“Worldwide Retail 2018 Predictions” report. Words such as digital transformation, CX architecture, integrated AI enabled, adaptive retail platforms, and geospatial data rang out loud in the predictions for 2018.
For a non-tech savvy person, like myself, these words can be very overwhelming and intimidating. However, as I read the article, one thing stood out in the midst of all the techy vocabulary. The implementation of all this new technology has one primary end purpose… to service the customer better. As it was this year and last year, providing an exceptional customer experience will be at the core of every retailer’s technology investment strategy in 2018. So, what is the technology retailers will be investing in?
- By 2019, 50% of retailers will have adopted a retail omnichannel commerce platform, which will enable up to a 30% increase in omnichannel profitability
- By 2019, the top 30% of retailers will be actively engaged in digital transformation, driving organizational shifts and investment strategies in foundational platform technologies that are cloud-based, AI enabled and composable
- By 2019, 40% of retailers will have developed a CX architecture supported by an AI layer. Such a platform will enable… to continue reading the article please click Top 10 Retail Tech Predictions
If you understood every tech word uttered in the article without needing to Google its definition, my hats off to you! If you did stop to Google more information on CX architecture, for example, you are not alone and kudos to you for taking the effort to understand the technology better. Whether all or some of these new advancements are beneficial to your business specifically are at your discretion. The overall message to take away from this article is that retailers are continuously investing in new ways, retail technology being one of them, to streamline their operations and strategies to better understand their customers, service them, and protect their information better. These are the retailers who will be impacting and be at the forefront of retail technology for the upcoming years. Will you be one of them?