Embracing Emerging Retail Innovations

By Matthew Rangel

If you’re into retail, then you’ll be into Shoptalk, an annual conference unveiling the latest retail and e-commerce trends and technologies coming to market. In addition, the event provides unique retail-centric insights and perspectives from leading industry speakers and exhibitors.

This was my first time attending the event, and I expected two things: a ton of people and an overload of information. While in attendance, I enjoyed hearing vital conversations about how the advancement of ethical supply chains, personalization, and artificial intelligence (AI) will continue to evolve the growth of e-commerce/retail. Sustainability was also a vital theme of the show; similar to NRF’s Retail Big Show 2023 and CES 2023, Shoptalk speakers shared information on the renovations of eco-conscious practices inside stores and warehouses. Furthermore, the conference revealed the importance of enterprise focusing on consumer preferences while investing in personalizing a hybrid (in-store and online) customer experience.

The Ethical Supply Chain

When taking a closer look, many Shoptalk exhibitors showcased a commitment to ethical sourcing and supply chain management. For example, organizations are diversifying and interconnecting inventory and fulfillment with existing data to predict sales forecasting and approve efficiency across the supply chain. Supply chain efficiencies will help reduce lead times and prove to be more sustainable companies shift to social listening and data insights to better understand and attract their core consumers.

Deborah Weinswig, Founder and CEO of Coresight Research, shared her outlook on the future of a highly connected supply chain, including the efficiency of digital twin factories and virtual replicas of physical manufacturing facilities that simulate production processes from raw material to finished products. These more advanced digitally-enabled factories can use real-time data to allow engineers to test and optimize scenarios, reducing safety hazards, costs, and energy consumption.

In-Store & Digital Shelf Personalization

Personalization may be as subtle as giving customers options to customize or using social listening on Discord to create new products with a community-driven approach, which is what Yu Oppel, Co-Founder of Cider, does to start product development and research. Having a persona for your target is of utmost importance as well, made evident by Laura Knebusch of Georgia-Pacific, who refers to one of her brand’s target audiences as “she” and “her” when she spoke about the “personification of consumers” and the influence of first-party data sources.

As necessary as it is to know what products consumers want, post-COVID has driven the need to improve the in-store experience. Throughout the panels, participants discussed how organizations must take advantage of the hybrid shopper. During a discussion, Tolga Öncü, the Retail Operations Manager (COO) at Ingka Group (IKEA Retail), revealed that more than 80% of IKEA customers begin their shopping experience online. In response to customer demand for IKEA stores closer to their residences, the company is introducing smaller-format stores that will complement its flagship locations. Tolga also touched on how necessary testing and optimizing their warehouses is for the success of their company; personalization of data leads to more of the right products produced and sold, resulting in the potential for an eco-friendlier supply chain.

AI’s Impact on Retail Operations

AI can streamline many aspects of business operations, and customer service, fuel marketing initiatives, and free up human resources to help organizations use their employees for more personable tasks and idea generation. For example, Best Buy now incorporates a video call customer service tool on their website, allowing them to create a new job style and give customers real face-to-face engagement without needing to come into a store. A notable point made by the co-founder of Pixis, Hari Aliyah, is that the

effectiveness of AI depends solely on a well-designed strategy. Nevertheless, AI is rapidly evolving and will undoubtedly have an increasingly important role in shaping the future of retail operations.

Given data is at the heart of AI privacy and social concerns, the rapidly developing technology is likely to face regulation challenges for how it is implemented or adopted across organizations. “AI may be used to create rules, define rules, and drive people to act in a personalized way,” said Carrie Tharp, VP of Retail and Consumer at Google Cloud, when combined with brand messaging. Understanding and testing any new tech will increase the likelihood of its success.

While AI can streamline operations and improve customer service, it requires a well-designed strategy to be effective. As AI continues to evolve, it is essential to consider the social and privacy concerns that may arise.

In Summary

Shoptalk 2023 shed light on how today’s evolution of retail relies on sustainable business operation efforts (i.e., supply chain), personalizing hybrid customer shopping experiences, and utilizing AI to advance consumer interactions and services. Retailers embracing the application of emerging innovations to meet new consumer expectations are moving the industry forward.

By keeping up with the latest trends and innovations, organizations can establish themselves for long-term success in the fast-moving retail landscape.

Reporter

Matthew Rangel

Senior Associate, Digital Activation