It's understandable that the future of retailing is tied to data analytics. The industry is in upheaval as the Amazon beast is forcing retailers to become more agile and rely on data to capture customers and increase sales, in particular in-store purchases where brick and mortar concepts must change fast.
The Wall Street Journal
reports that some retailers are challenging the traditional physical store concept and integrating video and location technology to identify customers. A Plano, Texas store is employing both to identify the age and sex of customers using a technology from
RetailNext, and company that is gathering data. The company promises, "
visit duration, unique traffic, pass-by traffic, visit frequency, and entrance path analytics." The hyperlocal data can be used to both understand consumer preferences and well as servicing those clients in real-time if they notice how long those customers "dwell" in any single location.
So, how would this impact the future of location intelligence? Well, the answer lies in the ability to link hyper- and macro-level location data and demographics to the consumer journey. This would allow retailers to not only merchandise better but allow for the ability to predict online and physical purchase.
The WSJ article reports on "marketplace" the concept of a "store within a store" where merchandisers "rent" space in physical stores. The report states: This model isn't new-the "store within a store" has been common in department stores for decades. In this revival, both brands and stores make money whether a shopper buys an item in the store or online. With the old retail model, if a shopper came into, say, a Best Buy and tried a Nest thermostat, and then decided to buy it online directly from Nest, Best Buy bore the cost of showing it to the consumer but reaped none of the reward. Whereas with this new model, online sales aren't taking revenue from stores, which get paid by brands regardless of how much they sell.
Reliance on more data from a more selective and mobile customer base will ultimately impact store merchandise and footprints. ------------------------------
Joe Francica
PITNEY BOWES SOFTWARE
Boulder CO
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