practice, I
would have to go to who actuallypowers those experiences for
retailers.
Speaker 1 (04:33):
It's really interesting.
The world of technology,especially, is one where you
kind of are on the front lines.
Whether you like it or not, youhave to be always there.
I'm curious being director ofretail strategy, how is that
shape your views and how do youthink that your point of view is
(04:57):
unique compared to yourcolleagues?
What did they look to you foras far as a unique perspective?
Speaker 2 (05:06):
Yeah, these questions actually go hand in hand,
because I would say what'sunique about me is I tend to be
a little bit idealistic in myapproach.
I'll go with the most blue skyideas.
I like to borrow fromcategories outside of retail and
learn there.
I love to travel and see whatinternational markets are doing
and what I can bring back aslearnings here, because I think
(05:28):
there are a lot of countriesthat are way ahead of us in
terms of providing shopperexperiences and doing things
that our retailers aren't evenimagining.
I like to bring a lot of thatinspiration.
I love going to art museums andsourcing inspiration there
because I like the way artiststhink about.
Speaker 1 (05:45):
I would not have thought of that.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
Yeah, it's a great place just to kind of mix up my
mindset and be exposed to atopic that wouldn't necessarily
make it into my day-to-day rolebut then forces me to think
about shopping differently.
That's really interesting to me.
My approach is unique in thesense that my inspiration
sources are kind of unique Interms of what my role at CINT
(06:10):
has taught me and how it'schanged how I think about the
space.
It's had to ground me a littlebit, because I will come in
pretty hot with some of theseideas and I'll say let's do this
, let's create this type ofexperience when we're crafting
some type of proposal for aclient and then we take a look
at the technology behind thescenes and we realize, okay, we
(06:33):
need to do this in baby steps.
It's not going to be overnightand it's also going to require
XYZ to happen first in order toget us to that destination.
I definitely didn't set outnecessarily to incorporate
technology into my career, butit has made me much more
realistic and a little bit morehumble when I start
(06:55):
brainstorming for a prospect orfor a client.
Speaker 1 (06:59):
It's interesting to think about technology as a
grounding aspect because oftenpeople see it especially now
with AI it's like the sky is thelimit.
We can do anything now butcoming from more of a marketing
and branding side, where you canbrand something any way you
want, it can be risky if youtake a completely different
(07:19):
anti-brand approach.
But technology being agrounding aspect to your
creativity is just such aninteresting angle I never would
have thought of.
Speaker 2 (07:30):
Yeah, it's kind of ironic when you point it out.
Sometimes it's the other wayaround, but for me that is
because I am a little bit uniquein my perspective.
I will go sometimes fartherthan technology can, versus the
other way around with mythinking, Speaking of technology
and kind of seeing a gap in themarket.
Speaker 1 (07:50):
where do you think that brick and mortar physical
stores are neglecting thistechnology?
Where is there a gap that yousee?
Speaker 2 (07:59):
There's just so many spaces to or room to create
efficiencies.
Yesterday I was shopping and Iwas asking a sales associate if
they had my size in somethingthey didn't in stock and I asked
her like, okay, well, you knowwhat can I do about that?
And she said, oh, you can orderit online and get it shipped to
your home, but I would havejust shopped online if I were
(08:21):
going to do that.
So I think there's an automaticgap there of how can we ensure
that retailers are achievingconversion in physical stores
when certain operationalefficiencies aren't humming
along like there aren't perfectin stocks, right.
So I think that's one bigopportunity.
There's also many stores thatstruggle with their fitting room
(08:43):
lines.
I won't necessarily name names,but there are certain retailers
where I know I'm not trying onclothes when I go there.
I'm going to have to just buythings and hope for the best and
potentially return, which makesme a horrible person because I
know better, but I don't havetime to wait in that fitting
room line.
Or similarly, with a cashregister line.
(09:03):
There are some stores that justreally struggle with that, and
those are all primeopportunities for technology to
intervene and make theexperience more efficient for
both the sales associate and thecustomer and kind of that
relationship, to be like the dotconnector in physical stores.
So those are our call outs thatI would make for sure.
Speaker 1 (09:22):
Just that example of they didn't have the size and
they turned you away, basicallyto fend for yourself.
Speaker 2 (09:29):
Exactly.
