Retail expert Doug Stephens, Founder of Retail Prophet, says technology has transformed retail over the last two decades but the industry needs to rediscover the art of doing business.
“Today, we sit on the edge of yet another technology revolution in retail, with investment by retailers in AI and machine learning projected to increase up to eight-fold by 2032,” he said.
“Yet, despite all the investment in technological progress, too many retailers today struggle to stay afloat, grinding it out each day, one promotion at a time. Because, while technology has advanced the mechanics of retail, it’s also opened the door to something else: a historic explosion in new competitors to traditional retailers – from third-party marketplaces and direct sellers to Asian discounters and social media influencers – all of which are now battling it out for finite, fleeting and increasingly fragmented slivers of consumer attention.
“Indeed, the existential challenge facing most retailers today is how to command disproportionate levels of attention. And how to do this when superior selection, convenience and price have largely become the domain of large international marketplaces and mega-chains, and digital advertising is relentlessly more expensive while declining in its effectiveness?
“The answer lies less in deploying new technology and more in something almost never discussed in retail circles: art. Because, as it turns out, attracting attention and promoting recall are what art does best. In fact, a growing body of scientific evidence suggests that art, regardless of form, has a uniquely stimulating effect on our brains.”
Stephens outlined his thoughts on this in a previous Retail Insider article.
In this video interview, Stephens also discusses the dramatically changing nature of competitive advantage in retail. In essence, Stephens believes we’ve come to the end of an era in terms of how we compete in this industry and what will separate the winners from the losers.
