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Apps like YouTube, Instagram or TikTok will become dominant among the youngest generations when purchasing fashion items. That's what retail tech consultants predict. The driver is the combination of influencers with the customer data the platforms gather through artificial intelligence.

In the news: Technology consultants Capgemini and Cognizant, each separately, release their expectations for key consumer trends in 2024. On one thing they agree wholeheartedly: the way we store is going to change, especially among the younger generation.

The premise: Cognizant notes that today's teens and 20-somethings begin their shopping experience online, and often through social media links. "This tremendous growth in social commerce - poking around on social media for the latest trends - will increase. Therefore, engaging and leveraging influencers remains the key to brand relevance and growth for this generation."

What is changing: Social media platforms are now going a step further, transforming from places for discovery and advice to online stores where actual purchases are made and the monetary transaction takes place.

  • That consumers are increasingly seeking advice from influencers has to do with two things, according to Capgemini. They feel they are saving time because the influencer has already figured out the pros and cons of the item for them. "In addition, also about half of the consumers who purchase through social media also look to the influencers for discounts and offers.
  • Or as Henri Dewaerheijd, Mastercard's top executive in Belgium, put it at the recent Fintech Belgium conference, "The shopping center of tomorrow will be the apps of TikTok and Instagram."

Digital influencers

On the way: the virtual shopping assistant. Mastercard predicts a world where shoppers will start asking their personal AI shopping advisor for advice online, just as you would in-store. Conversational commerce, it's called.

  • "Imagine a scenario where a virtual shopping expert scans multiple channels, weeds out products with bad reviews, points out the cheapest options and finds exactly the items you're looking for," Mastercard outlines a vision of the future.
  • "The automated shopping advisor can use AI to make personalized product recommendations to shoppers by analyzing customer data and generating contextually relevant product recommendations and offers. By processing body measurements and biometric data, AI assistants can put together clothing that fits perfectly."

Fygital

But: So what does the future of the brick-and-mortar store look like? Will those only get baby boomers over the floor? According to Cognizant, the fygital store - the intersection between physical and digital shopping experiences - will be one of the most important retail trends of 2024, in order to attract younger generations to the high street as well.

👉 "With the fygital approach, customers move between physical and digital touch points while shopping," the consulting firm describes. "The technology in physical stores ranges from using AI, virtual and augmented reality to provide experiences and demonstrations on the one hand, and on the other to equipping employees with tablets and devices to provide more precise assistance."

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