In closing the first part of this retail focus we left off with the ‘renaissance’ of the physical shop. We start again from Italian data, highlighting the most used technologies and the new user-experience objectives.
The physical shop in 2023 is making a comeback after the online boom during the pandemic. Clearly, the situation varies from country to country: in Italy, inflation is weakening consumer purchasing power and, therefore, sales volumes. However, consumption is not the only contextual variable. The report by the Osservatorio Innovazione Digitale nel Retail del Politecnico di Milano also considers the economic consequences of socio-political tensions on the evolution of the Italian retail infrastructure.
At the end of 2022, there will be 568,933 retail outlets in Italy, a decrease of 2.2% compared to 2021. Still, retailers continue to believe in and are driven by innovation, which is the main driver of investments in 2023.
The autonomy strategy
In 2022, economic uncertainty led to a downsizing of investments, which was mainly oriented towards the optimisation of internal activities and processes. In 2023, something has changed: digitalisation regains a prominent position in companies’ development plans, with an incidence of 3.1% (compared to 2.5% last year).
At the centre, the strategy of autonomy. What does it mean? Simplifying and empowering the customer experience. Digital signage systems, implemented by 44% of top Italian retailers, are increasingly able to capture the customer’s attention from the moment they enter the shop. They offer more engaging communications related to products and promotions, guiding consumers along the way. Then there are digital kiosks (35% of respondents have chosen them), which encourage assortment exploration and product knowledge. Self-scanning solutions (24%), active mainly in supermarket chains, make the customer autonomous in their selection and, in connection with self-check-out and innovative payment, streamline payment procedures.
Finally, 2023 is also the year of fully automated points of sale: Dao in Verona and Gobag24 in Parma. Small shops, in strategic points of urban space and equipped with a complex technological infrastructure capable of automating the entire customer journey. In general, the store continues its path of integration with digital channels with the dual aim of enabling a fluid user experience and optimising back-end activities.
