In 2021, many of us begin our day with the voice of Alexa as she gently wakes up the household by telling us our time for sleep is over. We will then engage in a brief conversation with our voice activated AI assistant, asking about the weather, news headlines or (pre-lockdown) traffic news for our daily commute to work. When we are out of bed we may move to the kitchen where we ask Alexa to time 6 minutes to boil our breakfast egg, as we dance around listening to her latest music suggestions. Ways of engaging with Alexa are pretty much endless, and there are even more examples of AI assistants becoming a main touchpoint of communication within our daily lives.
In a similar light, Hive enables customers to control the heating and lighting in our homes through a simple app on our mobile phone, thus turning houses into ‘smart-homes’. Ring Doorbells also enable owners to receive parcels and speak to couriers even if they’re nowhere near their front doors. The wizardry at our disposal gets more and more powerful as each new innovation is released.
Another example of convenience focussed technology is Amazon Prime. Before the introduction of Prime in 2007, shoppers didn’t expect next day delivery when they ordered products online, but, 14 years later, some shoppers are even finding next day delivery too slow. This is a great example of how technology is altering customer expectations when it comes to service and the challenge for retailers to keep up is all going to get more difficult as AI further pushes the envelope in terms of what’s possible.
Whilst some aspects of our lives have slowed down over the past 12 months due to the tight restrictions we have been forced to live with, there is no denying that COVID-19 has accelerated the use of digital technology when it comes to online shopping and fulfilment.
What has become obvious to me since immersing myself in the world of retail after graduating last year, is that behind every piece of innovative technology I see as a customer, there is a layer of comprehensive infrastructure enabling it to work. If a retailer wants to offer its customers a great service, it must build it on foundations that not only support the front end, but power it up so it delivers everything the seemingly impatient customer wants.
At Retail247, we recognise this need for background solutions and our PIM solution, Origin, provides a single point for all things Product. It’s massively scalable, completely flexible, and in line with everything we do, it promotes and supports sustainable growth. Get in touch to learn more.