The retail industry experienced its most difficult times due to Covid-19, which almost covered the year 2020, and therefore the increase in e-commerce. In a dynamic and competitive environment, digital transformation is no longer a choice for retail companies, but a necessity. Retail companies have to invest in technology, develop new strategies against changing customer behaviour and improve their operational processes in order to stand strong against increasing competition.
Data
The significance of data will increase. Retailers who want to make a difference are now using strategies tailored to their customer base. Changes in customer profiles and expectations require in-depth understanding and analysis of customers. Thanks to the Pandemic, the retail industry realized the importance of predicting the future much more effectively with digital data, digital information and future-oriented simulations of this information. Retailers can monitor customers’ behaviour with digital analytics tools. They use technologies such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, beacon, image processing, Internet of Things (IoT), big data, and machine learning to examine it at a more detailed level and optimize the store environment in real-time. Personal data sharing and privacy sensitivity, which increases with the extensive use of these technologies in shopping processes, are protected by Udentify.
Hygiene
Hygiene came to the fore. During the pandemic, customer behaviours changed and the issue that most affected their experiences in in-store shopping was hygiene. The most important reason why people limit their outdoor activities is the lack of hygiene and therefore the increased risk of getting sick. If people can feel that hygiene is provided and the risk of disease is reduced, their reasons for not increasing their outdoor activities are eliminated. This concern can be alleviated by adding disinfectant areas at store entrances-exits and areas where interaction is dense, and periodically cleaning the categories, cabins, and store and maximizing the airflow in the store.
What Are the Predictions and Applications then?
Customers’ routes are one of the main factors of consumer behaviour. The formation of the store has a vital role in customers’ decision-making. For this reason, it is necessary to optimize in-store formation by taking customer behaviour into account. Interaction between categories should be increased, but it should be ensured that the customer moves on a route created for them instead of a maze. Big data and data processing plays a significant role at this point. You can read about the success of Udentify thanks to its store layout renewal at MediaMarkt here.
For a better customer experience, the checkout queue needs to be optimized. One of the worst factors affecting customers’ experience is waiting at the checkout. The longer the time to wait at the checkout, the more likely the customer will not purchase the product. Therefore, when the number of customers waiting for more than 180 seconds is compared with the number of receipts, it is understood how many people are lost and the amount of sales loss can be determined by looking at the average of the store basket. There may be a loss of up to 45% of revenue in stores due to checkout queues. Thanks to the checkout management tool, Udentify determines the optimum payment time, reduces missed opportunities and maximizes efficiency. Thus, we increase your income together. You can read about the success of Udentify thanks to its check queue tool at Virgin Megastore here.
Staffs in retail build one of the most important pillars of the business. There is a directly proportional relationship between staff interest and sales. Due to the decrease in this staff interest during rush hours, the potential may not be used and sales may decrease despite the increase in the number of people. For this reason, knowing the rush hours and where are the most visited areas during these hours provide an efficient allocation of staff. Thanks to the use of this information and efficient staff allocation, potential can be turned into sales because there will be no loss of customers due to lack of interest. You can read about how Mavi plans the future by considering the value of the knowledge of these key metrics here.