THE CONNECTED SHOPPING TRIP

January 31, 2019

The impact of technology is all around us these days. While we aren’t yet fully in the era of the Internet of Things, we see signs of the vanguard everywhere — from the various health trackers people wear in place of traditional wristwatches to evolved GPS devices that offer directions while also tracking accidents, traffic patterns and police activity.

There is simply no way digitization won’t also impact the shopping trip. We already see how shoppers start making decisions well before entering any store, thanks to wearable technologies, virtual in-home assistants and increasingly smart appliances. Now, the refrigerator — once the place for a magnet-held paper shopping list — can help create part of that same list.

Technology’s presence continues during the store trip with the increasing use of mobile apps guiding shoppers to specific products. And, of course, after the trip, shoppers are connected to countless social networks through which they can share opinions on the quality of their trip, the store, the service and the products they buy.

Those same opinions help inform the future trips of not only that shopper, but of his or her social network as well.

An examination of the connected shopping experience, along with ideas on how retailers can best engage with shoppers, are all part of the latest study from the Coca‑Cola Retailing Research Council of North America. That study, Surviving the Brave New World of Food Retailing, can be downloaded for free here: