The hits keep coming. Just last month, e-commerce behemoth Amazon introduced its Fire Phone, complete with the showrooming-friendly Firefly feature, said to recognize more than 100 million products. And, to sweeten the pot, it threw in one year of free-shipping service Amazon Prime with the purchase of a smartphone. Cha-ching.
Tech and retail pundits wasted no time weighing-in on the phones, with reactions ranging from rejection over “meh” features to a fetal-position-inducing fear of Amazon’s relentless pursuit of World Retail Domination. The upshot: These devices aren’t so much a phone as a seductive, handheld 24/7 portal to the online retailer.
To fight Amazon’s encroachment, retailers are encouraged to load their own apps with in-store tracking technology like beacons that push consumers to shop brick-and-mortar stores, said a provider of the technology, in Adweek. “With the majority of today’s retailers experimenting with beacons, they will soon be well-equipped to defend against Amazon’s advances in the retail store environment,” he said.
We’ll see. Still, we’re bullish on the future of brick-and-mortar stores. Yes, shopping can be a dreaded chore. For that, shopping online from the comfort of your Barcalounger is a welcome service. But shopping is also social, shopping is experiential, shopping is entertainment. It’s not going away. And, consider this: Once Amazon is stripped of an advantage in the ongoing retail battle – its avoidance of charging sales tax in most states – it will put everyone on a more even playing field. In fact, Amazon now collects sales tax in 21 states, according to its website. More are set to follow, reports Bloomberg, with Florida the most recent state electing to require tax collection.
Meanwhile, the retail industry is fighting back on the technology front by making their physical stores more engaging and interactive – taking customers on a seamless path to purchase that combines experiential benefits of the physical store and the conveniences of mobile and online shopping. Part of that journey includes the deployment of digital technology – and that’s hardly new. What is new is more strategic approaches to the use of these technologies, beyond the wasteful gimmicks of early adaptors.
In this issue, we offer a special report on digital retail design. Here, you can read about the trends, technologies and solutions helping retailers and designers engage with customers and foster loyalty, in a smart and focused way that best serves them – and the bottom line. Visit page D1 in the digital edition for the full report.