Recent developments in the US provide further indication of things to come for MENA. The arrival of services such as True Fit and Trunk Club in the US has increased the comfort and convenience of shopping online, taking the personalized experience previously only available in brick-and-mortar stores, and making it available through e-commerce. The former is a computer program that crunches large amounts of data to predict the size and fit of garments for each individual consumer, while the latter is a site that employs a stylist to pick out clothes based on customer preferences, before mailing them directly to the shopper.
Shopping services such as Amazon Prime, Google Express and Instacart are taking the customer experience even further by closing the instant gratification gap between e-commerce and in-store shopping. In addition, payment services such as Apple Wallet, Level Up and PayPal are making non-cash transactions safer and easier than ever. The benefits of such services are yet to be fully embraced—and indeed available—in MENA, but if the pace of change thus far is any indication, it won’t be long before they are.
In this high stakes scenario, retailers that will prevail are those which opt to focus on customer intimacy—not just at the point of sale, but in product design and selection, as well as in developing that all-important incentive to drive customers into stores. The task is formidable, but just as challenge and competition have come to characterize the region’s retail landscape, so too have a wealth of technological advances.
Strides in digital commerce and underlying predictive customer analytics are changing the game and opening up significant opportunity in a sector that was forecast to grow to US$1.05 trillion in the Middle East last year, up from US$996 billion in 2015, according to Euromonitor International. If seized, the opportunities presented by digital commerce and customer analytics could take the sector to new heights.
But there is a caveat: to realize this potential, retailers must learn how to successfully navigate the digital space and turn the deluge of public and customer data at their fingertips into tangible business results. Harnessing the predictive power of data allows retailers to boost customer experience and reduce operational costs—two objectives that are more important than ever, in the face of fierce competition, both on-line and off.
Global Retail Predictions 2017
- Stores providing unique in-store experiences will thrive
- Retailers across the board will adopt mobile payment solutions
- Personalization will become increasingly important to consumers
- Same-day shipping will become more prominent
- Retailers will continue to invest in omnichannel
- Data will continue to be a significant component of retail success
- Retailtainment will pervade the industry
- Specialty stores will be more productive than department stores
- Retailers will turn to apps, services, and third parties to fulfill the needs of modern shoppers
- Retail and technology will become even more inseparable
Source: retail management software company, Vend. www.vendhq.com
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