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Abstract
“2023 Survey of Retail Innovations” explores the latest trends in brick-and-mortar retail. The paper provides an overview of how the retail industry is adapting to the changing shopping habits of consumers in the digital age and highlights the importance of enhancing the in-store experience to remain competitive. The survey views the innovation through the lens of the team’s Process, Layout, Metrics Model. The DART Group explains how each of the innovations often impact time in store, product handling, and dependence on associates.
Summary
The DART Group analyzed the changes in quantifying customer experience using the Process Layout Metrics (PLM) Model spanning data over two years. By utilizing this collection of work, the group was able to analyze patterns among three areas namely time in-store, product handling, and dependence on associates.
BOPIS technology achieved mainstream adoption during the pandemic and consumers have become more reliant since then. However, the layout of brick-and-mortar stores are not always equipped to handle additional challenges on grocery retailers and increased demand for employees to fulfill said orders. The DART’s most innovative finding was an independent drive-thru grocery store, Opie, located in South Carolina where a fast-food drive thru model was adopted. For the customer, it is beneficial because the task is outsourced and reduces time in-store. It was concluded that Drive-thru BOPIS is an innovative and effective fulfillment process for both retailers and consumers.
Similarly, KroGo is another new technology where the customer can shop, bag and check out by utilizing technology connected to the cart. The built-in features include a camera, scale and a display showing the running total.
As in the BOPIS drive-thru case, the average number of items purchased on a shopping trip is 15. So, the average transaction time is 14 seconds per item for a total of 3.5 minutes eliminated from the checkout process. This study elevates customer independence because it reduces product handling of three actions and decreases the dependence on associates.
Amazon Style is another innovative concept where shoppers use the Amazon app to scan QR codes of clothing and request the size and color of said items. This sends the item to fitting rooms and customers can request new items using touchscreens inside the rooms. Or they can head straight to pick-up and finish checkout by paying at Amazon account again. There are a few key layout shifts where only one item per style is displayed in-store and rest of the merchandise is BOH, for associates to place at fitting rooms as requested. While the time spent in-store is harder to quantify, product handling is impacted by up to six units at a time and dependence on associates increases, it provides a seamless and enjoyable experience for customers. The time spent in-store also increases which is beneficial to retailers as more browsing happens and basket sizes can potentially grow.
Mashgin Touchless Checkout System or Smart Checkout is an AI powered checkout technology deployed at Circle K locations. The process is the same as self-checkout, however the system uses cameras to ring up items but eliminates barcode scanning and item look-up. This compact countertop device system is eight times faster than traditional self-checkout. Unlike many of the other cases, product handling is not significantly impacted and is a noteworthy innovation of 2022 and 2023.
