AR and Improved Online Shopping

We spent some time examining this proposition, but did not find that AR provided significant results in engagement and sales, except in very narrow domains. Here new studies of interest with new tech.

AR Can Improve Online Shopping, Study Finds
Cornell Chronicle
E.C. Barrett

Researchers at Cornell University, Iowa State University, and Virginia Polytechnic Institute found that online shopping could be enhanced by allowing consumers to try on garments virtually via Augmented Reality (AR). The goal is to reduce the expense and carbon footprint of bracket shopping, in which shoppers order an item in multiple sizes and colors, and send back those they find unsuitable. The AR system requires a computer, telephone, or tablet screen reflecting the shopper and their physical backgrounds, with selected garments overlaid; study participants assessed the AR garments for size, fit, and performance, followed by physical try-ons. Evaluating the fit in AR was problematic, but shoppers' responses to the AR and actual garments were positive. Cornell's Fatma Baytar said, "We can expect that as these technologies evolve, people will trust online shopping more." ... '

Wal-Mart Integrates Online and In-Store Teams

The direction of Wharton here seems to be first a kind of re-training, and also a means of understanding customers in multiple contexts.    Should be powerful to the extent that it works.

Walmart shakes things up, further integrating online and physical store teams  In Retailwire  by Tom Ryan with further expert comment.

In a move to better integrate its physical stores with its online enterprise, Walmart is combining both its supply chain and finance teams that work with its e-commerce site and stores. 

“Our customers want one, seamless Walmart experience,” wrote CEO Doug McMillon in an employee memo obtained by numerous news outlets. “Earning more of our customers’ business in food and consumables is foundational to our strategy, and, at the same time, we will expand our ability to serve them with general merchandise in stores and through our broad e-commerce assortment as we continue to invest and build our e-commerce business.” 

Greg Smith, current EVP of the U.S. supply chain, will head the new combined supply chain team. Nate Faust, currently leading e-commerce fulfillment, will transition to a new role.

Walmart U.S. CFO Michael Dastugue will oversee the combined finance team. Jeff Shotts, current e-commerce CFO, will lead Walmart’s U.S. marketplace business. Steve Schmitt, currently Sam’s Club CFO, will become the new U.S. e-commerce CFO, reporting to Mr. Dastugue.  .... "

More on Wal-Mart's Jetblack

Cost seems high based on their typical clientele and benefits.  Certainly a  novel approach worthy of a test.  Customization of possible recommendations via demographic and shopping behavior is of interest.

Walmart launches members-only, text-based personal shopping service  By Marianne Wilson in ChainstoreAge

Walmart is betting that some consumers—particularly busy parents—are willing to pay a monthly fee for the ability to shop (and receive product recommendations) via text messaging.

The discounter announced the official launch of Jetblack, a members-only personal shoping service that it described as combining “the convenience of eCommerce with the customized attention of a personal assistant.” The service is now available in limited release to customers in Manhattan and part of Brooklyn.

Jetblack is the first business to launch from Walmart’s technology incubator, Store No.8, where it previously operated under wraps as “Code 8.” It is led by Jenny Fleiss, co-founder of Rent the Runway, who joined Walmart last year.

With the launch of Jetblack, Walmart has made its first foray into conversational commerce – or the ability to shop through text messaging, online chat or voice. The service lets members order everything from toiletries and household items, to toys and fashion with a text message. It will then find the right products and deliver them the same or next day for no additional charge.

“With Jetblack, we have created an entirely new concept that enables consumers to get exactly what they need through the convenience of text messaging and the freedom of a nearly unlimited product catalogue,” said Fleiss, co-founder and CEO of Jetblack. “We are confident this service will make shopping frictionless, more personalized and delightful.”

Jetblack, which will cost members $50 per month, is targeted at more affluent shoppers, specifically busy urban parents. It includes access to personal shoppers who will offer members curated shopping recommendations (based on the member’s request) sent via text. (Other benefits include free wrapping and easy returns.)  .... " 

Cautions for Voice Replenishment Shopping

A reasonable warning of course, in our discussions several of us have mentioned that they are concerned about consumers paying less attention to price.

Voice Shopping with Amazon and Google Could Cost You  In CIO Today.

In the name of convenience, Amazon and Walmart are pushing people to shop by just talking to a digital assistant. Shopping by voice means giving orders to the Alexa assistant on Amazon's Echo speaker and other devices, even if your hands are tied up with dinner or dirty diapers. And next month, Walmart will start offering voice shopping , too, with the Google Assistant on the rival Home speaker.

