THE FUTURE OF TRADITIONAL RETAIL

Shopping is a modern version of hunting, why not turn it into a place of adventure and a positive challenge rather than a lonely planet …

By nature, we are hunter-gatherers we need to work together to fulfil each other’s roles in collecting the essentials to survive. Dopamine is responsible for the feeling we get when we find something we’re looking for or we [achieve] something we set out to accomplish, says Simon Sinek. The hormone is released every time we get closer to our goal. Our bodies feel satisfaction and keep us motivated, without the hormone we would become idle and waste away.

Traditional retail is in a crisis today and the ideas to improve the situation in the future looks sterile, lonely and isolated. If we are served by the robots we will become robots too.

Who will benefit from being looked after by a robot in a store, an app sending messages every time we pass a store or an idea of doing grocery shopping while sitting in a car seat?

The idea of Amazon Go shopping seems most efficient. It’s simple – in and out of a store – no queuing to pay for our shopping means we will have more spare time for ourselves at the end of the day. That’s a positive outcome.

Human contact is a very important part of the shopping experience as we all know it

It is the more personal conversation or a short witty chat with a person behind the counter I think rather than information provided about the product. My Iranian friend can talk to anyone standing beside him in the shop, perhaps it is a part of his culture to treat shopping as a social experience. As a regular customer at the fish counter in Dunnes Stores, I got a small discount which was offered to me by the stall owner – a robot or an app will never do that.

What do you think about the use of an advanced technology in retail in the nearest future? Do you like some of the new inventions?

What do you think about the use of an advanced technology in retail in the nearest future? Do you like the idea?