Technology and Retail, Digital Display Signage
Technology and Retail, Digital Display Signage
The shopping experience is distinguished from other daily experiences by the physical testing of products by use of the five senses, placing a value on an item, and turning to employees for accurate information. If there is no need to physically test the product, items like movies, CD’s, printers, etc. can be bought online because customers know what to expect. Technology is heading in the direction of appearing in stores to mimic the feeling of wearing the product virtually and making them purchasing experience ridiculously simple.
Trying on clothing and accessories in a store consists of changing wardrobe and standing in front of a mirror to see how great you look. Testing is an absolutely important part of the buying process. Intel, a technology leader who makes more than 70 percent of processors in today’s computers, is developing a technology that simulates the body and how a fabric fits, without the customer ever physically trying on something new; it is a virtual fitting room.
Three-dimensional cameras, screens, and printers will shape the retail industry along with smartphones that will help sales associates identify your needs based on analytics and shopping trends. They may know what you need to purchase before you do!
Kevin Sterneckert, an analyst for Gartner, who ‘offers world-class, objective insight on virtually any area of IT’, believes “within ten years, retail will be unrecognizable”. The idea is that anything can be bought from anywhere at any time, quickly. Stores which were once packed with items may become test centers for a few specialty items.
Benefits of this ideal shopping setting include the ease of accessibility to items we want, convenience in payment method, and an easier way for retailers to know what costumes might want based on purchase patterns. These services can be beneficial if used properly and minimally.
However, when conveniences begin to dull the experience of purchasing an $1100 Television because of the transaction is so quick, that is when they become experiences eroding the joy of obtaining brand new products we work to purchase.
A quicker shopping experience and virtual testing can be valuable if used with a few items throughout a retail center but never should replace the satisfaction of physically obtaining a product. Ideally, technology is here to make human life easier so that we can explore greater things, and better ourselves with this saved time.
