i3 - January/February 2020 - 25

Top to Bottom: Courtesy of Starship, Courtesy of McKinsey & Co., Courtesy of Stop & Shop.

NEW PARADIGMS

Native online retailers are pouring their creative juices into creating new
forms of physical stores to gain insights into shopping behavior, allow
customers to "feel" their wares and create ongoing loyalty. Casper, the
online native mattress retailer; Warby Parker, the online eyewear store;
The Away Store for luggage; Bonobos; Allbirds; and MM LaFleur ... the
list of online vendors who've popped up in physical
storefronts represent a large portion of new retail
store openings. They're using everything in their
arsenal from digital shopping tags to personalizing
your purchase with high-tech fitting and measuring
in order to drive consumers to shop. E-commerce
companies like Harry's Shave, Flamingo and
StitchFix are bringing valuable tech advances by creating replenishment models that let consumers get
their "fix" with monthly subscriptions and deliver
valuable data back to brands.
Research into consumer behavior has born concept
stores like the Modern Retail Collective, which is actually a shopping test lab created by McKinsey and
Company. Housed inside the Mall of America, the
store features interactive mobile hotspots providing
single-tap access to product details as well as the creation of virtual baskets. Smart mirrors and fit predictor software allow virtual trials of products outside of
the fitting room. Faster future payment options
include mobile and cryptocurrency capability.
Another quickly growing retail experience is the
b8ta stores, designed for discovering, trying and buying innovative products. Consumers get to experience new innovations in a hands-on fashion that they wouldn't normally have. Manufacturers and makers of
products garner insights about how consumers interact with the products. Since its inception in 2015, b8ta has launched over 1,000 products
and is now partnering with TRU, the new ToysRus brand to overhaul
the toy store experience.
Both Modern Collective and b8ta are part of a growing number of retail
as a service (RaaS) providers that mirror the software industry. Companies
can now purchase solutions to speed store development. RaaS solutions
bring technology to smaller providers to power online marketplaces, build
out IT teams and manage inventory in addition to creating physical shops
inside larger stores to test new products and services.

ROBOTS AT WORK

While many retail workers fret about jobs that will ultimately be replaced,
robot optimists believe we've reached a detente where each contributes
what they do best. Robots are being used in retail settings not to replace
humans, but to augment, giving humans more time to offer personal interaction and services. Robots have been spotted doing everything from taking
orders at restaurants to acting as baristas and bakers. For now, it's a novelty
experience for customers, provides important customer feedback and also
offers back-of-the-store efficiencies and even delivery.
C TA . t e c h / i 3

Top: The Starship robot
provides delivery services on university
campuses.
Middle: An integrated
cloud infrastructure captures data to inspire new
retail insights.
Bottom: Meet Marty,
who's on the lookout for
spills and debris at the
local Stop and Shop.

At select HSBC banks, Pepper the
robot, greets customers gathering preliminary information for the bankers,
short-circuiting the tedium of the process. Pepper offers tutorials and instructions on the latest banking technologies,
products and services. And of course, the
#PoseWithPepper feature puts some fun
into banking.
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2020

https://cta.tech/i3

i3 - January/February 2020

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