You can’t have failed to notice the rapid transformation of e-commerce in recent years. Omni-channel thinking has revolutionised how companies interact with consumers to deliver a more appealing customer journey across every potential point of sale.
As a result, today’s consumers are able to review, assess and purchase products online, in-store, or via a mobile device and companies can follow them every step of the way across the entire purchase journey.
Consequently, retailers have become less product-orientated and far more customer-orientated utilising data-driven insights collected from all their channels to deliver highly targeted and personalised offers and recommendations that match the known preferences of each individual consumer.
But the transformation doesn’t end there.
What was just a vision a few years ago has become retailing reality, with leading brands creating an immersive multi-channel, multi-sensory brand experience that recreates their online world in-store.
The customer experience today
As a consequence we’ve witnessed bricks and mortar stores becoming showrooms where consumers get to experience the best of both worlds. While enjoying the sensory, tactile experience of in-store shopping, buyers use their smartphones to compare products, access online reviews, ‘like’ a product or access personalised location-based ‘buy now’ coupon offers.
Alternatively, utilising in-store kiosks they’re able to view the extended product range, order and pay for items and collect on departure, or take advantage of virtual technologies to preview how products might look in their homes.
Meanwhile, online stores have become ‘web rooms’ where consumers can virtually shop ‘room by room’ or ‘look by look’, honing in on individual items to view videos, reviews, product information or click to purchase, opting for home delivery or in-store collection.
In other words, customers can now start a purchase from the comfort of their home, progress it on the move, complete it in-store – or any variation of those channels – with no missteps and no mistakes. And the interaction between retail store, web store, mobile store and point of sale (PoS) is central to delivering this customer experience across all touch points – even for B2B retailing.
But the increased use of digital devices – either provided to the customer or brought in by the consumer themselves – is already ushering in a new era of ‘visual commerce’ that’s about to revolutionise the world of shopping.
We’re seeing this commerce transition taking place right now – and we’re predicting this pioneering new era of the consumer lifestyle experience will prove to be both rapid and game changing.
See it, hear it, buy it: the ‘visual commerce’ revolution
Today’s technologies make it possible to create exciting visually-led customer experiences across all touch points, adding a new dimension to how people go about making their buying decisions.
Shops in Berlin are already offering this new option, where a customer’s face can be associated with a preferred payment option.
But consumers have come to expect a visually stunning shopping experience. While watching a video, viewing a lifestyle blog, browsing Pinterest – or even watching TV – they want to be able to select an item that catches their eye and instantly purchase right there, right then.
After all, their smartphones already recognise music that can then be bought directly using iTunes, or added to their playlist using Spotify. So why not use any image, in any media, to buy a product they’ve glimpsed – without spending hours tracking down where they can purchase it.
At Intershop we’re making it possible for consumers to take a photo of a product, upload it to an app on their smartphone and automatically find the same or similar item and purchase directly online.
Because in the future it will be possible for everything to be clicked, scanned and found – so when you next walk around a shop and spot a vase on display, you can capture its image on your phone, and order it for collection as you depart from the store.
The ‘lifestyle experience’: changing the rules
The Visual Commerce opportunities don’t end there; technologies are already making virtual try-ons and fitting rooms possible for shoppers; consumers simply upload a facial shot online to see which glasses suit their face shape or best accessorise their outfit choices while virtual mirrors make it possible to map clothing items onto a captured image to quickly see what clothing styles – and sizing options – work best for the individual.
What’s more, it’s now possible to pay using facial recognition technology. Shops in Berlin are already offering this new option, where a customer’s face can be associated with a preferred payment option. At the checkout the transaction is completed by simply scanning the face.
Meanwhile, new developments like Google Glass and smart watches are fuelling the lifestyle commerce transformation. These wearable devices bring computing power to your person, displaying texts, emails, updates and alerts; for example, in the future your smart watch could alert you that the latest video you wanted is available for download, ask you if you’d like the car de-iced before you leave that meeting and enable you to pre-order items to be delivered to your hotel ahead of your arrival.
What’s more, in the not too distant future, as you view an item in a shop or online your Google Glasses will be able to deliver a personalised offer to accelerate your purchase decision.
Examining the implications
Organisations will want to proactively address the individual needs and expectations of customers around the clock and at every virtual and physical touch point.
As the digital and physical world merge yet further, the challenge for B2B and B2C retailers will be mastery of what we call ‘predictive commerce’; consumers won’t want to miss a moment and the instantaneous decision-making options enabled by lifestyle commerce means delivery processes will need to keep pace with buyer expectations.
Thanks to predictive commerce, a 30-minute delivery will become an achievable reality, because in the ‘I want it now’ world of the future, availability and service will play an increasingly important part in the buyer’s purchase decision.
That means the entire customer experience, including the ability to deliver the ‘right’ price (not necessarily the cheapest price) at the right time will become a deal breaker. Organisations will want to proactively address the individual needs and expectations of customers around the clock and at every virtual and physical touch point.
Because, to become a winner in this brave new world your organisation will need to be able to leverage predictive techniques to identify what interests your customers and then generate and deliver highly personalised offers (including the right payment choices) before your competitors can even make contact.
Concluding thoughts
In the future we’re set to see new innovations like ‘pay with your face’ becoming prevalent and customers leveraging their physical and digital experiences to make purchasing decisions at any time of the day, wherever they might be. Visual commerce methods will make shopping more immersive and immediate and the customer experience will become the differentiator that captures customer loyalty and purchase decisions.
As the boundaries between the physical and online world fall away, organisations will need to use predictive commerce to revolutionise their delivery processes. Customers will expect immediacy and instant gratification – and that means delivering any product to any location within 30 minutes. It also means customers will expect you to know their wants and desires – proactively initiating purchase options that have immediate appeal.
Because for companies looking to deliver a seamless customer commerce journey, in which anything is possible, convenience and service will become the defining features that set brands apart.
