The customer first with retail technology?

By Kim Cramer

A tour through 'the loop'

Last week I had the pleasure of travelling to Antwerp with Alexander Koene to visit the company of a former colleague of his.

The company visit was fascinating and the Burgundian lunch that followed was indescribably delicious and special (has anyone ever eaten 'hop shoots'?), but what impressed me most was a tour of 'the loop' — an initiative by Belgian RetailDetail.

The loop is a kind of demo environment where the latest practically applicable retail technology can be experienced. Or as founder Jorg Snoeck describes it:

"Retailers and brands that persuade better win the consumer on the move. The loop is an objective, ever-changing environment where they discover new products, services, concepts and ideas. With one mission: to make brands and retailers continuously smarter and more successful."

Customer journey

In the loop you move through the customer journey from orientation to decision to shopping experience to purchase — and beyond — both online and offline.

Better still, according to the loop: when brands and retailers combine online and offline in an omnichannel approach, they are best placed to build customer loyalty. After all, it is no longer the retailer who steers the buying process, but the customer themselves.

Today's customer has access to so much information that they know exactly what they are looking for. If you don't align with that, you quickly lose your way. You must therefore operate in a customer-centric way. The customer comes first. So much for the philosophy behind the loop.

Pop-ups and beacons

We saw impressive technology: digital screens that, connected to the Bluetooth of your smartphone, display precisely the Ray-Ban sunglasses you had looked at online but ultimately hadn't ordered.

With a small discount to make it extra tempting.

Cameras that accurately estimate your age and gender while you browse the shop.

Pop-ups on your smartphone alerting you that your favourite chocolate brand is on offer, the moment you come within range of the beacon linked to that specific product — because you'd liked that brand on Facebook.

Or showing you that the dress you ordered online goes beautifully with the leather jacket in your size and favourite colour hanging on the first rack on the left.

The wallet comes first

Customer-centric. A growing sense of unease slowly crept over me — the feeling that this wasn't so much about putting the customer's needs first, but the customer's wallet.

I felt awkward confronting the friendly and highly knowledgeable guide with my growing discomfort. But when she explained how the digital screens could be configured when multiple people with active Bluetooth connections walked past, I couldn't hold back.

You can, for example, choose to target the product — and thus the person — from whom you can earn the highest margin. Or the one whose data predicts they will buy the most products.

"Could you also choose to deliberately not target the person whose data suggests they have the lowest budget?" Out it came.

The guide was briefly thrown off. "Yes, that would be possible. But why would you want to?"

Fair question. Probably because I'm an idealist who likes to apply knowledge of brand strategy, psychology and technology to stimulate positive behaviour that benefits society.

And making money from that in the process? Wonderful.

I was reminded of an American study once presented at a SWOCC event about smart shopping trolleys. In a supermarket, people were guided by a tablet mounted on the trolley to do their shopping within a pre-set budget.

It was an experiment focused on the question of how people with a limited budget could still take home a nutritious selection of products.

I believe the study showed it didn't always succeed in getting people to spend less — but that was before the combination of big data, beacons and Bluetooth.

Imagine if Albert Heijn tried something like this? Now that would be truly looking after the little guy. Not just through pricing, but by genuinely helping people.

With the Internet of Things, that should now be perfectly achievable.

Delayed mirrors

To be fair, we also saw technological innovations that are genuinely useful to the customer.

Fitting rooms with touchscreens to ask shop staff to bring the — alas — too-small black skirt in a size up. So that, when you're shopping alone, you don't have to get dressed again only to find the skirt is no longer available in a larger size.

Or delayed fitting mirrors where you first do a full turn before calmly studying yourself from all angles in the item you're considering. Or perhaps not — because now you can clearly see it sits too loosely at the back.

Now that is genuinely putting the customer first.

We also saw fantastic software that helps the retailer take inventory in seconds, makes theft and till fraud practically impossible, and shows at the press of a button which branch doesn't need to open on Sundays, that shoppers in Haarlem prefer blue over red, and how shop floor staffing can be optimised. Operational excellence for the retailer — brilliant.

Technology 'for the better good'

Over the hop shoots, I let it all sink in. Am I against big data? Afraid of losing my privacy? Intimidated by the power of technology? No. Not at all.

I find it genuinely fascinating. I was sincerely impressed by what the loop showed me. The shopping experience of the future. And that future isn't far away — it's already here.

It won't be long before it's not just the innovators among retailers making use of it, but the norm across the board.

And yet… Yesterday, in a completely different context, I saw how electric cars can be wirelessly charged while driving past trees and plants that generate energy.

If brands were to focus more on applications like this, I'd happily be willing to spend a little more of the contents of my wallet. If I had the budget, that is. But then Albert Heijn's smart shopping trolley could help me with that.