Speaker 1 (09:30):
Now an alternative would be the associate has a
device or technology to be ableto help you through that process
.
Maybe she saw you and thought,oh, here's a young person, she
can figure it out, but on theother side she might stereotype
someone who's older and go, hey,let me help you through that.
(09:52):
So missed opportunity there,because she kind of assumed that
you can fend for yourself andjust buy it online.
Hey, it's easy.
Speaker 2 (10:02):
Yeah, I think that's a good point.
I hadn't even thought aboutthat, but I do think now,
because so many brick and mortarchains have an online presence
most I think they do actuallyrely a little bit too heavily on
that presence sometimes, and itcomes at the cost of the
associate customer relationshipor just how positive the
(10:24):
experience ends up being inphysical stores.
And I think when you look at alot of retailers' websites as
well, the same thing ishappening in reverse, where
you'll look at a website andI'll think, oh, this is.
I mean, I'm conducting an auditright now for our annual
Connected Retail Report and I'mlooking at so many websites
every day and I'm so frustrated.
(10:46):
One, because we take care ofthose things.
So it's something that I knowcan be done better and I know
how it can be done better.
But two, I think it's happeningboth ways.
I think and I know you guys hadan article about this on
RetailWire today was just isOmniChannel strategy becoming
almost a crutch for retailers?
(11:06):
And knowing that they havemultiple channels, does that
mean that they're putting lessinvestment in each of them?
Because in aggregate, they'rejust spending so much?
You really have to build upevery single presence and you
can't assume that a consumer isgoing to just figure it out and
DIY the experience, because youhave other channels available to
them.
Speaker 1 (11:25):
That's good.
Are there categories, as you'redoing these audits, are there
certain categories of retailthat are just further behind
than others?
Speaker 2 (11:38):
You're smiling really big Okay grocery.
Because I really wanted to bring.
I'm trying to diversify theexamples in the report.
I want different categories.
I cannot, for the life of me,get a grocery example that I
feel super good about, in termsof both the aesthetics of the
(11:59):
experience and the efficiency ofit.
Usually it's one or the otherit's very shoppable, it's very
easy, but it's not visuallyappealing in any way.
Or it's the other way aroundit's a lot of fun to shop, but
it's not efficient, it's notmission focused, and consumers
are both today, and so I wouldsay grocery is part of.
(12:22):
It is because Americanconsumers don't really buy their
groceries online.
So maybe out of necessity,retailers are comfortable
letting that channel go a littlebit, but that's been very
discouraging for me to see.
Speaker 1 (12:35):
From my experience actually I have not shopped
grocery online probably for twoyears but I remember the
experience being almost like I'mjust looking at their inventory
, versus you shop at anotherstore.
There'd be a splash page,there'd be something showing
more the lifestyle or you wouldthink if you go to the organic
(12:58):
section there'd be somethingabout the lifestyle that
imprints that feeling.
But I felt like the productswere just lined up like just a
big inventory with categoriesyou can click through.
Speaker 2 (13:15):
Exactly, and grocery this is something I'm so
passionate about because groceryis such a routinized shopping
category for us.
We all have our local grocerystore kind of memorized and the
blueprint is in the back of ourminds.
We know exactly which aisleswe're likely going to go most of
the time, and so there needs tobe a parallel experience online
(13:38):
so that we feel confident thatwe can just zigzag through it
like we would in person, getwhat we need, but also feel like
it was a really enjoyableexperience, especially because,
for people who like to cook, itis part of that whole path to
purchase is brainstorming therecipe, figuring out what
ingredients you don't have onhand, all of that, and so we're
(14:00):
starting to see some grocerscreate content and incorporate
that into their websites.
But overall, the struggle hasbeen real to find a grocery
store that I really like.
Their online channel, and Iwould say some of the department
stores and discount departmentstores are struggling with that
too.
Speaker 1 (14:19):
Have you seen any standout stores that are leading
this tech change, whether it'sin store or website?
Speaker 2 (14:27):
So I am including I kind of broke my rule in my
report because I wanted all theexamples to have all three a
online store, a physical storeand an app.
But I came across Zeni opticalwhile I was doing all of this
and their website is Incredible.
(14:47):
They don't have abrick-and-mortar presence, but I
decided I need to include themin the report because they
incorporate virtual try-on insuch a precise way.
