Shazam For Fashion, New Trends & Tech To Boost Retail Revenues

Shazam for fashion? Retail chain John Lewis, operating in Great Britain, has launched a 'Shazam for fashion'. The retailer's iPad app uses image recognition in its findSimilar search function to recommend fashion items customers might like to buy.

Trends, disruptive technologies, robotization, digitization, datafication, and new consumer expectations all have a massive impact on how retailers conduct business, market, and manage media. The speed of these changes will surprise and shock them.

And if you think, "OMG, another new technology?" Yes, in the era of digital Darwinism, only the species most adaptable to change will survive. More specifically: the only constant is change!

The good news, however? Change is opportunity. Chaos is opportunity.

In this story, retailers can learn how to monetize John Lewis's Shazam-like technology. It also explores other trends and technologies that can fuel their digital transformation and omnichannel strategies.

152-Year-Old Retail Chain Introduces 'Shazam For Fashion' Technology

John Lewis, the chain with 45 upmarket department stores throughout England, Scotland, and Wales, opened its first store in 1864 in Oxford Street, London.

Can you imagine how many times it has reinvented itself over one and a half centuries? If they can do it, so can you.

Like most other retailers, John Lewis attracted fewer shoppers to its retail floors last year, reducing offline revenue by 3%.

However, by investing in digital, John Lewis boosted its eCommerce revenues by 21%. Total sales rose 6.9% to $1.4 billion over 2015.

John Lewis' eCommerce revenues now account for 40% of all sales, even though it introduced a fee for 'click-and-collect orders'.

With findSimilar software, John Lewis offers visual search that lets digital shoppers find other in-stock fashion items with a similar shape, color, and pattern.

For now, John Lewis has embedded the ground-breaking image recognition software in its iPad app. Mobile and Web might follow.

Imperial College London developed the Cortexica findSimilar software, backed by the business incubator Imperial Innovations.

A range of top retailers already use the software, including US department store group Macy’s, designer fashion site Net-a-Porter, and European online clothing retailer Zalando.

Again, new technology offers the struggling retail sector new ways to enhance customer experience while boosting eCommerce revenues.

Read on to discover more groundbreaking retail trends and technologies.

Trends & Technologies That Help Retail In Their Digital Transformation

For years, I've explored trends and technologies that will shake up the retail and eCommerce industries. I use the most actionable and compelling examples in my retail keynotes and trend sessions.

Here are a few trends and technologies that could ignite retail revenues:

1. Robots & drones enable Amazon to deliver digital shoppers their products faster than a pizza. How will you, as a retailer, react to that trend?

2. Dedicated product search engines are why digital natives prefer Amazon over Google. Shoppers don't want Google's clutter when they are in buying mode. Might retailers wish to reinvent their digital shop-in-shop strategy?

3. Social commerce has failed at all major social networks for over a decade. See, Like but no Buy?! How on earth can retailers monetize their massive social fan bases this way? Social platforms further confuse digital shoppers with their buy buttons: 20% of the inventory will be for sale, but 80% won't be.

Retailers can capitalize on social commerce by watching for the next generation of social shopping platforms. The ones that are one big buy button.

I will cover the social shopping trend from a 360-degree point of view soon. So subscribe to math man magazine if you want to be the first to know.

4. The selfie trend is being coined by some smart lingerie companies, which collect data from female selfies, so similar bras can be ordered directly online. Again, a Shazam-like virtual recognition software.

Alibaba even accelerated the selfie into a payment system to boost its massive eCommerce figures.

When most retailers still assumed the selfie was just another stupid, irrelevant internet meme, Alibaba proved facial recognition is more unique and trustworthy than our fingerprints.

See this 2014 keynote snippet to discover what 50% of my clients still say about the selfie, Alibaba, and eCommerce:

5. Smart algorithms are already helping several retailers to pick the right prospects (intelligent prospecting) and decide on the best price (individual dynamic pricing).

6. Showrooming retailers like Nordstrom have integrated their most popular items on Pinterest into their shopping windows to lure digital natives into their stores in the main shopping streets.

7. Beacons will close the loop in omnichannel strategies, but retailers must keep pushing to get 'Google Analytics-like software' in place. Measuring offline store traffic, ARPU, and customer ROI is a key pillar to build on.

8. Virtual Reality was assumed to be a gimmick for gamers. VR, however, can help retailers extend their offline showrooms. Without paying for the super expensive square meters.

9. IoT will not only connect 50 billion devices, but it will also give CMOs in retail access to 50 billion new consumer touchpoints. This will fuel data-driven, integrated digital retail marketing.

My Opinion

Digital disruption is changing retail forever. The speed of these changes, however, will surprise and shock us. So the only relevant question is: Are you innovating at the speed of change?

What can you do? Look differently to explore more.

Understanding how impact trends and new technologies will affect your business is key. No trends, no glory!

Remember, it's all about mindset. The only constant changes. . Don't hate; integrate. Change is an opportunity. Chaos is an opportunity.

What About You?
Which other trends and technologies will change the retail landscape forever? I'd love to read your ideas.

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About the Author

In the spotlights, Igor Beuker is a top marketing innovation keynote speaker and futurist known for his foresight on trends and technologies that impact business, economy, and society. Behind the scenes, a serial entrepreneur with 5 exits and an angel investor in 24 social startups. Board member at next-level media firms, changemaker at Rolling Stone Culture Council, Hollywood sci-fi think tank pioneer, award-winning marketing strategist for Amazon, L’Oréal, Nike, and a seer for Fortune 500s, cities, and countries.