5 RETAIL NEWS CAPSULE PHILIPPINE RETAILING
Conversational commerce to rise
Conversational commerce is among the digital trends that is seen to continue growing this year , a Viber executive said . In a statement , David Tse , Rakuten Viber senior director for Asia-Pacific , underscored four digital trends , which includes the further rise of conversational commerce .
" As we ' ve witnessed on Viber , independent online business owners managed to get back on track and then move forward with more steady steps as they learn more about their customers ' online behavior and preferences ," Tse highlighted .
He said conversational commerce gained traction to replicate personal service without physical interaction , which increased the demand for chatbots .
" Before the pandemic , customers were used to receiving personalized services in traditional stores and their preference for an individual service shifted to digital and mobile shopping ," he added .
Tse noted that Viber ' s Communities feature has seen a 22 % growth in the country last year , especially those in business-related Viber Communities .
The feature allows brands and businesses to connect with consumers and have one-on-one conversations with members .
Tse also sees the trend for a person-to-person experience to continue this year , which he said online businesses can do by maximizing private chats with their customers .
" By increasing engagement with customers beyond just customer service support or promotional driven information , Communities allow businesses to create regular content to amplify the interest from the customers on the product category and organically create an interest-focused conversation rather than transactional conversation ," he explained .
Source : The Manila Times
AllDay introduces Philippines ’ first supermarket ‘ smart carts ’
AllDay Supermarket , the country ’ s fastest growing supermarket operator , continues its tradition of innovation-first customer experiences by rolling out the Philippines ’ first “ smart carts ” in its stores , a nod to its continuous effort to bring global best practices to the local supermarket experience .
AllDay ’ s smart carts are the latest addition to the chain ’ s growing collection of first-to-market innovations , including its Personal Shopper Service , and AllDay ’ s self-checkout counters — initiatives indicative of the market ’ s growing preference for an upgraded experience informed by emerging trends from all over the world .
“ We ’ re excited to bring to our customers yet another innovation to make in-person grocery shopping even more intuitive and enjoyable ,” says Camille Villar , AllDay Supermarket ’ s Vice Chairman . “ Our smart carts are a novel experience , and we are sure it will be an exciting experience for first-time users . This puts even more convenience and information about what they are buying in real time , right at their fingertips . More importantly , introducing these smart carts helps raise the bar for the local supermarket landscape , driving home our point that Filipino consumers now expect more in terms of experiential shopping , and we are of course happy to deliver .”
customer autonomy in-store . Customers need to simply place their desired items in the smart cart , which automatically scans the selected items information , immediately reflecting prices and other important information on the cart ’ s user interface .
As a customer continues his or her shopping trip , a running total is generated in real-time , allowing for them to monitor and compare against their budget , or their shopping list for that particular trip . When a customer is ready to check out , the smart cart will automatically generate a QR code for their total purchase , which can be scanned at either AllDay ’ s self-check out counters or simply handed over to AllDay ’ s trained cashiers for payment and check out .
Source : Business World
A simple , efficient experience
AllDay ’ s smart carts are easy to use , and allows for even more
Photo from : yummy . ph