Apparel July 2019 Apparel July 2019 issue | Seite 162

FEATURE
TECHNOLOGY WILL CONTINUE
PLAYING A SIGNIFICANT ROLE
IN BLURRING THE ONLINE AND
OFFLINE DIVIDE.
WHAT IS THE WAY FORWARD
While the offline world is looking at creating an
experience for the walk-in customer, there is no
denying that technology will continue playing a
significant role in blurring the online and offline
divide. Much as creating cafés and experience
zones will be the bricks-and-mortar way to
establish customer stickiness, it will impact only
a small proportion of offline shoppers, hence
proving to be difficult to pull the already migrated,
less engaged online shopper back in store.
To be able to bring this online shopper in
store, brands need to embrace technology far
more. This could help to blur lines between
online and offline modes of shopping. Apart from
understanding consumers’ behavioural insights
through advanced data analytics, emerging
technologies such as Internet of Things (IoT),
augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), artificial
intelligence (AI), robots and drones, beacons,
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July 2019
@Shutetrstock.com
While the partnership/café/experience route
might have worked for one store, Technopak is of
the opinion that this is more useful for stores that
are a part of a mall rather than standalone ones.
Technology might be a more sustainable method
to make shopping a more engaging experience
for customers walking in a store.
Max Fashions, for example, has launched a
smart kiosk at its store in VR Mall, Bengaluru,
which connects its customers and eases
shopping through technology. With an instant
catalogue on the big screen, customers can
search if the apparel in a certain size is available
in the store or not. If unavailable, an order can
be placed at the kiosk and the product will be
delivered to the customer’s house.
Lifestyle: One of India’s leading clothing store
chain is introducing browsers and providing digital
assistance for sizes in their changing rooms.