Hot Topics of EuroCIS 2024

Focus on the customer and his needs. Many retail companies are seeking ever closer direct contact with end consumers in order to offer them personalised and individualised digital customer services. The customer's smartphone plays a major role in this context. Keywords are digital advice assistants, personalised digital offers based on the individual customer profile, digital personalised coupons, digital loyalty cards, etc. The smartphone plays a major role in this context. For many retailers, it is crucial that digital services are thought "from the customer's point of view".

The use of artificial intelligence and machine learning is one of the most important technological challenges for many retail companies in the coming years. Especially in the area of data analysis, machine learning already plays a major role and supports retailers in sales forecasting, assortment management and pricing. In the future, retailers will rely even more on AI-based applications, which will then also use technologies such as image recognition and sensor technology. In the course of the expansion of digital pricing, dynamic pricing, which has been common in online retail for a long time, will gain in importance.

The Corona pandemic has permanently changed consumer payment behaviour and caused a boom in contactless payment methods. Apple Pay & Co have ensured that many customers have become accustomed to paying by smartphone in a short time. In the coming years, the touchpoints at which customers pay in bricks-and-mortar retail will move further away from the traditional checkout environment. Scan & Go solutions enable customers to pay directly via smartphone app, mobile checkout solutions enable sales staff to make the payment process via tablet or smartphone without customers having to go to the checkout. The merging of payment channels from the online and offline worlds will also increase, so that customers will also be able to use online payment methods in stationary locations, for example.

The merging of online and offline retail, often referred to as omnichannel, has received another major boost from the Corona pandemic. Click & Collect services have become the norm for many consumers, and other services such as Click & Reserve are also becoming increasingly popular. Many retailers have also merged their loyalty systems from the online and offline worlds, giving customers a 360-degree view of the purchases they have made.  In the future, it will be more essential than ever for every retailer to seamlessly connect digital and brick-and-mortar sales channels.

Since the launch of AmazonGo, a variety of automated store concepts have developed in which the stationary shopping process is largely digitalised. Food and convenience retailers in particular will continue to invest in the further development of such "cashierless" formats in the coming years. This will involve various forms, from Scan & Go and Tap & Go to the use of sensor technology and image recognition. Implementing a seamless store strategy often requires extensive investment in the technological infrastructure. In this context, cloud-based applications are of great importance, as they enable a flexible and quickly scalable implementation of innovative applications.

Intelligent energy management is becoming increasingly important for retailers, especially in view of rising energy costs. Whether lighting, cooling, ventilation, heating or building management in retail – all these functions contribute to high energy consumption, which must be minimized. However, this requires a well-developed strategy and appropriate tools with which to monitor energy consumption. Only then can suitable measures be developed to reduce energy consumption and save operating costs.