»  Shoppercentricity

One of the biggest potential game changers in retail is the ability for shoppers to access information at the point of sale in order to inform or influence their purchase decision. Any and all conceivable information, from reviews to competitive prices, is literally in the palm of their hands via smart phones.

An obvious risk retailers and brands face is a shopper comparing their offering and going elsewhere/buying something else. Retailers and brands are doing what they can to combat this by using shopper insights to understand the purchase process and then providing the needed information to shoppers. However, regardless of how much information is provided, the ultimate power is choice and that will always reside with shoppers. 

Aside from delivering information, technology is also playing the role of facilitator, facilitating the collision of two retail universes: brick (traditional retail stores) and click (online). Whereas it used to be an either/or world (ie shop online or shop in the stores), technology is now allowing shoppers to brick and click at the same time, in the same place.

A great example of this ability coming to life is Amazon's smartphone app. Aside from the predictable ability to shop their total store, they also included a smart tool called "Amazon Remembers." It allows you to take a picture of a product (regardless of where you are), will then scan its online store and then find the exact or similar product and send the results to you.

Shopper marketers, the future is in the palm of shopper's hands - today. Amazon's app points to a world where the combination of what and when will be the deciding factor, not the where. Retail is a world of constant evolution and the fight for the what and when will only intensify. However, with this collision of bricks and clicks, the winner will always be the shopper.