Customers are crying out for better service experiences – and new research demonstrates that not only are they willing to share more personal data to support improvements, but they will also pay more.
Facial recognition technology that identifies a shopper as a loyal customer and relays their preferences to the in-store salesperson ranked as one of the top “creepy” technologies among consumers in the third annual “Creepy or Cool” report from RichRelevance. The study surveyed more than 3,500 global consumers in the United States, United Kingdom, France and Germany about such customer experience innovations as artificial intelligence and in-store robots. (All stats in article are for U.S. consumers.)
Research Live reports while UK consumers are mostly accepting of technological advances, 55% find artificial intelligence (AI) ‘creepy’, according to research from RichRelevance.
Retail Systems reports the majority of UK consumers (80 per cent) are happy to share more data with retailers in order to improve their shopping experience.
As far back as 2015, more than half of consumers said it was important that retailers recognize them as the same person across all channels and devices that they use to shop. There has always been a theoretical line, however, that consumers do not want retailers to cross when it comes to what degree their data is used to create unique experiences for them.
Internet Retailing reports UK consumers are open minded about retailers incorporating more technology into the shopping experience and are even willing to give access to more personal data if it will improve the shopping experience.
The next generation of people (those born between 1995 and 2010, who account for 27% of the world population) is starting to enter the workforce and has spending power. They are less inclined to trust companies and brands, expect to be heard and involved and are quick to switch preferences to brands that offer authentic and transparent experiences. Selling via social media is a potentially revolutionary way to access this fragmented demographic of young, engaged buyers – but how and where should retailers start?
The widely-anticipated launch of mainstream virtual reality (VR) headsets has been somewhat underwhelming for many who touted it as the next revolution in technology. Many retailers and retail analysts thought it had the potential to completely change the way we shop, and tech giants like eBay, Alibaba and Google have all invested heavily in early attempts to integrate VR into the retail world.