As the store’s role continues to evolve with consumer shopping preferences changing, omnichannel retailers aren’t just dabbling in personalization; they’re betting the farm on it. While currently just 7% of retailers use suggested selling based on what’s in the customer’s closet, that percentage is expected to jump to 51% by 2019 — a 629% increase, according to Boston Retail Partners (BRP).
In November 2015, BRP highlighted in its Future Store Manifesto that retailers are changing their initiatives to align with five key future store imperatives: mobile, relevant, personal, ubiquitous and secure. One year later, BRP followed up the report with a scorecard identifying where retailers have taken strides in these categories, projecting mobile and relevance will see the biggest growth in the store of the future:
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20% of retailers presently use mobile POS, but this percentage is expected to jump to 78% by 2019;
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39% of retailers offer associates a mobile or tablet app during their time on the sales floor or checkout line; this percentage will increase to 75% within three years;
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18% presently utilize geolocation, with this total growing to 58% by 2019; and
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22% offer real-time contextual promotions, with the number jumping to 68% within five years.
To keep up with consumer demand, half of retailers expect to offer “start anywhere, finish anywhere” transactions within five years, with 73% expected to utilize a unified commerce platform with a centralized order management solution by 2019.
These retailers are expected to up the ante with their in-store security measures as well. As many as 88% are planning to have end-to-end encryption (E2EE) implemented to ensure data security by 2019. While 20% use a single enterprise-wide token solution now, this number should jump to 72% within two years.
“It is impressive to see how many retailers are making the five critical elements of the future store a top priority; however, many retailers have a long way to go,” said Ken Morris, Principal at Boston Retail Partners in a statement. “The physical store will continue to be the heart and soul of retail operations for the foreseeable future, however, a transformation is in process. While the store isn’t going away, it’s already starting to get a whole lot more connected, mobile and smarter.”
