Do you like shopping? Wait a second, don’t answer that question yet…if you have a chance to shop in a “friendly shop”:
- without standing in a long line to cashier’s desk
- without trying to find a place to park your car
wouldn’t be easier to answer “YES” to my question?
We can all those on-line stores, whether it is Walmart, Bestbuy, ebay.
Did you buy something on on-line stores? What do you think are obstacles of buying on-line?
- clothes/shoes –> how to make sure is the right size, etc?
- test –> how to test item before making decision whether to buy it or not
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Companies are trying to shorten the distance between customer and store by opening on-line store but we know that’s not enough anymore. So what to do?
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Here are some ideas what companies are trying to offer their customers:
- Home Plus is Tesco’s Korean branch decided to create “virtual supermarket” on one of the subway stations. They posted wall-size posters of stocked shelves onto subway walls. Customers were able to scan products’ QR codes and by doing that they were able to purchase items which later were delivered to their homes.
Just think how many people are using public transportation (in cities) like subway. 2x a day they are becoming potential clients (on the way to work and getting by home). Simple click-click (scanning QR code) and gallon of milk is on the way home.
- virtual e-shopping –> shopping mall you have access to from your computer
- applications for 3D cameras –> which will create two-way mirrors on computers
almost 38 percent of women don’t buy online, according to Forrester Research, because they want to be able to see and touch items before they hand over a credit card.
- on-line stores via social media –> Payvment’s Facebook App retail app for Facebook –> you can launch your free store on Facebook (shopping mall).
- Webcam Social Shopper –> it’s visualization tool for online retailers.
I’m wondering what’s next?
I think we’re going to see more virtual warehousing and kiosk-style sales, whereas retail spaces were mainly be to see, touch, and smell stuff, then place the orders. QR codes will help here to help speed up orders. I imagine we’ll see trains and buses set up with billboards or computers, similiar to what you’d see on high-end airplanes. Essentially, we’ll see the lines blurred between traditional and online shopping but retail stores will never completely disappear, as some suspect. 8)
I think Japan (so far) is #1 country where you can find many of those retail gadgets. I think that there is one major problem right now – that customers are not able to use all senses sight/hearing/smell/taste/touch + 3D. The moment IT companies create right applications + hardware, etc. traditional retail stores will be in danger (till then they are fine).