Best Practice

This is how the Retail of the future works: 5 hypotheses

Challenges and digital potential

One challenge is to develop a suitable business model with regard to the sales and digital transformation.

The potential for the retail sector lies in opening up new customer areas and income streams. Another challenge is to incorporate the change in customer behaviour (always online and ready to shop) into the business model. By collecting data, it is possible to gain customer insights for the personalised approach. A successful "Seamless Commerce" approach is essential in order to offer the customer added value on various distribution channels.

The most important challenge for the retail sector is to take advantage of areas of innovation such as Big Data & Analysis, Automation using Artificial Intelligence (AI), simplicity & security, loyalty & entertainment, in order to achieve increased process efficiency thanks to faster, personalised customer communication and predictive data analysis. Online continues to be on the rise: the latest figures from the German 
E-Commerce and Distance Selling Trade Association (Bundesverband E-Commerce und Versandhandel Deutschland e.V. - bevh) confirm sustained growth in online retail. In 2018, online retail took a 95 percent share of overall sales in interactive retail (online and classic mail order).

Reply's 5 hypotheses on the future of retail

The Retail trade of tomorrow based on the latest technologies

The retail of the future is personalised, customer-oriented, available anywhere, emotional, flexible, connected and uses the latest technologies. For example, voice control and digital voice assistants also offer another touchpoint with the customer. Because, with the right approach, almost all customers purchase more. The philosophy of the consumer is "shopping anywhere, any time".

This will stay in your mind

  • The change in retail concepts and sales structures can no longer be stopped.

  • New customer needs must be met with innovative technologies.

  • Targeted omnichannel management turns shopping online and offline into an experience.

  • Those who use data intelligently have an advantage.

  • Strong brands dominate the market.

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