8 Retail Tech Case Studies Accelerating in the World

Introduction

In the retail tech industry, many services that utilize the latest technology are born. The latest services have already been introduced around the world, affecting the work of employees as well as consumers. It is a good idea to set your policy by referring to the latest cases of retail tech used in the world and Japan.

In this article, we will pick up and introduce the IT trends of the retail industry, which are being used more and more in the world.

Accelerating retail tech and CX now required

In the first place, retail tech refers to utilizing cutting-edge digital technologies such as IT and IoT in the retail business. For example, using interactive AI, virtual reality, and voice recognition devices.

DX is accelerating around the world, and CX (customer experience) is required for all services in various industries. Forrester Research’s findings highlight that 85% of respondents believe that a digital customer experience is the most effective way to reach and build good relationships with consumers. rice field. And it turns out that 82% of respondents aim to collect a wide variety of customer data daily.

However, on the other hand, it is difficult for 61% of respondents to acquire, organize, and operate data of sufficient quality to realize the purpose of the customer experience, and there are also problems in data utilization. You can see this from the survey results. Expectations are high for how far the issues can be improved by introducing retail tech.

The latest case of retail tech attracting attention overseas and in Japan

New services that utilize cutting-edge IT technology are advancing in each country and are affecting our lives. From here, we will introduce the latest examples of retail tech that are attracting attention overseas.

Introduced VR for staff training and managerial exams (USA)

Headquartered in Arkansas, USA, Walmart is the world’s largest supermarket chain and one of the world’s hottest retailers, leveraging the latest technology to make great strides. At Walmart, we are introducing VR for daily training and promotion exams for managers.

Walmart has introduced Oculus Go, which can project VR images with goggles alone, and has more than 45 training programs for 1 million employees. Specific training content includes an emergency response in the event of a firearm incident or natural disaster in the store, annual large-scale sale rehearsal exercises, training when introducing a new system, and training in situations where it rarely occurs. It is a big merit that it can be realized with VR.

With the introduction of VR training, the satisfaction level of the training has improved by 30%, and it seems that 70% of employees can demonstrate high performance. In addition, the promotion test for middle management is designed so that you can measure irregular coping and decision-making skills in a VR space that reproduces the store.

Creating “discovery” online at a physical store (USA)

Stitch Fix is ​​a company that provides online personal styling services, which was born in the United States in 2011. As the main service, we provided a subscription service in which AI stylists propose clothing and accessories tailored to each user’s intentions. Users can receive 5 items carefully selected by AI stylists at home and buy only the ones they like by simply answering their favorite style, size, color, etc. in an online questionnaire.

In September 2021, Stitch Fix launched a new digital shop service called “Stitch Fix Freestyle”. Freestyle is designed to allow you to experience the “discovery” process online, which you can experience when shopping in a physical store such as a department store.

When consumers use the service, they can create a personal shop online that suits their tastes by answering questionnaires about clothing sizes, favorite systems, and budget feelings. Multiple styles are lined up in digital shops regardless of brand, and you can find your favorite product. Customers can also instantly purchase items curated according to taste and size.

Promotion with personalized digital signage advertising (Switzerland)

Founded in Switzerland in 2016, Advertima is a startup company that uses 3D computer vision and machine learning technology to provide solutions in the retail industry.

Smart signage provided by Advertima employs a mechanism to find out purchasing behavior habits by machine learning human movements, so it is possible to analyze customer purchasing behavior without the need for personal information or ID. increase. Specifically, we will analyze behavior based on data on the human hand and head movements and skeletal information.

In addition, the optimal digital signage that suits the customer is displayed, triggered by age, gender, time spent in front of a specific product, time of interest in the product, and so on. Since it does not require face recognition or biometric authentication, it is also characterized by its consideration for privacy.

Realizing price display based on individual contracts with AR technology (Germany)

METRO is a company that operates a food wholesale and retail business for traders operating in Germany. Target customers are limited to restaurant owners, food-related sole proprietors, groups, facilities, etc., and are developing businesses based on individual contracts. It can be said that we have succeeded in building relationships with customers by providing services and benefits tailored to each customer.