They have, you know, oralinstructions for just how to
walk you through getting the thedifferent glasses on and trying
them and making sure that itmatches with you know your face
(15:10):
shape.
But they have a whole guidewith that.
They have so many cool features.
I've been really impressed withthem.
So, and it's a very easilyshoppable website.
It's, yeah, it's a really coolexperience.
I would say definitely check itout if you haven't seen it.
Speaker 1 (15:24):
I've seen.
I've actually been a customerfor probably six years.
Yeah and Well, I mean theprices.
When they first came out it was, you know, $35 for a pair of
glasses prescription when you gointo a store and you'd have to
do like a double down deal toget even $99 frames.
So I I have probably like 12pairs of glasses from them
(15:50):
because I always buy likemultiple.
The virtual try-on is reallyinteresting.
You know, you have your, yourphone and you hit a button and
then you have to turn, turn yourface and it gets at least one
turn of your face so you cankind of see the glasses from a
few angles.
Speaker 2 (16:08):
Yeah, and I love that .
It coaches you through.
From an accessibilitystandpoint.
You know they have some writteninstructions and then they also
have those auditoryinstructions and I think that's
really cool.
It's so detailed and it tellsyou if you want this accurately
to scale.
Hold up, you know, a creditcard or your driver's license.
If you don't care as much, youdon't need to do that.
I've seen a few other websitesincorporate virtual try-on and I
(16:31):
tend to be kind of a naysayerof it just because I think we as
consumers are so tactical andwe don't really trust.
But I would.
I would trust theirs and thenalso Nick's cosmetics has some
really good virtual try-on, butyeah, I didn't end up going with
them in the report, so I don'tfeel as bad sharing that one
right now.
Speaker 1 (16:49):
It's, you know, not necessarily a sneak preview, but
it's a very cool website toexperience now One thing that
I'm curious about when an onlinestore is looking to incorporate
some kind of virtual try-on ora kind of a step-by-step process
, I Would think there's sort ofa push-pull between the
(17:10):
decision-makers.
Do we force people into thisstep-by-step process and we
could like lose people who wantto just go their own way,
because the old, the, the, thestandard way is, they can click
around, they can choose theiroptions and it's all kind of
selectable all at once.
When a lot of these streamlinethings like the virtual try-on
(17:31):
is kind of you have to do stepone and then step two, step
three, and there's that risk ofkind of losing someone who
doesn't want to follow throughthat.
Have you seen any of thosedecisions happening and and
where people have decided not togo with it because of just that
experience?
Speaker 2 (17:49):
That's a good question.
I mean, there are definitelystatistics on shopping cart
abandonment and the fact that ifyour website takes too long to
load, you can lose people thereon certain pages.
I would assume if some of thesevirtual try-ons are taking a
really long time to load, theywill absolutely lose consumers
there.
The nice thing is, when I'veseen them incorporated, like on
(18:10):
the Knicks website and on this,any optical website you can
definitely opt out of it.
You certainly don't, you know,have to try them on that way.
So I would think that anyonethat's engaging with it is open
to the fact that it may take alittle longer To experiment on
that website then it would ifthey weren't doing a virtual
try-on.
But one thing I did notice withthe Knicks website that I I
(18:31):
would like to see maybe improvedis the fact that when some of
the Shades are out of stock thenyou can't try them on virtually
.
So that's a little bit toughbecause with a shade that's not
the type of thing where you canjust buy a different shade
because it's in stock.
You it really has to match yourskin tone.
So you know, it's things likethat that I still think a lot of
(18:52):
these virtual try-ons Do haveto work through and and allow
for those aspects to be a bitironed out, because Maybe
there's a shade in there that Iwould want to buy and I could
waitlist myself for it.
But if I can't virtually try iton, I may just say I'll forget
it.
I'll try a different formula,either, you know, with their
website or with a differentretailer.
Speaker 1 (19:10):
It's very good point.
We kind of covered this, but Iwas curious why?
Why do you think that someretail websites are falling
behind, you know, is there anykind of specific Curtle or
challenge that they're thatthey're hitting?
Speaker 2 (19:25):
Yeah, I mean from a behind the scenes technology
standpoint.
So from more of the CINTperspective, there are
definitely challenges thatretailers are facing and they
are serving as hurdles andreasons why they're not able to
provide the best shoppingexperience.
