The opportunity
Enhance transaction speed and convenience for consumers, improve hygiene by reducing physical contact, and streamline payment processing for businesses.
From “Augmented Reality and the World of Retail…” (December 2014)
Mr Carroll believes that the technology currently used by Oakley in snowboarders’ sunglasses – which gives wearers access to Facebook, hill conditions and statistics from their run – will also influence retail in the near future.
“Apple is cutting deals with all the car manufacturers to get Siri in them. By 2017 we will be driving along and you will ask Siri in the augmented reality dashboard which store has X product. She will put five stores on the map and you will pick one, which the car’s autonomous driving technology will take you to. What’s more, you will have payment technology embedded in your car so that will be your credit card too.”
It might sound like a goofy scenario, but it isn’t really. Right now, we’re seeing major cell companies working to cut deals with automotive companies to get SIM-cards into automobiles — partly to support in-vehicle WiFi, but also to support the potential for future payment transactions. And while we see a well publicized failure with augmented reality with the pullback of Google Glass technology, there’s no doubt that there are rapid advances occurring with augmented reality technology.
From “Speed and agility in the retail sector” (December 2014)
The rate of change in the retail sector is going from ‘fast to furious’ if you pardon the cliche. I’ll be outlining this issue when I speak to a small group of folks in the retail sector in New York in early January at an invitation only event. The problem? Most retailers are too focused at a strategy level on social marketing — and aren’t thinking about the big, substantive transformative trends which will completely reshape the sector. It’s a perfect strategy mismatch!
What’s going on? Here’s a clip from a talk last fall in Naples, Florida, in which I cover a few of the trends occurring in the world of retail
It is a time in which a lot of trends are unfolding all at once, and everyone in the world of retail, large or small, needs to ensure that they can keep up. That’s why we keep on hearing about the need for ‘agility’ and ‘flexibility’ in the sector.
From “Upcoming Keynote: Future of Retail (in the era of Amazonian Disruption!)” (June 2017)
The Disruption and Reinvention of Retail: Aligning to the World of Speed
It’s hard to discount the speed of change occurring in the world of retail and consumer products. Consider this: E-commerce could be 25% of the retail – grocery and convenience — experience by 2021. Shopper marketing,” which combines location intelligence, mobile technology and in-store display technology for a new form of in-store promotion, continues to move forward. Mobile payment involving Apple Pay and disappearance of the cash-register, providing opportunity and challenge with loyalty, infrastructure and disruption. Then there is Amazon Alexa, AI and shopping bots! Simply talk and products are added to your shopping cart, and delivered within an hour! Let’s not stop — there’s also the rapid installation of “click and collect” infrastructure (i.e. an online purchase, with same day pickup at a retail location). And last but not least, the arrival of active, intelligent packaging and intelligent (“Internet of Things”) products, collapsing product life-cycles, rapid product obsolescence and the implications on inventory and supply chain!
When the GAP went looking for a trends and innovation expert to speak to a small, intimate group of senior executives, they chose Jim Carroll. He has been the keynote speaker for some of the largest retail conferences in the world, with audiences of up to 7,000 people in Las Vegas, including Consumer Goods Technology Business & Technology Leadership Conference • Subway • Multi-Unit Franchise Conference Las Vegas • Produce Marketing Association Fresh Summit • Consumer Electronics Association CEO Summit • Retail Value Chain Federation • Yum! Brands (KFC, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut) Global Leadership Conference • Burger King Global Franchise Meeting • VIBE (Very Important Beverage Executives) Summit • Manufacturing Jewelers Suppliers of America • National Home Furnishings Association • Do It Best Corporation • US Department of Defence Commissary Agency • Readers Digest Food & Entertainment Group Branding/ Retail Summit • Professional Retail Store Maintenance Association • National Association of Truck Stop Operators • Convenience U annual conference • Point of Purchase Advertising International Association • Chain Drug Store Association of Canada • Canadian Council of Grocery Distributors • Canadian Federation of Independent Grocers
Read the full pieces on jimcarroll.com:
Augmented Reality and the World of Retail…
Speed and agility in the retail sector
Upcoming Keynote: Future of Retail (in the era of Amazonian Disruption!)