From car vending machines to checkout-free shopping – businesses are pulling out all the stops to deliver exciting new customer experiences that are more convenient and personalized than ever. Those doing it best are finding new ways to capture their customers’ attention and keep them coming back.
In a Seattle, Washington, convenience store shoppers pick up snacks, groceries and toiletries and simply walk out with them. No, it’s not shoplifting. It’s the latest Amazon experiment in giving customers what they want – a quick, wait-free, brick-and-mortar shopping experience.
Cameras and sensors track shoppers’ activity as they browse and pick up items, creating a virtual cart. When they walk out of the store, the app calculates their total bill and charges it to their Amazon account.
The concept seems to be hitting the mark with consumers… Across all industries, businesses are scrambling to keep pace with rising consumer expectations by developing new customer experiences (CX) that are personalized, innovative and disruptive. To keep customers coming back, companies are finding new ways to improve the experiences they offer.
“Other businesses, including online marketplace Alibaba, are building new businesses from scratch. Alibaba’s “New Retail” concept – using technology to seamlessly merge the online and offline shopping experiences – aims to consistently engage the customer at every step of their journey.”
Current consumers live very rich digital lives, but they also require a lot of the experience in the offline world,” said Jason Ding, a partner at consulting firm Bain & Company’s Beijing office and author of a joint report with Alibaba’s AliResearch unit on New Retail. “Brands need to follow the consumer to really provide an integrated experience.”
Editor’s Note: This is an excerpt from an article written by Rebecca Lambert that first appeared in Dassault Systemes’ Compasss Magazine. To read the entire article, click here.