And a lot of that is mostlyassociated with not wanting to
(19:46):
necessarily invest in either along term project and what's
required there, or also, if it'snot necessarily even the money,
part of it it is just theknowledge that a lot of other
aspects may have to be reworkedin order to overhaul some of the
other elements.
So when you think aboutcomposable architectures, for
(20:08):
example, getting a retailer to acomposable architecture ends up
being a really big victoryultimately, because then they
can make these tweaks throughoutthe technology stack later on.
That don't take apart the stackas a whole, but becoming
composable isn't somethingthat's done overnight
necessarily.
So I think that that tends tobe.
(20:28):
One of the big challenges is, ifyou're going to be a retailer
who realistically should havethat architecture, there are
going to be some hurdles thatyou'll have to accept things
like time and money and maybebuilding out certain teams to
really support that wholeendeavor.
So I think that's one aspect andthen, from more of the B2C side
(20:50):
.
Some of the challenges I see isjust deciding whether these
retailers want to be reallychaotic and throw all of their
merchandise at the consumerright away, so that they're
seeing everything, or being alittle bit more intentional
about it but then worrying thatthey're running the risk of not
exposing the consumer toeverything that they offer and
(21:11):
everything that they could sellthem.
So there were a lot of kind ofopposite end of the spectrum
examples, as I've been auditing,where some of the retailers
have absolutely everything onthe wall and they're trying to
see what sticks with theconsumer and then other
retailers just have very minimalmerchandising strategies but
the consumer might leave becausethey're not convinced that the
(21:33):
retailer sells what they'relooking for.
So that tends to be anotherchallenge that we hadn't talked
about before.
Speaker 1 (21:39):
So to kind of summarize that it's a tech leap
where there's some foundationalpieces that cost a lot to change
and may take.
Maybe the existing team isn'teven equipped to make that
change.
Speaker 2 (21:54):
Exactly, it's intimidating for a lot of
businesses.
I think it's absolutely worthit because it's a long-term
strategy, but sometimes inretail, long-term strategies are
terrifying to retailers becausethe industry moves so quickly.
Speaker 1 (22:08):
Yeah, and then that I thought of the word funnel when
you said the merchandisingstrategy.
Maybe the home page or thefirst things are advertising
bring them to kind of there'sdifferent strategies.
Maybe low-ticket items are thefirst thing and then once they
opt in, then there's kind ofthis middle level and then your
(22:31):
best customers kind of get toknow the select stock.
Yeah, I won't go down thatrabbit hole on this one, but I
would love to talk about thatsometime.
Speaker 2 (22:40):
Yeah, I mean, you can bring in consumers in so many
different ways, with differentpricing strategies, with
different merchandisingstrategies.
Absolutely, and when weconducted our personalization
research, what we saw fromconsumers was that they don't
want to feel like they'remissing out on being shown
product.
They want to make the kind offiltering decisions for
themselves.
So you do have to be carefulthat you show them a ton of
(23:02):
options but you're notoverwhelming them, and it's been
hard for me to find retailersthat are really striking that
correct balance from a virtualstandpoint.
Speaker 1 (23:10):
That's good insight, because you'd think I'm afraid
to show them everything.
But if you have enoughself-selecting usability, then
you should.
Speaker 2 (23:21):
Exactly, exactly.
Speaker 1 (23:23):
Is this something where retailers can invest in
small, incremental ways, or isit always a big fundamental
change?
Speaker 2 (23:31):
Yeah, absolutely, and I think that might even be kind
of a misconception when itcomes to composable
architectures is that you haveto do it all at once.
You definitely don't.
It's just that when you do that, even though it's baby steps,
ideally you're doing it with theintention of it ultimately
being to execute on a long termvision.
(23:52):
But there are certainly waysthat you can bring in technology
providers that Are not going torequire you to overhaul
absolutely everything about yourstack in one go, and, for us at
least, we do really work withour clients to ensure that it's
the right approach for them, andwe bring in the partners that
(24:13):
actually are relevant to theproject, based on what their
needs are and what they wantthere.
So it really just depends, butI do think that's surfacing.
Another component of theintimidation experience that
some of these retailers aregoing through is feeling like
they have to do it all at once.
