Automating Your Business

 View Only

How Automation Is About to Remake Retail as We Know It

By Andrej Kovacevic posted Fri January 22, 2021 11:54 PM

  

For some time now, the world of retail has faced disruption from eCommerce giants like Amazon. That's led to countless retail bankruptcies and closures. Iconic brands like Sears, Bon-Ton, and J.C. Penney, have shuttered all or part of their brick-and-mortar footprints. Most industry observers expected that, if left unchecked, eCommerce businesses would continue their march to retail dominance in the future.

And then, as if brick-and-mortar retailers didn't have enough to worry about, the COVID-19 pandemic added to their woes. All at once, in-person shopping all but vanished. In some places, stores couldn't remain open at all. In others, customers didn't return even when they were allowed to do so.

But the sudden shift also introduced some interesting dynamics. According to a survey by IBM, the pandemic is changing customer behaviors in ways that will reshape retail in the post-pandemic world. Specifically, it drove the use (and adoption) of contactless payment technology up by 40%. And it also drove a shift back toward local retailers, with 25% of respondents shopping more often at local stores.

In short, this means brick-and-mortar retail may be getting a reprieve. But it's not going to look like it did before. It'll likely be small, local – and most importantly – automated. Here's a look at some of the possible features of the retail store of the near future, and what they mean for retail as a whole.

Fewer Workers, More DIY

In a way, retailers have been preparing for a post-pandemic retail market for years without even knowing it. They've done so in the race to cut costs to stave off online competitors. For example, several retailers have conducted trials of scan and go locations, which feature automated checkouts and contactless payment systems. Retail giant Walmart has gone as far as to experiment with fully-automated stores, which it hopes will help keep competition from Amazon at bay for a while longer. But these early efforts still have human staff tending to tasks like shelf restocking and aisle maintenance. That's something most experts expect to change, too.

AI-Tracked Shopping

Another development that was popping up even before the pandemic was the idea of hybrid retail outlets. Tech startups like AiFi have been refining AI-based camera tracking technology that can allow for a complete, autonomous shopping experience. Customers enter specially-equipped stores and have their purchases tracked via a network of closed-circuit cameras that let the AI charge them for the items they've taken as they exit the store. Right now, the stores operate with human cashiers on hand to help those who aren't yet comfortable with the new technology. But the idea is to help wean customers off of relying on human workers as soon as practical.

Store-Tending Robotics

So far, most automated retail concepts have focused on streamlining the customer experience. They haven't tried to eliminate all human workers, mostly because the technology needed to do so is not yet ready to use in the real world. But that may be changing amid the pandemic as well. Robotics firms like Brain Corp have seen faster adoption of their fully-automated floor cleaners and other maintenance technologies. Retailers have turned to them to sanitize stores without jeopardizing employee health, and they may soon become a fixture in retail stores of all kinds.

And in Japan, the challenge of an aging population and shrinking workforce has forced the development of bleeding-edge robotics that may soon dominate retail stores. For example, convenience chains Family Mart and Lawson's have begun using a robot called 'Model-T' to stock store shelves. Right now, the units are operated remotely by human workers, but they're simultaneously training an AI that will soon be able to operate independently.

The Automated Retail Future

Given the progress that the technologies covered here have made of late, it won't be long before they become standard equipment for retailers. The competitive landscape already demanded such measures in the run-up to the pandemic. And now that customer demands are shifting in the same direction, the use of automation and self-service retail concepts is a fait accompli.

Together, these systems should create a new kind of brick-and-mortar retailer. They'll be capable of running with almost no human intervention, offering specialized product lines in small-footprint stores. That means that the big department stores of old will continue to vanish – replaced by more nimble and profitable small stores.

And those stores will gain a new ally in their fight to regain market share from eCommerce giants like Amazon: data. Their locations will generate data on a scale that conventional retail stores don't. And that means they'll be able to keep up with consumer trends and local demand in ways that are impossible today. By doing so, they'll find a way to reach an equilibrium with eCommerce that many thought was impossible just a few years ago – giving way to the real (and lasting) future of retail.



#CloudPakforBusinessAutomation
0 comments
53 views

Permalink