BOSTON, Jan. 29, 2019 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ — According to BRP’s SPECIAL REPORT: The Future Store, stores must now encompass both the physical and digital worlds as customers expect a personalized experience in every channel. Customers want the sensory experience generally available in the physical world, such as touching and feeling merchandise and personally interacting with a knowledgeable associate, married with the unique and personalized shopping experience common in the digital world.

Customers are willing to try new technologies if it improves their in-store shopping experience. According to the BRP Consumer Study, 32% of consumers are likely to shop at a store offering an augmented reality (AR) experience over a retailer that doesn’t offer AR and 29% would like a virtual reality (VR) experience as part of their shopping environment. Consumers are very interested in relying on technology instead of human interaction if it makes the purchase process quicker and easier. For example, 55% are more likely to shop at a store with self-checkout vs. a store without and 57% will choose a store offering automated returns to avoid human interactions and speed the process.

“While e-commerce and mobile continue to grow and garner attention, the store remains a key component of the brand experience and the central point of the customer’s shopping journey. In fact, nearly half of retailers plan to increase their number of brick-and-mortar stores,” said Ken Morris, principal at BRP. “However, the role of the store continues to change. The advent of the digital world offers consumers new ways and ‘places’ to research and shop. These digital possibilities, along with mobility, have modified consumer expectations and behaviors, and retailers must transform to succeed.”

BRP’s SPECIAL REPORT: The Future Store is based on findings from the BRP Consumer Study and the 20th Annual POS/Customer Engagement Survey and offers insights into customer expectations for the store of the future and how retailers’ current capabilities match up with these expectations.

The Future Store key findings:

INTERNET OF THINGS

• Retailer capabilities: 19% currently offer Internet of Things (IoT) capabilities and another 36% plan to within three years

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

• Retailer capabilities: 23% currently utilize artificial intelligence and an additional 30% plan to within three years

AUGMENTED REALITY

• Customer expectations: 32% are likely to shop at a store offering an augmented reality experience
• Retailer capabilities: 9% offer augmented reality to their customers and another 29% plan to within three years

VIRTUAL REALITY

• Customer expectations: 29% are likely to shop at a retailer offering virtual reality in their store
• Retailer capabilities: 7% currently offer virtual reality capabilities to customers and 23% plan to add it within three years

To download BRP’s SPECIAL REPORT: The Future Store, visit:
https://brpconsulting.com/download/2019-special-report-pos-future-store/.

The special report platinum sponsor is TSYS, the gold sponsors are Aptos, Diebold Nixdorf, ECRS and Fujitsu, and the silver sponsor is STORIS.

About BRP
BRP is an innovative retail management consulting firm dedicated to providing superior service and enduring value to our clients. BRP combines its consultants’ deep retail business knowledge and cross-functional capabilities to deliver superior design and implementation of strategy, technology, and process solutions. The firm’s unique combination of industry focus, knowledge-based approach, and rapid, end-to-end solution deployment helps clients to achieve their business potential. BRP’s consulting services include:

Strategy | Business Intelligence | Business Process Optimization | Point of Sale (POS)
Mobile POS | Payment Security | E-Commerce | Store Systems and Operations | CRM
Unified Commerce | Customer Experience | Order Management | Networks
Merchandise Management | Supply Chain | Private Equity

For more information on BRP, visit http://www.brpconsulting.com.

SOURCE Boston Retail Partners LLC