Are they really have to committo doing it all at once to keep
(24:34):
up with consumer demands, and Ithink that's also stopping a lot
of them from making thosedecisions for sure.
Speaker 1 (24:40):
Let's let's jump into the holiday season for sites.
You've been looking a lot intothis and I'm curious from your
perspective this is.
It could be just opinion or youmay have some solid data on
this, but what are some of thosetech trends that are key for
this upcoming holiday season?
Speaker 2 (25:00):
So I think we all know that I will definitely be
incorporated in even more waysthan retailers had previously
been incorporating it.
They've kind of giventhemselves permission now
because it's been such a hottopic in the space.
The way I see it beingincorporated is definitely to
elevate customer serviceexperiences, so we're not going
(25:23):
to be seeing the traditionalchatbots that consumers get
really frustrated with.
We will actually see GenerativeAI being used as a tool here,
will also see AI leverage tooptimize delivery routes and to
make sure that demandforecasting is more accurate
than ever before, which I thinkwe'll all be very grateful for.
I also think in stores will seemore point of sale technology
(25:47):
introduced, just so that we cancreate some of those
efficiencies, because I do thinkconsumers will be flocking to
brick and mortar At higher ratesthan at least the last two
years, and I know you know someretailers are already attempting
to experiment with point ofsale solutions more, but I think
the holiday season is a greattime to really roll that out and
ensure that consumers areflowing through the store as
(26:08):
quickly as possible.
So that's that's anothertechnological aspect that I
think we would see, and thentons of QR codes.
I know we're already startingto see those, but I think those
will be more likely to be usedin the future.
So those are just a few things,but I do think it can be
overwhelming to roll out newtechnology during the holiday
season, but I think that thisyear having everybody excited
(26:30):
about AI has also kind of openedthe floodgates for everyone to
be excited about other potentialTechnological innovation in
retail.
I'm hearing a lot of customerexperience.
Yeah, yeah, it's always thecustomer experience.
Everyone has to enjoy the pathto purchase, otherwise I think
(26:51):
they'll go elsewhere.
I really do.
Speaker 1 (26:54):
And I heard the word AI, so whoever was playing a
drinking game?
Speaker 2 (26:58):
with that, that keyword, you got it in terms of
AI.
Now, that's an interestingthing because so many people are
excited about it and there havebeen a few other trends in the
past.
Speaker 1 (27:10):
You know, every year there's the retail conferences.
Talk about the retailconferences, and the retail
conferences are very much in thehands of the people who are
interested in the retailconferences, and I think that's
the best you know.
Every year, there's the retailconferences.
Talk about another differentthing, right?
So metaverse.
(27:31):
What was the other one?
Speaker 2 (27:35):
Omni channel for a lot and like connected commerce.
There's been a lot of differentbuzzwords.
Speaker 1 (27:41):
I think there were some years where cryptocurrency
was a thing.
Speaker 2 (27:45):
Oh yeah.
Speaker 1 (27:47):
And it's like all of those, at least the metaverse
and blockchain had someexcitement but also some a lot
of fear, and I think AI has ahealthy amount of fear but, like
in general, people are able totouch it, type into it.
If I mean, I would, I would betI don't know what 75 percent of
(28:08):
marketers have tried it.
I don't know there should besome stat there, but it seems
like anyone I talked to doesn'thave like a fear around it.
They have like a practical I'veexperienced it.
Right, it helped me organizesome kind of spreadsheet to help
me do this.
I wrote my resume with it andso there's that's something that
(28:29):
I think metaverse or blockchainor some of the other things
have not had, which is thatpractical hands on experience
that counters the feardefinitely leads to more of a
friendly acceptance on theconsumer level.
Speaker 2 (28:46):
Totally.
I think the word that comes tomind is really accessibility,
and we last year did ask ourconsumers how many of them had
shopped in the metaverse and howmany of them intended to, and
the numbers were absurd, wheremost people I think it was 80
percent said they hadn't yet,and we measured this across all
(29:07):
generations and no generationwas over indexing really on
being in the metaverse.
The same thing to your pointgoes with blockchain.
I know cryptocurrency wasreally big in the gambling
community, especially startingin like 2014.
