DDi - February/March 2013 - (Page 96)

96 | Think Tank Next generation now I recently attended the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, the largest electronics show in the world and the place to see the latest in technology. Under one gigantic roof you can experience everything from a 110-in. TV, virtual dressing rooms, smartphones that do it all and every imaginable accessory for devices known to man. I have attended CES for the last 10 years, but what struck me this year was hearing about the “next generation” of technology and how it will differ from the current generation. What about the Next Generation Visual Merchant (NGVM)—what will he need to compete in the next generation of retail space? Technology has shifted from hardware (smartphone, tablet, TV, etc.) to the connected experience it provides. Smartphone lifestyle has become the norm. These devices, with their limitless apps, can perform wonders, but we have only begun to understand how they will shift how we experience life and retail in the future. And, the NGVMs will be critical to retailers as they bring that connection alive in stores. Ultimately, it is the same question we have asked before: How do we drive sales through engaging customer experience in a new generation of technology? The NGVMs will still have to know about the hardware to keep them relevant in the bricks-and-mortar space. Physical space remains physical— a shelf, a peg, a system and a sign will still be relevant. The material may change, the method of presentation will evolve, but at the core, it is the same. They will have to collaborate with retail designers to ensure that what is designed will function not only today, but also adapt to the speed at which technology evolves. There will be challenges to design for technology that technology will help solve. Now bricks and mortar is the hardware, and social is the connection. What will be important for the NGVM will be having the knowledge and language of technology and the social environment. How do we connect our human experience to one another, and how does that customer experience translate to the cash register? NGVMs will need to know, as well as themselves play, in the social space—because it is in that space where our next-generation customer shops. She is the customer that “Likes” a store on Facebook, pins the aspiration of a favorite look on Pinterest and posts a photo from Instagram letting her friends know where she is shopping, the outfit she is buying and the deal she is getting. Shopping has gone from bricks and mortar to online to the social space and back to bricks and mortar. All are connected in this new connected life. The NGVM will need to use technology tomorrow the way we use a shelf, peg or system today. The cost of technology in stores may be prohibitive, but leveraging the customer’s smartphone isn’t. At Walmart, we have the hardware system down, especially in the mass arena. We know how to manage 140 million customers through our stores weekly. The visual merchandising team brings products to life in a very large box through navigation, | February/March 2013 education and inspiration. Where we have begun to direct more energy and focus is in helping our customer connect in the social space. We focus on the smartphone that our customer carries. Throughout our stores, we have leveraged our signs to include the “endless aisle” and drive the customer to Walmart.com. Collaborating with our Innovations and Marketing teams, we have piloted a new Scan & Go system that enables the customer to scan an item with her phone, place it in her basket, go through the self-checkout lane and scan her phone to complete the transaction. It gets customers through the store and out the door quicker, while helping them get connected to a new and future way to shop. The NGVM will need to study customer insights to understand how customers are using technologies in their lives, because technology and the social space will become a permanent trend factor—in the same way that color and design helped establish trends in the past. New trends will arise from technology that did not, and could not, exist before—and the NGVM will need to stay in front to remain relevant. At the same time, they will need to continue to excite and inspire customers to see themselves as part of this new generation. They call it the new generation, as if there is a beginning and end to generations. Maybe I am just sensitive to the way it sounds. We name generations, identify who belongs and then apply social conditions and experiences to those groups. But, I think the lines between generations blur these days, and technology has been the great influencer. It makes us all part of this generation—and the next. —Mark Brodeur is the Senior Director, Visual Merchandising, Store Merchandise Execution for Bentonville, Ark.-based Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and a member of DDI’s Editorial Advisory Board. Contact him at markbrodeur@gmail.com. www.ddionline.com http://www.Walmart.com http://www.ddionline.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of DDi - February/March 2013

DDi - February/March 2013
Table of Contents
From the Editor
From the Show Director
Newsworthy
Editor’s Choice
Design Snapshot
Special Insert: The Carlson Group
Harley-Davidson
Retail’s Expansion Explosion
Aaron Brothers
dELiA*s
Shopper Insights
Value—Retail’s Dirty Word
POP Supplier Listing
POP Products
GlobalShop Show Preview
Right Light
Product Spotlight
Calendar
Advertisers
Classifieds
Think Tank

DDi - February/March 2013