Radically reinventing retail requires tolerance for failure | E-retailing 2.0

Being successful in today’s retail industry, which is so often weighed down with baggage and years of conventional methods of operation, is all about thinking radically. It is no secret that the retail industry is incredibly competitive. This is in no small part due to the outsize influence of Amazon. The company is larger than the next seven largest retailers combined, according to Robin Report. Additionally, the arrival of mobile technology and ecommerce has made retailers’ jobs even harder. As Amazon continually dominates the overall retail world, retailers need to radically rethink the ways in which they engage with customers. Everything from redesigning in-store experiences to more deeply integrating online and offline shopping are all core tenets of the new radical retail. But most importantly for one panelist was ensuring that every level of leadership at a retailer is on board with these ideas. As innovations such as augmented reality and voice assistants become more mainstream, consumers are expected to move even more of their shopping online. The majority of consumers who have shopped online using augmented reality would be willing to give up the apparel in-store buying experience entirely, according to a new report from Adtaxi. While the luxury buying process is largely still driven by physical stores, technology could make more consumers willing to forego the bricks-and-mortar experience in the coming years.