In-Store Technology

Frontline employees are vital to a retailer's operation. The quality of a customer's experience is directly related to the level of employee engagement.  When customers need assistance, they expect fast, reliable service and they shouldn't have to look all over the store for help. Unfortunately, customers are often left with no other option than to…

For years e-commerce sites enjoyed an “unfair advantage” over their brick-and-mortar competition. The combination of click tracking, behavioral analytics, and customer journey planning provided a wealth of data that was simply unavailable in a physical retail environment. Loyalty programs, where customers scanned a plastic card at checkout, provided stores with shopper purchasing habits, but only…

The pandemic kickstarted an omnichannel shopping trend, with 60 percent to 70 percent of consumers researching and purchasing both in-store and online. At the same time, customer experience remained king. As consumers become increasingly demanding and accustomed to the ease and convenience of shopping online, physical retail stores are having to step up their game.…

Brick-and-mortar retail is in a technology boom. While innovations like self-checkout, mobile apps, and digital kiosks were already popping up in stores, the pandemic only accelerated the adoption of new technologies to connect with customers and keep them safe. Despite focusing on face-to-face interactions and physical products, brick-and-mortar retail’s past is filled with technological innovation…

Although it may feel like the past two years have radically changed retail, many consumer expectations are still the same, just fast-tracked. To meet these expectations, physical stores need to get creative with crafting unique experiences, including using pop-up shops, providing exclusive products and experiences, and managing their supply chain and inventory effectively and sustainably.…

Brick-and-mortar stores are on a tear. While e-commerce is leveling off at about 21 percent of core retail sales, retailers opened more than 4,200 new stores in the first five months of this year, Cushman & Wakefield reports. At this point, “2022 is on track to be the first year of net-positive store openings since…

The last three years have brought an explosion of new technology into retail spaces. Electronic shelf labels, virtual mirrors, and self-checkout are just a few ways brick-and-mortar stores are digitizing the retail experience. Retailers are confident delivering a highly personalized, zero-friction experience in a physical setting can improve the shopping experience and help them reclaim…

The global pandemic sparked an evolution in the retail landscape that doesn't show signs of stopping. Namely, there have been two obvious shifts among consumers: increased omnichannel shopping habits and decreased brand loyalty. Customers aren’t hesitating to find another retailer that gives them the shopping experience they desire, whether in-store or online. To keep up…

In this episode of Total Retail Tech Insights, Editor-in-Chief Joe Keenan interviews Melissa Wong, CEO and co-founder of Zipline, the platform enabling best-in-class communication strategies throughout retail organizations. Wong discusses why her background in the retail industry led her to start a technology company (0:54) and why Zipline recently partnered with Total Retail to produce…

It’s well known that traditional retailers have struggled to drive foot traffic and customer engagement in brick-and-mortar stores over the past decade. The internet and rise of retailers like Amazon.com — coupled obviously with the onset of the pandemic — have changed the retail landscape in unprecedented ways. But with consumers now venturing back in-store, how…