Author
Sandesh Mouli
Categories
Technology
Several weeks back, I had the opportunity to represent Ruckus on a panel at the A.T. Kearney Future of Stores Summit in San Francisco. Co-panelists included senior executives from Walmart and newly established retailer, Batch. Over 120 retailers, industry professionals and technology companies attended this event to learn about the future of the retail market.
The topic for this particular panel was “How will brick-and-mortar stores contribute to the shopper experience in the future?”. Although many people think brick-and-mortar stores are going away because of the convenience of ecommerce, this theory ignores the power of the in-store shopper experience. Additionally, data can help drive a better in-store experience for customers.
As history once wrote, the Great Silk Road was an ancient network of trade routes that connected the East and West. It was central to cultural interaction and commerce between the regions for many centuries. Although we consider data back in ancient times fairly basic, it was critical to global trade. Today’s modern day “Silk Roads” are comprised of a plethora of customer specific data sets running across digital networks. These networks enhance the retail experience for shoppers by seamlessly merging their online and in-store experiences. The lines continue to blur and eventually will be known as unified commerce, much like we evolved 20 years ago from labeling old vs. new economy companies to today’s unified technology-driven companies.
The topic for this particular panel was “How will brick-and-mortar stores contribute to the shopper experience in the future?”. Although many people think brick-and-mortar stores are going away because of the convenience of ecommerce, this theory ignores the power of the in-store shopper experience. Additionally, data can help drive a better in-store experience for customers.
As history once wrote, the Great Silk Road was an ancient network of trade routes that connected the East and West. It was central to cultural interaction and commerce between the regions for many centuries. Although we consider data back in ancient times fairly basic, it was critical to global trade. Today’s modern day “Silk Roads” are comprised of a plethora of customer specific data sets running across digital networks. These networks enhance the retail experience for shoppers by seamlessly merging their online and in-store experiences. The lines continue to blur and eventually will be known as unified commerce, much like we evolved 20 years ago from labeling old vs. new economy companies to today’s unified technology-driven companies.