Such voice shopping hasn't really caught on yet, but if it does, look out -- you might never know if it's offering you the best deal. Because these devices can't say much without tiring your ears, voice shopping precludes some of the savvy shopping practices you may have relied on to find the best bargains -- in particular, researching products and comparing prices.  .... " 

Delivering Perishables to the Smart Home

We tested a number of solutions to perishable delivery in out smart home labs. Obviously this requires some expensive refitting of the home.

Walmart tests new delivery drop-off point — the customer’s fridge
By Deena M. Amato-McCoy

Walmart’s new grocery delivery program could give it a huge edge in the online ordering game.

The discount giant is testing a concept that will not only deliver fresh groceries, but also enable a delivery person to enter customers’ homes and put away perishables in their refrigerator. Walmart, which announced the news in a blog on its website, is partnering with August Home, a smart locks and smart home accessories provider, and same-day delivery company Deliv, to test the service.

Here’s how it works: Customers place their order online, and when the order is ready, a Deliv driver delivers it to the shopper’s home. If no one answers the doorbell, the driver enters a pre-authorized one-time passcode into a smart lock keypad installed beside the door. 

Customers receive a smartphone notification that the delivery is occurring, and they can monitor the delivery through home security cameras integrated with the August security app. Non-perishable items are left in the foyer, and fresh merchandise is placed into the shopper’s fridge. Once the Deliv associate leaves, the customer receives a notification confirming the delivery is complete and the door was automatically locked.

The concept is being tested among a handful of August Home customers in Silicon Valley. .... " 

Advertising's Amazon Problem

Brought to my attention.

Madison Avenue's Amazon Problem   By Leila Abboud in Bloomberg

When you run an advertising agency, your clients' problems are your problems. That's why Martin Sorrell, the CEO of WPP Plc, has spent so much time fretting about Amazon.com Inc. lately.WPP Shares fell as much as 12%. The makers of consumer and packaged goods, which are among the world's biggest advertisers, are spooked about Amazon's pending $13.7 billion takeover of U.S. supermarket chain Whole Foods Market Inc.. For Procter & Gamble Co. and Unilever Plc, the deal's direct impact will initially be modest given Whole Foods' tiny market share and high-end positioning. But given how fast shopping is changing in the Internet era, it underscores how consumer goods companies' prices, margins and customer loyalty face long-term threats.   ... "

Supershoppers

Google takes a look at the characteristics of supershoppers, with interesting statistics.

Smartphone Changing Home Shopping

Well, yes, Smartphones already change the way most people behave in many spaces.  So its natural that once they strongly embed the behavior, it will change how we shop.   In our informal Costco study, now dated, we talked to shoppers and the main reason they gave for referring to their smartphone was:  " I have it with me ... ".  The inference was that there was almost no friction.  Even less so at home.

In Retailwire, further discussion.  Are smartphones changing how Americans shop from home?

Digital Defining the Shopping Experience

Discussion of interest regarding a Deloitte study.  In RetailWire:

Is digital defining the shopping experience?   by Tom Ryan

According to a new Deloitte study, digital platforms such as Facebook and Google “are operating at such scale now that they are shaping customers’ definitions of what a great customer experience is.”

The study, “The New Digital Divide: The future of digital influence in retail,” pointed to the limitations of a single retailer creating a “meaningfully personalized experience” with its customers. They estimated that the customer likely interacts with a retailer six to eight times per year and mostly in a transactional manner.  .... " 

One Click Product Placement

When I first read this I was confused.  What does this mean?  We had studied product placement approaches since Soap Boxes in the silent era. And the general idea has existed for a long time.  But now take it further and make it adaptive by product segment too.  Good discussion at the link ..

Amazon tests one-click product placement

While offering original movies and TV shows has long been touted as a perk to boost Prime membership, Amazon is rolling out another way to capitalize on its content: product placement.

In Japan, Amazon has teamed up with entertainment company Yoshimoto Kogyo to insert product placements into an Amazon Prime Video TV show exploring Japanese cuisine.

“The first shows will exhibit dishes from the northern island of Hokkaido and feature local comedy duo Taka and Toshi, who found nationwide fame with Yoshimoto,” according to Nikkei.

