Ted, Google’s Head of Industry and Retail in the US, shed light on the future of retail – one of the industries that is being the most disrupted by tech – a trend exacerbated by Covid. Digital applications and commerce are fundamentally changing the consumer experience and blurring the boundaries between the physical shop and the digital store.

KEY TAKE-AWAY

  • The pandemic has acted as a time machine, suddenly and dramatically transporting almost all industries and particularly the retail sector into the future. To survive (and flourish) previous 1 – 5 year plans must now be ready for implementation and execution quasi immediately, within the next two quarters. The digital future is now.
  • The first four months of the pandemic witnessed the equivalent of 10 year’ growth in e-commerce.
  • Pent-up consumer demand following lockdowns has resulted in sales levels on steroids. For example, in the US on Cyber Monday, $10.8 billion were spent on line in just one day.
  • Mobile networks are intrinsically linked to the digital tsunami. There are now more mobile telephone subscriptions than there are people on the planet.
  • Physical shops will not be a thing of the past but what they offer will be radically transformed: more experiential than transactional.
  • Making innovative use of the cloud; deploying AI to harness the infinite power of algorithms; new ever-more sophisticated and nimble hardware (e.g. drones/cctv/ voice recognition mechanisms/3d printing) will all play defining roles in transforming, as never before, the retail landscape both in store and on line. For example, inventory optimization; predictive shopping; ‘intelligent’ products; frictionless purchasing; faster and faster delivery, of not only what you want, but also what the algorithms think you want.
  • The advertising potential of first party data will be the most important commodity that retail platforms/sellers possess. The volume of this data is set to increase 3 fold 2025.
  • AI and the Cloud will play a key role in maximizing its use. This paves the way for greater personalization both in terms of products and ever-more targeted marketing and advertising.
  • What place for the COVID-inspired-environmentally-encouraged push to shop more locally in this highly digitalized connected retail world?  The younger generation will decide.