THE MORE THINGS CHANGE: LARGE STORES TRANSITION TO STORES OF THE FUTURE

May 30, 2019

Despite the challenges retailers face with today’s cutting-edge technology, a significant amount of business success still relies on a retailer’s ability to connect with shoppers and fulfill their most important needs. In other words, future success comes from building shopper enablement today.
 

The Store of the Future: An Exploration and Planning Guide, the newest report from the Coca‑Cola Retailing Research Council of North America, projects key challenges and opportunities that stores are likely to face in the near future as technologies like artificial intelligence and augmented reality become more prevalent.

The report also examines the steps stores should take to drive shopper enablement. As found on page 5, the keys to enablement are: delivering a seamless shopping trip; linking the store to product authenticity, quality sourcing and food safety; and providing shoppers with total food solutions – from a single meal to a week’s worth of dinners. All three steps focus on serving shopper needs better than ever. For example, enabling a seamless shopping trip challenges retailers to flawlessly meet emerging needs by offering shoppers the ability to order products remotely (from work or home) and offering multiple fulfillment options.

As with all council studies, the report is designed by retailers for other retailers in order to encourage discussion within companies about the challenges and opportunities posed by the future.

For more details, download the full report for free here: