Retail tech innovation trends unpacked at annual RCS Summit

“Our annual RCS Retail Summit provides our retail partners with a snapshot of what’s current, what’s trending and what to expect in the future,” said Regan Adams, chief executive officer (CEO) of the RCS Group. “While many of these technological advances might seem daunting to the general public, we believe that exposing our partners to global best practice and advances in the retail sector allows them to align themselves to the changes they need to make to both their physical and technological infrastructures to ensure they remain competitive and profitable.”

RCS partners in attendance included Massmart, Edcon, Pick n Pay and Sanlam. The Summit was held in conjunction with Echangeur, a technological and marketing analysis business unit of BNP Paribas Personal Finance, the largest consumer finance business in Europe, which also owns RCS.

China leads the way

The ‘Commerce Reloaded’ and ‘Innovate Service Centric’ presentations made by key Echangeur executives highlighted that the technology you’ve seen in science fiction movies is now very much a reality. These innovations are changing the way retailers are interacting with their customers, with China leading the way.

With 48% of AI funding being spent in China and 38% in the US, online retail giants such as Amazon and Alibaba are harnessing this and outshining their bricks and mortar counterparts. These two companies are expected to own 40% of the world’s retail by 2020, with China projected to grow its GDP by 26% in 2020 simply because of the edge provided by AI.

Tech-driven shopping

Technological advances such as facial recognition software; apps that eliminate the need to queue and pay for goods; virtual reality shopping experiences that allow you to virtually browse stores in other countries; dynamic pricing based on the freshness of a product; and personal virtual shopping assistants, are significantly enhancing and streamlining customer shopping experiences.

In addition, voice assistants like Amazon Echo and Google Assistant are set to become the dominant customer interface within the next three years, and improvements made by Amazon and Alibaba are enabling warehouses to be built in the sky – to shorten delivery times and reduce delivery costs – and allowing your fridge to assess your physique and recommend regimes to reduce weight or improve health.

Digital dynamism: A new world of retail opportunities

Garth Meier  8 Feb 2018

Many of the technologies referred to in the presentations were showcased in the Tech Village. Innovative solutions included those that enable a new way of consuming without commuting; personalised customer interfaces based on purchasing habits; and on-the-go payment options to streamline transactions.