The Future of Retail is Robots
And augmented reality. And self-checkout machines.
Retail as we know it — malls and Payless Shoe Source and J.C. Penney and Sears — is slowly but surely dying. Yesterday Nicole took a look at the various ways retail may or may not be crumbling before our very eyes, with every report seeming to point towards a future where we will buy things from self-driving cars or something. You know, like the Jetsons but slightly scarier and much less friendly.
The Business of Fashion reports that retailers across the country are embracing technological advances in part to compete with the allure of online retailers in an attempt to get people into stores and keep them there.
Five Technologies Shaping the Retail Landscape
A Kroger store in Ohio is testing out “smart shelves” which show digitized prices and information about the products; next steps for this include making the information personal to the customers. If you walk into the chip aisle and can’t find the Sun Chips, the shelves would know that you were there, looking for the Harvest Cheddar and the labels would light up, leading you to your chip of choice and sending you on your way. There are robots roaming the aisles of a Lowe’s in San Jose that guides shoppers looking for the wire cutters and the light bulbs to the right aisle in both Spanish and English. Home Depot has an augmented reality app that lets you upload a picture of your home and then swap in paint colors and stains, like a low-res version of the mesmerizing interior design renderings on HGTV. Mirrors at Neiman Marcus will let you see yourself in 360 degrees and allow you to compare outfits side-by-side without having to change your clothes.
The only innovation I am truly excited about is any and all improvement in self-checkout machines, a technology I feel is nearly perfect in concept though not quite yet in execution. What greater pleasure is there than going to the store, picking up all the things you want and then checking yourself out and leaving?
This is the future of retail, maybe — experiences meant to mimic online shopping’s convenience in the real world. Translating the frictionless slip of buying $89 worth of crap from Amazon into the real world is immensely difficult; spiffing up the retail shopping experience by adding robots and shelves that light up is just making the process that much more complicated.
Take my money! I want to give you my money. Make it easy for me.
Support The Billfold
The Billfold continues to exist thanks to support from our readers. Help us continue to do our work by making a monthly pledge on Patreon or a one-time-only contribution through PayPal.
Comments