I felt like that was beingtalked about a lot, but both the
metaverse and cryptocurrencyare similar and I know there's a
lot of overlap between them,but they're similar in the sense
(29:30):
that they tend to really startwith younger generations and
they are not necessarilyaccessible to all because, like
you said, they're very nervewracking concepts for
generations that wouldn't havebeen born into using them,
whereas with something like chat, gpt, anyone can go online
right now, can give it a try,can see how useful it is, how
(29:53):
harmless it can be.
Certainly, generative AI has adark side.
I think we all can acknowledgethat but that there's also, you
know, a very positive side tothe innovation there, and so I
think that that barrier tendsnot to exist with AI, especially
because also retailers havebeen using AI For years.
They just weren't reallytalking about it.
(30:14):
It was inherent in a lot oftheir modeling and so now that
it's being talked about andthey're sharing the examples and
use cases for it, I thinkpeople are realizing oh well,
that's been happening for awhile, like I've seen those
examples in action, which makesit less scary in a lot of ways.
Speaker 1 (30:32):
Okay, this is more of a wild card question.
So look into the future,knowing that you're someone who
looks at this blue sky, lookingat the art gallery, and you
think of something really crazy.
What is one big innovation thatmight catch retailers off guard
?
Speaker 2 (30:50):
This is a very tough question because I think it will
come from technology, and Ithink it will specifically come
from consumer orientedtechnology.
So Consumers will learn somesort of behavior and expectation
from a new consumertechnologies that is rolled out,
(31:10):
and then they will kind ofdemand it of the shopping
experience.
It doesn't happen that oftenand I think retailers thought
that's what the metaverse wasgoing to be.
I don't necessarily think itwas, but I do think one aspect
of it in particular could stillsurface as something that will
(31:31):
catch retailers off guard, andthat is just that a couple days
ago, roblox announced a few newbenefits to the experience and
just kind of features andfunctionalities you can do like
a live call to someone withinRoblox, as long as they have the
account.
So they're really getting moreand more lifelike and, yeah,
(31:53):
incorporating some featuresthere that I think will change
the way consumers want tointeract with technology when it
comes to shopping as well.
So that, and then we have a newyou know a bunch of new Apple
announcements coming out in justtwo hours.
I wouldn't be surprised ifthere's something embedded in
there that may throw retailersfor a bit of a loop as well.
Speaker 1 (32:13):
Okay, are we going to float it like a mystery?
Speaker 2 (32:16):
Yeah, because I genuinely have no idea.
I don't know.
I just have a feeling, justgiven the feedback that Apple
was given on their lastannouncement with I'm blanking
on the name, but the gogglesVision Pro.
Vision Pro exactly.
Just given the feedback and thenature of how that was received
(32:40):
, I think maybe you know therewas some pressure put on this
next announcement to be a bitmore impactful, and I wouldn't
be surprised if that impacttrickles into the retail space.
I truly have no clue what itcould be, but I just I think
that whatever throws retailersfor a loop is going to be rooted
(33:01):
in consumer native technologythat we really start to love and
adapt to, and then we want tobring the behaviors that it
teaches us to the shopping space.
Speaker 1 (33:12):
So it could be a takeaway that retailers should
look to the consumers what arethey doing in their personal
life and what are they going todemand that retailers are going
to conform to that kind ofpersonal behavior, rather than
looking to other retailers whomight be pushing something of
their own.
Keep your eyes on consumers.
Speaker 2 (33:37):
Exactly.
I always think that innovationshould come from some sort of
hidden gem discovery that issourced through consumer
behaviors and consumer insights,because it goes back to push
versus pull right, and if youare pushing things on consumers
that don't align with theirinherent behaviors, it's you're
(34:01):
fighting an uphill battle.
So I definitely think retailerscan always benefit from
learning from the consumer andthen cultivating an experience
that is still innovative andedgy, but it aligns with our
needs and expectations that arealready existing.
Speaker 1 (34:17):
That's a really good insight.
I think we can wrap up there.
Thank you, Melissa, for yourinsights.
This is I've learned so muchfrom you.
Love to just have you back onthe show sometime.
But thanks to everyone fortaking the time out to listen to
today's episode, and if youfound today's discussion
valuable, don't forget to hitthe subscribe on your favorite
(34:37):
podcast platform.
And for latest news, engagingdiscussions and a vibrant
community of retail enthusiastslike Melissa, be sure to visit
our website, retailwirecom.
See you next time.
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