Shops, Digitization, And Human Warmth
Digitization has long been a buzz word for retailers. According to Doug Stephens, one of the world’s foremost retail futurists, many owners of (physical) shops seem to believe that digitization is what will save them in the future and they see (almost any kind of) digital development as a ‘strategic investment’. But the fact is, says Stephens, “that no one needs a digital experience at all”.
By The Empty Square
Photo: Square Lab/Unsplash
Digitization has long been a buzz word for retailers. According to Doug Stephens, one of the world’s foremost retail futurists, many owners of (physical) shops seem to believe that digitization is what will save them in the future, and they see (almost any kind of) digital development as a ‘strategic investment’. But the fact is, says Stephens, “that no one needs a digital experience at all.*
What people seek are memorable, meaningful experiences. Inspiring surroundings and conversations. Super competent guidance, knowledgeable staff and human contact. Planning for unique experiences, not digitization, is what retailers should be setting out to do, according to Stephens.
Likewise, it won’t be what you sell but how you sell it that’ll make the difference. We can order any product in the world, but we can’t order the smile, the greetings, the dialogue, the surprise around the corner, the smells, the inspiration that come along with a real life experience.
If retailers succeed in responding to the social and sensuous needs, shoppers can be looking forward to an era where physical shops will again be magic places providing great everyday experiences and meaningful relations.
It’ll also mean that retail workers in the future will need special professional, creative, and social qualifications that will heighten their position, status, and wages. Working in the retail industry will again be a profession that you can be proud of – not ‘just a job’.
See Doug Stephens: Reengineering Retail – the Future of Selling in a Post-Digital World (Figure 1 Publishing Inc., 2017), p.239.