Have you ever stopped to think how fast everything has changed because of technology? Do you remember your first telephone? Or even your first computer? We went from Alexander’s Graham Bell’s patent for the telephone in 1876 (which many believe others had discovered it before) to the mobile phone we have today. We have come a long way since then. In just a blink of an eye, technology has changed the way we communicate, analyze our surroundings, the way we work, increased opportunities and many more in all industries. It has contributed immensely to the retail success at every stage and angle of the shopping journey, both in bricks-and-mortar stores and online.

Here some of the many trends disrupting the retail space now:

IoT

Internet of Things (IoT) is expected to grow at an accelerated pace, offering significant opportunities for retailers by making their operations and marketing investments more efficient and cost effective. Hugo Boss uses heat sensors to track customer traffic in their stores, which helps them place premium items in high-traffic areas. Another exciting retail disruptor that used IoT to their advantage is the Italian Retail Giant, Coop in Milan. Coop Italia wanted to build a welcoming and informative retail environment using digital technologies. So in just six months, they built the "Supermarket of the Future" with Accenture. Throughout the store you can see interactive display tables, redesigned vertical shelving and real-time data visualization, which complement each other to create an innovative and hollistic approach.

Alternative checkout methods

No one likes to wait in long lines. Alternative payment options have become more efficient and innovative than ever. With our phones being our number one piece of technology and will remain for a long time, the expansion of advanced barcodes and imaging technologies for scanning products, there’s a great opportunity and alternative checkout options will continue to grow. Amazon has launched its Amazon Go, which is a new kind of store with no checkout required. All you need is your smartphone, Amazon account and Amazon Go app. Another good example is the Italian Retail Store Chain, Esselunga, which has the fast grocery shopping experience called “Presto Spesa.” You can put everything you put in your cart into your small tablet that you pick up at the entrance. Then when you’re finished with your shopping, you can access the automated cashiers to pay.

2017 the Year of the APIs

Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) are connectors. "They empower retailers to compete in the new on-demand reality by delivering goods in the shortest timeframe possible with the highest level of transparency and operational efficiency.” APIs have transformed industries for decades. Yet, the power of them has yet to be fully harnessed by logistics departments within the retail sector.

Technology experts have reported a growing shift within third-party API systems. There are a number of examples that show how retailers can leverage external partners to access API connectivity within critical business functions, like Checkr (payment), Taulia (supply chain management) and many more. Dynamic start-ups providing API functionality to retailers will continue to attract attention from the investment community in the coming year.

Location Intelligence

When you think about opening a bricks and mortar, many tend to focus on the R&D or sales, for example, but what about the location? Where are you going to put it? How many will you open or on which ones will you prioritize? Of all the factors, location is the most fundamental to the success of a bricks and mortar retail and the use of location intelligence to drive decision making can be the difference between retail success and failure. A business can not only find an ideal location by examining variables such as demographics, but also by going beyond the tangible data and evaluating the general impact of the environment like effects on weather or infrastructure developments. Finance, R&D, business executive management, and marketing place the greatest importance on location intelligence. One of the most important things it can help you understand is your ROI in marketing campaigns, for instance. Studies show that location intelligence is perceived as more critical than big data, social media analytics or IoT. It enables a business to significantly reduce overall risks associated with making decisions by collecting and analyzing all relevant data and thus taking out the guesswork out of making the best decision for your retail.