COUNTRY FOCUS: FRANCE
The French retail sector
is booming throughout the
country with the likes of some
of the world’s largest retail giants
located there, so keeping up with
consumer demand is key to success.
Capgemini, a French-headquartered
global leader in consulting, technology
services and Digital Transformation,
has found that consumers prefer
to shop in a store with automation
capabilities, while Wirecard and
Orange Bank are actively offering a
digital payment solution.
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Automation provides
competitive advantages
for in-store retail
A
s automation technology continues
to mature, it is increasingly
becoming a point of competitive
advantage, with consumers responding
positively to the improved convenience that
it can deliver. However, in order to capitalise
on this trend, retailers will need to prioritise
automation that creates positive consumer
experiences rather than as a cost saving
exercise, according to new research from the
Capgemini Research Institute. previously visited stores with automation
said they would be willing to shift their
in-store purchases from a retailer without
automation technologies to one that offers
them, rising to 67% for 22–36 year-olds.
Most consumers believe automation can
help to solve pain points they experience
in-store including long checkout queues
(66%), difficulty in locating products (60%),
and products being out of stock (56%). Key
findings of the report include:
The report, Smart Stores – Rebooting the
retail store through in-store automation,
which surveyed over 5,000 consumers
and 500 retail executives across North
America, Europe and Asia, found that a
majority (59%) of consumers who have Maturing automation provides
competitive advantage
50
INTELLIGENTCIO
Automation has an important role to play
in bringing customers previously reliant on
e-commerce back into stores as well. A total
of 46% of customers who had a positive
experience with in-store automation said
they would be willing to shift some of their
online purchases from digitally focused
retailers (retailers that mostly operate
through websites/apps and with minimal
stores) to stores that offer automation
technology. That number rises to 55%
for urban consumers, 58% for millennials,
and sharply increases for shoppers in India
(79%) and China (85%). On average,
customers considering moving from online
to in-store purchases would shift 20-
25% of their purchases as a result of the
improvements that automation could bring.
Automation could also boost overall sales
numbers for retailers. A total of 60% of
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