Westminster e Forum Emma Robertson Emma Robertson June 2011 - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Westminster eForum Emma Robertson Emma Robertson

June 2011

Commercial in confidence

Impact of mobile & other technology on Retail

1. Breaking up the value chain

• New technology biting off pieces of the traditional Retailer”

role

• Within customer lifecycle no longer assumptive that a retailer

can own the whole journey

• Browse – research via Google

Browse research via Google

• Choose – price compare using mobile QR codes
• Find – location based mobile search
• Buy – pay through PayPal

Buy pay through PayPal

• Fulfil – get through retailer
• Retain....?
• Living example in the way online has challenged and changed
• Living example in the way online has challenged and changed

the world of travel agencies

Impact of mobile & other technology on Retail

• 2. Complex Customer Journeys
• Mobile especially interrupts the customer journey and no

longer requires the customer to be in a fixed location g q

• Decision making process disrupted in line with the retail value

chain

• If retail cannot control bringing a customer to them they
• If retail cannot control bringing a customer to them, they

have to find ways of putting themselves in the places where customers already are

• Comparison sites

Comparison sites

• Social networking
• Search engines
• Etc etc etc
• Etc etc etc

Impact of mobile & other technology on Retail

• 3. Functionality at the cost of strategy
• Mobile apps still growing – there is indeed an app for

everything y g

• Retail can fall into “cookie jar” syndrome and over spec

functionality at the cost of strategy

• Use of mobile and new social channels is most effective when
• Use of mobile and new social channels is most effective when

it resonates with the existing model

• E.g. Avon in US on Facebook
• E g Argos in UK with a reserve & collect app of 25k products
• E.g. Argos in UK with a reserve & collect app of 25k products

Impact of mobile & other technology on Retail

• 4. Who & What Designing For
• Who
• Youth of today think about online in a very different way – they

Youth of today think about online in a very different way they don’t “go online” they are just connected by default

• Mobile, TV, console access is just another route into their world
• Concepts that concern strategy makers now around privacy and

p gy p y security will have very different meaning to the next earning and shopping generation

• What
• Designing experiences cross channel is complex – design once,

deploy everywhere. Easy in principle, hard in practice

• Experience design for mouse, finger or gesture?
• What are the devises of the future to be planned for

Impact of mobile & other technology on Retail

• 5. What’s next
• Trying to predict the future within the current frame of

reference is complex – speed of change means that there is a p p g limited base of “now” from which to project

• New directions and trends can be led by
• Technology – innovation and product

Technology innovation and product

• Policy – infrastructure, investment and legislation
• Markets – some brands are capable of creating new trends where

the tech and policy pre-exist e.g. Apple ipad p y p g pp p

• People – the way people use the technology of the day directs the

next iteration of the trend

• Challenge in retail context is how to deliver for customers and

a g a

• d
• u
• a d

devises of today without creating the legacy systems of tomorrow