Are You Ready for DIY Retail?
By Samuel Mueller, Scandit
The ongoing DIY (Do-it-Yourself) craze is usually associated with home repairs or arts and crafts, but the DIY mentality is also expanding to retail.
Consumers are comfortable with using their smartphones for pretty much everything, so it only makes sense that they would expect to be able to use them in a brick-and-mortar retail environment to manage every aspect of a purchase. While consumers may be comfortable with it, are you as a retailer both comfortable with and prepared for DIY retail?
Frankly, the thought of DIY retail can be extremely frightening to a retailer. Shoppers walk in, look at and research items, and then checkout and leave without ever talking to one of your store associates. That just might feel wrong to any retail executive who’s been around for more than a year or two, but some retailers have started to warm up to the concept.
For example, Apple has used an approach called EasyPay that enables shoppers to buy certain products with their smartphones and then simply walk out of the store. Not only is this convenient, but it’s also a fantastic method to use when the store is busy or the shopper is in a rush.
Since DIY retail revolves around what a consumer can do with their own mobile device, it’s essential that you provide a mobile app that can handle critical tasks such as scanning, research, and self-checkout. The app capabilities may be similar to the functionalities of your employee app, but placed in the hands of your customers.
Retailers who are pursuing the DIY approach also need to design their stores to be DIY-friendly. Floor plans should be open and products should be easily accessible, while also being identifiable and labeled in a descriptive way.
In this setting, store associates mainly keep products stocked, monitor activity, and make themselves available if there is a problem or information is needed. Even in a DIY environment, some customers will need or want the traditional in-store retail experience.
DIY retail can seem like chaos, but technology has made it possible and manageable for retailers who want to prepare for the future of retail today.
Samuel Mueller is the CEO and co-founder of Scandit and is responsible for overall strategic direction, marketing, sales and business development. Prior to Scandit, Samuel was a management consultant and project leader for multinational companies such as Swiss Airlines, Swiss Re and IBM as well as a corporate researcher at the renowned IBM Zurich Research Lab. While at IBM, Samuel was awarded an IBM Research Division Award and a total of three IBM Invention Achievement Awards. He has authored numerous patent applications and has published his research results in leading conferences and journals. Samuel holds a PhD from ETH Zurich and graduated summa cum laude with an MSc in Computer Science and an MA in Financial Economics, both from the University of Zurich, Switzerland.