High tech, high impact

08/03/21 • 39 min

Impact seems to be on everyone’s minds these days. The pandemic has reawakened the altruist in us all, and the societal and environmental impact of brands matter as much as price when making purchasing decisions.

Technology is also driving changes in our behaviour. Digital adoption accelerated during the pandemic as people sought solutions that were quicker, easier, and safer. As a result, consumers of all ages are more tech-savvy than ever before.

In this final episode of Retail Reawakened, we take a look at the new mindset of customers to find out what their purchasing priorities are post-pandemic. And we look to the East to see the latest technology trends headed our way.

When faced with existential threats, we can't help but wonder what legacy we'll leave behind. And this, according to consumer psychologist, Kate Nightingale, is one of the main reasons consumer priorities have changed when it comes to choosing brands. Kate guides us through the new customer mindset and reveals the challenges and responsibilities brands must face. She also shines a light on the tremendous opportunities open to shops and restaurants if they can meet these new needs.

We hear from consumer behaviour expert and Vice Chairman of Ogilvy, Rory Sutherland, on what brands need to do in order to meet the needs of the post-pandemic consumer. And we speak with Digital Executive of LEON Restaurants', Hugo Engel to learn how the brand is positioning itself as both an instrument of and proponent for positive societal change.

We head to Asia Pacific to discover the technological trends that may come to be the new normal for shops and restaurants in the UK as well. President of Adyen Asia Pacific, Warren Hayashi, explores how the Super App is becoming synonymous with all aspects of life, providing users a means to buy goods, bank, hail rides, and much more. And Domenica Di Lieto, CEO of Emerging Communications reveals how these apps are helping brands to recognise customers and provide hyper personalised shopping experiences.

We speak with Intelligent Automation (IA) Global Expert, Pascal Bornet, to find out how IA will transform brands through computer vision, language processing, machine learning, and more. He details how IA will augment stores with almost science-fiction levels of automation, from replenishing stock to predicting product demand.

If you want to find out more about the technology and behavioural trends influencing retail, visit adyen.com/ukretailreport and download Adyen’s latest research report.

If you want to find out more about the technology and behavioural trends influencing retail, visit adyen.com/ukretailreport and download Adyen’s latest research report.

Previous Episode

Standing out

In March 2019, the nation was placed under house arrest. No eating out, shopping, or socialising meant retailers and restaurants had to pull down their shutters and to pivot to e-commerce or risk never opening their doors again. But in 2021 as brands welcome back shoppers in-store and online, how can they satisfy their customers' renewed appetite for the retail experience?

In this episode of Retail Reawakened, we dissect the shopping experience. On the macro level, we find out why high streets need to evolve and break away from the decades-old model they've followed for so long. And we get granular and ask what it is that makes for a top-notch shopping experience, whether online or in-store. Plus, we reveal why brands should never assume what the consumer wants and why they must prioritise understanding the needs of their customers above all else.

Brands don't stick around for 300 years out of sheer luck, they harness a winning recipe of great staff, excellent products and thoughtfully curated shop floors to attract and retain a loyal customer base. Former Director of IT at Fortnum and Mason, Tony Longhurst, shares with us the iconic London brand's formula for delivering the best customer experience. He explains what it is that turns a sales associate from good to great, why the layout of a store should be as thoughtfully considered as the products it is stocked with, and why brands need to recognise the diversity of their customers' expectations in order to meet their needs.

When Arcadia group went into administration in 2021, many wondered if this was the death knell of the high street. But rather than heralding the end of town and city shopping districts, the turmoil of the last eighteen months may actually mark an evolution in our high streets. And no one is a bigger proponent for the evolved high street than Stockton Town Council's Cabinet Member for Regeneration, Nigel Cooke. He tells us about Stockton's "bold new vision" for the high street and why it's doing away with a shopping centre in favour of more green and communal spaces. And he imparts a word of warning to those who think the key to a successful high street is a reliance on shops.

Retailers and restaurants had to rapidly adopt e-commerce at the start of the pandemic to keep trading, but now it has become evident that digital retail is here to stay. But how do you bring an amazing in-store shopping experience online? CEO of digital transformation specialists, Red Badger, David Wynne, believes the key to offering great e-commerce solutions is knowing what customers want. He explains why brands should never offer digital solutions just for the sake of it and he reveals the one thing all customers are after when shopping online. And we hear from Adyen's own Conversion Expert, Sam Allan, about how retailers can extend the in-store feel online and how they can make their customers feel safe and secure at the checkout.

If you want to find out more about enhancing customers' in-store and online shopping experiences, visit adyen.com/ukretailreport and download Adyen’s latest research report.

Next Episode

When the going gets tough, the tough diversify

The initial ‘response’ phase of the pandemic is over. Now, as we’re adjusting to a state of normal(ish), it’s a good time to take stock and evaluate the current state of UK retail and hospitality.

We’ve seen that many retailers used the downtime of the pandemic to diversify their sales channels. The boundaries between in-store and online have become increasingly blurred, and new channels and experiences are emerging. But how do we ensure that the values and personality of a brand stay consistent across the board?

In this season of Beyond Retail, we explore the shape of retail ambition and look at how the lessons learned over the last two years are evolving the industry. In this premiere episode, we focus on how the explosion of diverse channels in the face of a global crisis turned out not to be just a temporary emergency measure, but a recipe for future success.

The digital transformation during the pandemic means that consumers now expect more, faster, and with greater flexibility. Crew Clothing is a fashion brand that has had to adapt to changing consumer demands. Head of IT, Richard Surman, walks us through how they’re incorporating digital transformation to meet evolving consumer expectations such as potentially incorporating cryptocurrency payments. But what exactly are consumers’ demands, and how can we future-proof our retail operations to better predict and meet the needs of the consumers of the future? KPMG’s head of consumer markets, Linda Elliot breaks down the changes that she’s seen and what we can expect in the future when it comes to sustainability, cost, and digital engagement.

One of the UK’s leading business experts and “customer whisperer'' Kate Hardcastle joins us to provide insights into how to provide a single identity across retail channels. It’s all about maintaining consistency across touchpoints and keeping the human element within all interactions.

If you want to find out more about the technology and behavioural trends influencing retail, visit https://www.adyen.com/landing/online/us/download-the-retail-report-2022 to download Adyen’s latest research report.