METRO, which values ​​the relationship with such customers, has installed the barcode scanner SDK in its application. Augmented Reality (AR) technology makes it possible to display discount rates in addition to different product prices for each customer. In the past, the price display on the shelves on which products were displayed only displayed the retail price, and customers had to understand and calculate the discount rate based on the contract.

Through these efforts, METRO, which enhances customer satisfaction and values ​​customer loyalty, is also effective in improving loyalty.

Quickly catch up on trends by utilizing big data (China)

SHEIN is an apparel e-commerce site that operates in more than 200 countries around the world. Known as a fast-fashion brand in China, it is extremely popular among teens at a low price. Although it does not have a physical store and is sold only online, it is expanding sales worldwide.

It can be said that the business model has a lot to do with the reason why SHEIN has developed so rapidly.

The most distinctive feature is that the period from design to sale is only 7 days. While having many designers grasp fashion trends in real-time, we have succeeded in suppressing trends by performing trend analysis using AI. This realizes a high-speed product cycle.

Another success factor is the constant online test sales. By producing prototypes that combine different designs, colors, and fabrics in small lots and conducting test sales online, it is easy to collect and analyze consumer purchasing data. Mass production decisions can be made overwhelmingly fast.

“DT Lab Store” (Korea) to verify the utilization of next-generation technology

In August 2021, Lotte Information Communication opened the Seven-Eleven unmanned automated convenience store “DT Lab Store” on the 1st floor of the Lotte Communication Headquarters Building in Kumcheon-gu, Seoul. Similar to Amazon Go, the system is automatically settled by simply taking out the purchased product.

In addition, AI humans utilizing artificial intelligence technology are deployed at the entrances and exits of stores to provide a wide range of information such as campaign product introductions, event information at stores, weather, and news.

In addition, by combining “LiDar”, which is expected to be widely used because it is installed in the iPhone, and face recognition technology, customer flow line data analysis will also be performed. It is expected that it will be useful for store management as it will be possible to grasp product trends that match the characteristics of customers.

New concept shop “Nike Rise” (Korea)

Headquartered in the United States, Nike is a sports and fitness company that handles apparel and sneakers. In 2020, a new concept shop called Nike Rise based on footwear technology was opened in Guangzhou, China, and in 2021, a new concept shop was opened in Seoul, South Korea.

At Nike Rise, we are focusing on linking with the Nike App, and we are providing services that utilize technology such as a service that measures the shape and size of the foot just by shooting with a smartphone and recommends appropriate shoes. increase.

In addition, a new RFID-compatible digital footwear table is available so that visitors can check the benefits of products and online reviews simply by placing the products on the table. A new digital customer experience will increase customer satisfaction.

Achieved 25% CVR in live commerce at apparel shops (Japan)

Mitsui Fudosan, a comprehensive real estate company, launched the live commerce platform ” MEETS SHOP ” in October 2020. It seems that he had been paying attention to live commerce from the viewpoint of Omni-channelization of physical stores and EC sites before Corona, but due to the long-term influence of Corona, it launched earlier than planned.

This is a service in which store staff and influencers perform live distribution of products by soliciting requests for live distribution from stores occupying each facility operated by Mitsui Shopping Park, which is represented by “LaLaport”.

Until now, online shopping has only been able to obtain product information from images and text. In that respect, live commerce allows viewers to ask questions in real-time and understand the usability of the product. Also, by pressing the shopping cart button displayed on the screen during live viewing, one of the attractions is the function to see the introduced products in a list and the ability to move to the product purchase page and perform the purchase procedure. ..

In 2021, the cumulative number of distributions reached 140 times, and one live distribution was viewed by 5,000 people, which is about 12 times the average number of viewers, and there were times when the CVR reached 25%. That is.

summary

In this article, we have introduced examples of retail tech overseas and domestically.

Technology utilization in the retail industry is evolving day by day, and various digital services are being created by each company repeating trial and error to find new experience value for customers.

It may have created an image that will lead to changes in corporate training, product sales, and advertising systems, creating new customer experiences, as well as improving operational efficiency and sales. We hope that you will have the opportunity to reconsider the technologies and services that you can introduce in-house by referring to the case of retail tech that you are interested in.

If you ever want to know about similar things, check out the Facebook page Maga Techs.