How wearable technology could affect the retail industry
11 / 06 / 2015

How wearable technology could affect the retail industry

Author

Shaun Barrio

Category

Insights

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The recent high profile release of the Apple Watch has put wearable technology firmly in our focus at the moment. While the smart watch is one application of a wearable device, there are others that have been tested by leading product designers such as smart glasses (Google Glass), fitness trackers (Fitbit, and previously Nike Fuel) as well as next generation innovations such as Microsoft HoloLens.

With this market expected to see high levels of growth, and the smart watch in particular, early adopters in the retail industry could set themselves apart from their competition.

Near field communication

One of the more likely benefits to become common in the near future is an easier and faster transaction process through near field communication (NFC). By definition, this involves communication between devices within close proximity of each other and is the same idea and technology used when we make contactless payments using credit and debit cards. It probably won’t be too long before people are regularly doing the same thing with their smart watches.

Personalisation

Many of these wearable devices can be very personal items, like a watch. There are few methods of getting such a wealth of personalised data about someone than through an item that they take everywhere with them. This could be used in a number of ways to ensure their retail experience is a more positive one having been tailored to suit them.

The eye of the beholder

Retailers might soon be able to see things from their customers’ point of view through smart glasses. This opens up a number of opportunities that are exciting, if not a little scary. Augmented reality could allow customers to visualise different item combinations and variations using their smart glasses. Meanwhile, if a retailer knows exactly what a customer has been looking at – and for how long – then this provides very useful information that can be used for remarketing purposes, e.g. sending them an email containing the top few items they looked at when in-store the previous day.

SEO and semantic search

Wearable devices now mean that computers and handheld devices aren’t the only source where a user may perform a search. When interaction isn’t necessarily at the user’s fingertips they may be more inclined to use voice recognition (e.g. Siri or Google Now) meaning search queries may become more conversation based than in the past. In this case question-led phrases are more likely to be used than a few select words, placing even more importance on content and semantics over keyword targetting.

Conclusion

While current opportunities are aplenty, it is unlikely to stop there. Could technology soon be producing tailored items for individual customers through 3D printing? With no apparent boundaries on the scope and application of how wearable technology is utilised there are growing concerns about an invasion of privacy that will need to be addressed.