Viewers will be able to tap Amazon’s “1-Click” icon to order certain products featured in the program.

The initially planned four episodes will run around 40 minutes each. Future videos will feature other places in Japan, as well as “some locations overseas,” Nikkei says.

“The idea that you could have whatever you want by just clicking a button is certainly enticing, but having the ability to constantly consume is a weird future, to the say the least,” wrote Leslie Horn on Vocativ, a news site focused on media and technology. “Although, I’m sure most people have had the experience of watching, say, an episode of Anthony Bourdain’s ‘No Reservations,’ and wondered what the culinary oddity he’s sampling tasted like. With Amazon’s new strategy, one wouldn’t have to wonder.”

The one-click proposal expands on the Dash Button, Amazon’s one-click replenishment system launched in 2015; the one-click “Buy it Now” button on its website, as well as the one-command ordering through the Echo voice-enabled assistant.  .... " 

Make Everything Seamless in Retail

Make Everything Happen At Once
Executing on the hybrid purchase model of online shopping and in-store pickup. ... " 

Progress of Online Shopping

Marketist Mark J Perry charts the progress of online shopping with stock prices.

" ....  There may be no other large company operating today that better illustrates the economic concepts of creative destruction and consumer sovereignty than Amazon – to the significant benefit of consumers, who are the direct beneficiaries of Amazon’s success as an Internet-based online retailer. The rise in Amazon’s share price is a market measure of its success at fulfilling The Amazon Doctrine of aligning with customers – its stock is winning in the market only because its customers are winning daily with low prices, a wide selection of great products and the convenience of shopping online from home – or from anywhere with a Smartphone. ... " 

Digital Shopping

Is digital grocery shopping hitting critical mass? 

Nearly half of global consumers surveyed by Nielsen say they are ready and willing to grocery shop online, and Web-based grocery sales are on track to hit $13 billion this year, according to IBIS World. Companies like Instacart are allowing traditional grocers to dive into online grocery sales, letting customers choose what they want using the Web, after which a shopper bags the items at the store and delivers them to the consumer's home ... " 

Video Shopping

Online video: The next best thing to in-store shopping?

Retailers of all sizes are catching on to the fact that video can be the next best thing to visiting the store in terms of product education and conversion. Do you see ways to make video work more smoothly and effectively as part of the online shopping experience? .... " 

More on Kroger Online Ordering

In Cincinnati Enquirer:  " ... Clicks to ease trips at Liberty Township Kroger ... Some long-time Kroger's customers say clicks beat old-fashioned shopping trips and they are eager for the supermarket's expanded online shopping service.  Shoppers at the Liberty Township Kroger Market Place store, which is the first in the region to offer expanded "click and collect" service, say they are ready to stroke their computer keyboards rather than stroll store aisles.   .... " 

Kroger Expands Online Shopping

In Cincinnati, A good example of how bricks retailers are testing shop online and pickup grocery shopping.  For Kroger pickup is only at one store so far.  The demographics would be interesting, and link to loyalty propositions.

Digital Shopping Booming

In Retailwire: More on the emergence of digital grocery shopping.  Delivery versus pickup remains a challenge.

Shopping in Virtual Reality

Spent some time looking at how people might shop using virtual reality.  In particular was part of a retail innovation group that looked at Second Life for this.  That broader 3D environment there did change the result. Our outcome was that VR, as it existed then, did not promote shopping for the CPG categories we examined. But should the virtual environment mimic live retal?  Clearly for some domains, especially those that integrated complex 3D interaction, or information,  the outcome would be different. Retailwire examines this in a discussion.   Worth a yet closer look.  Glad to share informally.   Any other reactions?

" ... According to Walker Sands' "2015 Future of Retail Study," more than a third of consumers would do more online shopping if they were able to try on a products virtually using a device like Oculus Rift. What do you think the arrival of virtual reality technology will mean for e-commerce? How will it affect physical stores?  ... " 

Facebook and Multi Device Shopping Habits

Another are we addressed in some detail.  Shopping is increasingly multi channel and multidevice.  It has to be considered in all these dimensions.  " ... Facebook to Track Users Across Devices to Study Shopping Habits - Bloomberg. ...  "   More.

Online Replacing In Store Browsing

The results of an Ipsos and Google survey and report.  " ... Whether through a laptop at work or a smartphone before bed or in-store, online searches continue to replace much of the shopper discovery process that comes from in-store browsing. ... "