Assisted technology vs tech overdrive: Striking right balance in-store

Evoking the simpler times of the pre-tech, pre-AI retailing of the past, Huzefa Merchant, Founder and CEO of INSYNC Shop Fittings, very effectively highlighted the big difference that technology has made in front-end retail, during his presentation on the theme, ‘Charting a tech-led, business enabling store strategy - do's and don'ts' at the DDX Asia Business Conference held recently in Mumbai.

Being a tech-visionary and a passionate proponent of technology driven retail solutions himself, Huzefa very well captured the essence of what tech integration means in the context of consumer experience in front-end physical retail.

He began by drawing the audience’s attention to some data on what customers primarily seek from their in-store experience. As Huzefa pointed out, product information is what customers mainly look for, combined with the ability to engage meaningfully with the products, besides hassle free check-out and other processes during their time spent inside the stores.

Huzefa then went on to chart the do’s and don’t’s of tech integration in retail, supported very well by real examples and his own insights drawn from years of working in this space. He began with the example of The Liquor Store to demonstrate how a tech-led interface supported by friendly, helpful staff can really elevate customer experience with the right product information. Huzefa essentially reiterated an integral factor in this whole strategy - “assisted technology as against technology that replaces human role”. 

He then touched on one of the most important experiential elements in the physical store space - lighting - and talked about leveraging it in the context of a tech integrated store. The significant point that Huzefa made was about seamlessly blending the physical and digital for the customer’s benefit.

He then demonstrated his point by taking the audience through the example of digital integration in store, where lighting, product placement, information, etc., come together seamlessly for the customer’s convenience.

Having shared best case examples, Huzefa then went on to highlight the ‘don’ts’, pointing to common mistakes made by brands when it comes to in-store tech integration. Huzefa began with a very simple but powerful advice: “Don’t over-complicate things.” With another example, he brought into focus one of the key reasons why ‘over technology’ fails - privacy concerns of shoppers.

“While some in-store technologies look very cool on the outside, they are not viable to replicate on scale. It’s very easy to go down the slippery slope of doing exciting, wow technologies, which are not really sustainable,” he cautioned, drawing attention to a very important but overlooked aspect.

Finally, Huzefa summarised the essence of a tech integrated store experience with the Madame store example, where tech-driven ‘micro environments’ within the store helped create emotional connect with the shopper, thus driving purchase decisions.

The core of Huzefa’s presentation was very clear: Make technology work for you, not against you.