As consumers changed their shopping journeys during the pandemic, many of the new behaviors have become habits. Their digital online and mobile experiences have shaped their expectations for digital experiences in physical stores and convenient omnichannel fulfillment options. While today’s customer expectations and employee responsibilities have already changed, they will continue to change. Therefore, the future of retail will rely on how retailers continue to evolve and transform the experiences they offer their customers and associates to win their lasting loyalty.
The foundation for a strong omnichannel presence starts with a powerful retail IT network. New innovations that aim to create strong customer relationships will require infrastructure that can support multiple applications, high-end multimedia, and fast, secure connectivity for transactions.
What is the future of retail?
Over the past decade, many retailers have digitally transformed their businesses to provide customers and sales associates innovative tools to enhance the shopping experience. Technologies such as cashierless checkout, immersive experiences using augmented reality, wayfinding supplemented with personalized recommendation and even robotics can provide additional convenience for shoppers.
Retailers are adopting these technologies to address customers going digital themselves. Recent Verizon research on consumer behavior showed that 73% of all store visits start online, with digital becoming the "front door" to most journeys. Moreover, in-store customers may still use their smartphones to check prices (often those of competing online storefronts), access reviews or locate a product through a map on a retailer's app.
Other technologies offer to create a connected retail experience for customers and retailers. Internet of Things (IoT) and radio frequency identification (RFID) devices already help track inventory. Augmented reality (AR) or virtual reality (VR) displays, such as smart mirrors, could show a customer how an article of clothing will look on them. These displays could also provide customized coupons and promotions to entice an in-store shopper. Many of these new technologies could incorporate multimedia components—such as videos and audio—to help promote a retailer's messaging and advertising. It may take time before customers can use these innovations in the majority of retail stores, but several of these technologies are already starting to enhance the in-person shopping experience for many.
Even more innovations could further reshape the future of retail, such as:
- Real-time inventory tracking
- Curbside sensors for online order pickup
- Digital shelf labels for pricing and inventory tracking
- Mobile point-of-sale systems
- Temperature and moisture monitoring sensors
- Robots and drones performing associate tasks
These could all be deployed more broadly in the coming years.
The need for speed
Many of these new innovations require a powerful retail network infrastructure to support the large amount of data being delivered to customers and store associates as well as the fast transactional traffic of new checkout systems.
With the number of mobile devices entering a store expected to increase (from both customers and retail associates), retailers will be challenged to provide a network with enough bandwidth and capacity to handle peak loads, high-speed connectivity, and also secure transactions.
The future of retail requires strong partners
Fortunately, many of these retail network challenges can be addressed by deploying 5G and multi-access edge computing solutions. 5G can give businesses a high-speed network with low latency and high bandwidth to support new data-rich applications that can serve both the retailer and the customer inside a store.
While overall adoption of 5G by retailers stands at about 13%, adoption is estimated to triple by 2024 to 2025. By adopting a 5G communications network, retailers could experience several benefits for their operations, including:
- Reduced cost of ownership by consolidating communications
- The ability to take advantage of managed services
- Better data analytics across the retailer's ecosystem
- Improved device integration and security for associates
- Innovative edge- and cloud-based applications and services
Deploying a 5G network will require a strong partnership with an experienced provider of network connectivity solutions. Retailers need to make sure they work with a team that can not only provide a fast 5G network but also has the experience in deploying edge-based computing and secure and adaptable infrastructures, as well as the ability to manage multiple global wireline networks.
In order to prepare for the future of retail, companies will need to enable a powerful retail network as the foundation to support the next generation of services, applications and data-rich analytics that benefits both shoppers and retailers.
Learn more about how Verizon can assist retailers with enabling the connected stores of the future.
The author of this content is a paid contributor for Verizon.