Excelling in today’s redefined retail industry means putting equal weight on avoiding problems and finding solutions.
Source: www.innovativeretailtechnologies.com
- Adding Tech For Tech’s Sake
Just because augmented reality, or robotics, or drones, or lasers and smoke-machines are hyped doesn’t mean they add value to your customer experience. Always ask yourself the question: What customer pain point does this solve? - Failing To Get Store Associates On Board
If the store associates don’t love it, then it will fail. - Failing To Align Organizational Owners
Easier said than done, but it’s vital that everyone on your retail innovation project team works towards a shared vision of success. It can’t just be the digital team. It’s got to be store operations, and merchandising, and IT, and more. - Forgetting About The Basics, Like Infrastructure
One example is connectivity, where everything from network configuration and firewalls to quality of Wi-Fi can make or break your solution. - Limiting Investments Of Time And Focus Beyond V1
Phew! You’ve finally launched your tech! It was tough. Securing budget, assembling a team, creating a steering committee, validating, customer-testing, piloting — it feels like you could have started an entire business in the real world. Well, remember this is the beginning. Launch is exciting but you have to treat your in-store tech like a first version.
Easier said than done, but it’s vital that everyone on your retail innovation project team works towards a shared vision of success. It can’t just be the digital team.
Are some of these super-obvious? Oh yeah. But almost all of these common points of failure tend to be forgotten when in the thick of developing a project. So, hold to your principles.