{"id":9305,"date":"2019-07-08T10:39:30","date_gmt":"2019-07-08T14:39:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.brainstation.io\/?p=9305"},"modified":"2020-05-15T13:14:40","modified_gmt":"2020-05-15T17:14:40","slug":"8-experts-on-the-future-of-retail","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/8-experts-on-the-future-of-retail","title":{"rendered":"8 Experts on The Future of Retail"},"content":{"rendered":"

The close relationship consumers have with technology poses a unique challenge for retailers: creating a shopping experience that enables customers to move seamlessly between the physical and digital world.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

With this in mind, BrainStation sat down with retail executives across three cities at our Future of Retail panel series to ask about where the industry is headed and how their companies are adapting to accommodate customers’ growing relationship with technology.<\/span><\/p>\n

Retail is Changing<\/b><\/h2>\n

The <\/span>2018 Corporate Longevity Forecast<\/span><\/a> indicated that the average lifespan of an organization continues to decrease, and retailers will be among those most heavily affected.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFrom my perspective, I think the change is so significant that you have to reinvent the business model \u2013\u00a0and it can\u2019t be based on greed, it can\u2019t be based on profitability, it has to be based on values,\u201d said Ryan Lindholm, Senior Vice President of Marketing and Innovation at RYU.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The basis of interaction between retailers and customers has changed. Consumers are more informed than ever before, meaning brands have to set themselves apart.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not just what the environment or the merchant is offering, it\u2019s what the consumer is doing [that\u2019s changed],\u201d said Mike Reid, Partner and CTO at Cat Janiga Jewelry. \u201cI walk into a store with different intent than five or ten years ago because I have a smartphone. The way I interact and engage with that in-store environment has fundamentally changed.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Mat Povse, Senior Vice President of Retail and Geek Squad Services at Best Buy, explained that despite all the change, one key principle has stayed constant.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat hasn\u2019t changed in retail is that the most important currency is our time, not our money,\u201d said Povse. \u201cWe\u2019ve migrated to this ideology that time is supposed to be well spent, it\u2019s supposed to be memorable \u2013 and I think good retailers are working hard to make that happen.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Balancing Technology and Human Interaction<\/b><\/h2>\n

A big topic of conversation across all panels was the complexity of balancing a digital and physical retail presence to create a seamless experience for the customer.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cLike all other big banks, we\u2019re at a huge inflection point in the way that our customers want to interact with us,\u201d said Daniel Resnick, Director of Customer Experience and Omni Channel Strategy at Scotiabank. \u201cWe similarly face a digital wave, and we all want to have convenience and be able to do our banking from the comfort of our own homes \u2013\u00a0but our customers also need advice, and that face-to-face human contact. So we\u2019re constantly trying to figure out how we balance those two pieces.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Aaron Fernandes, Senior Director of Digital Services for Loblaw Digital, explained how Loblaw took a traditional industry and created an online element.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cDigital has finally started to make its way into grocery, into pharmacy,\u201d said Fernandes. \u201cIf we look at customer expectations, they\u2019re completely changing, so we\u2019re always experimenting and trying to figure out what the model of the future is, and what\u2019s going to stick in our particular space.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s not just about furthering your online capabilities, but creating the space to connect with your customers in a way that\u2019s meaningful. Mary Anne Savoie, the Director of Customer Experience at Mejuri, shared how the company has began connecting with their audience in the physical space.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAt Mejuri we\u2019re actually digitally native, which is the opposite of traditional,\u201d explained Savoie. \u201cAnd now we\u2019re venturing into what we call \u201cIRL\u201d \u2013 in real life \u2013\u00a0offline touchpoints. We have two locations now and a bunch more on the way.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

There is a common misconception that the future is solely digital, but what brands are discovering is that tying bricks and mortar stores to their digital presence is essential to success.<\/span><\/p>\n

How to Adapt<\/b><\/h2>\n

With this balancing act in mind, organizations are changing their retail experience to give clients the flexibility they want.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cA few years ago we decided that we would create experience stores,\u201d said Glenn Minor, Vice President, Retail Stores at Best Buy Canada. \u201cThese stores are an entirely different way for the consumer to shop \u2013\u00a0they can actually experience what they\u2019re going to buy. Experiences are what people want now.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Not only do consumers want experiences, they are expecting personalization at every stage of interaction with a brand. To do this, organizations are relying on data to tailor the experience.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cProbably more so than\u00a0 any other sector, we\u2019re sitting at the forefront of big data,\u201d said Resnick. \u201cI have a team of people who are constantly mining transaction data to understand what\u2019s driving behaviour and how we can use that to better serve you.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Everyone is relying on data, from banks to small businesses, and most organizations in between.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSomething that we\u2019re focused a lot on right now is using all of this data, and feedback, and information to personalize experiences,\u201d explained Savoie. \u201cIt\u2019s no longer \u2018who is our target market?\u2019 but \u2018who are our customers?\u2019 Each persona deserves to be communicated to uniquely.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Introducing personalized shopping experiences for customers is what allows organizations to compete with the global powerhouses. Creating relationships and understanding your consumers is crucial as we move into the future of retail.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Andrew Cherwenka, President of Touchpoints Retail Consulting, put it simply:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re building a brand, or you have a retail presence, or you have amazing stores where you host community events and bring people in for experiences that mean something, that\u2019s how you beat the giants.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BrainStation sat down with retail executives across three cities at our Future of Retail panel series to ask about where the industry is headed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":9307,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[160,336],"tags":[920,980,631,89,314],"yoast_head":"\n8 Experts on The Future of Retail | BrainStation\u00ae Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Gain insights from retail executives across three cities on where the industry is headed and how their companies are creating standout experiences.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/blog\/8-experts-on-the-future-of-retail\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" 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