Within the wide range of technologies that have contributed to this new scenario, we can see how artificial intelligence and augmented reality have gained ground.
The blend of artificial intelligence and augmented reality will continue to enhance customer experience, according to the author. Photo: iStock
I remember the intense global debate about the retail apocalypse, the end of the physical store and the rise of online sales. In the end, both statements were half-hearted because what has happened is that the frontier between the two «worlds» has blurred thanks to technology. Within the wide range of technologies that have contributed to this new scenario, we can see how artificial intelligence and augmented reality have gained ground.
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| Talon |
On the one hand, there is AI and its huge array of tools. We can finally recognize consumer buying patterns that are automatically refined as more and more information is obtained from these patterns.
Thanks to AI and this automated learning capability, personalized shopping experiences can be delivered no longer to a specific target audience but in a hyper-personalized way. For example, a customer loyalty application can show each user of the application the best shopping recommendations and content to improve their shopping experience in any store and in the brand’s own ecommerce, on-line and off-line experience without borders.
On the other hand we have augmented reality, which simplifying to the maximum, would be to navigate through a physical store as if it were an online platform. Pointing a smartphone at an aisle of an establishment and displaying navigation guides to a product of interest, displaying audio-visual information when viewing product labels or showing multimedia elements superimposed on a real image, are just some examples of the applications that AR technology can offer retailers to provide a better (and unique) customer experience.
In the end, the application of technology in retail should always be treated as a means and not as a goal. Needless to say, at this point, that the centre should be the customers, and their experience within a physical store should be as excellent, comfortable, smooth and frictionless as it can be browsing the ecommerce platform of the same retailer.
Getting inside a physical establishment or browsing an online store and using my smartphone to understand that the brand knows my tastes and offers me an enhanced experience only with the same screen with which I carry out banking procedures or publish my photos is a technological milestone that many brands are already using with agility and fluidity. For others, however, the way to go is still science fiction. We just have to be a little brave, learn and experiment.
AI + AR = hyper personalization. Hyper-personalization = happier customers.