By JGA Creative Director Miho Koshido-Downey & Marketing Manager Tara Liong

As always, we attended CES this year, to expand our minds and to stay ahead of our industry, as well as surrounding and influencing industries. We were thrilled to be at the debut of the High-Tech Retailing Summit. Here are our key retail takeaways, overall show takeaways, additional notes from the High-Tech Retailing Summit, and some photos we snapped to share while at the show:

KEY RETAIL TAKEAWAYS:

–The future of retail represents the next generation of consumer experiences and involves providing the best customer service at any given time at any location. It also enables the customer to have quick and readily access to the product(s) of their choice.

–Brick and mortar stores need to be agile and responsive to AI as well as be completely automated like Amazon Go or BingoBox in China.

–Collaboration is paramount, and the emergence in the startup community has led companies like Target to create an “Open House” concept that engages the entrepreneurs to sell their smart products. This in turn has provided real-time consumer feedback that helps with deciphering which has the most interest and may be trending upward.

–Automation is not replacing humans, rather than providing an additional layer of depth to the shopper’s journey. Humans will be considered as “journey experts” to guide the customer to the path to purchase.

–Robots are being used to roam stores and monitor inventory in warehouses, self-driving cars and drones could alleviate current day delivery problems, and blockchain infrastructure is being looked at as the solution to modern payment issues.

–Research funds are being allocated to use augmented and virtual realities to create a better shopping experience.

–Digital payments could open up access to capital to millions of consumers without a bank account or even a credit card.

–Omni-channel and its future…Voice integration is the next wave of omni-channel.

–Revenue-generating stream is evolving into data analytics in addition to the product story.

–The connected home with its convenience and how that shapes the consumer’s lifestyle choices will influence the demand chain of product curation.

–Location-based technology is making marketing more efficient and useful to brands.

 

OVERALL SHOW TAKEAWAYS:

–Everything at CES 2018 was a “smart” something — In general,  there was a huge focus on driverless vehicles whether it was a personal car, taxis, shared rides or air taxis.  All of which would have the capacity to connect you to the rest of the world via real time news, video calls, or any other electronic needs.

–A large focus at the show was on the smart home and the connectivity to it wherever you were, many of which remind you of the ‘big brother is watching you’ syndrome that makes you feel comfortable.  Going along with that, there was a lot on security where you can choose to track people or animals and the system can alert you if your child or dog is outside of your predetermined area.

–The focus on health and fitness grew quite a bit from the previous years’ shows. Highlights included the quality of sleep and its health benefits; wearable gadgets; sensors and monitors for prevention of medical issues; exercise sensors; relaxation/massaging chairs that analyzes your size to personalize the massage; etc.

–The show had many virtual reality booths to experience outer space, things attacking you, or riding in a self-driving helicopter for commuting — all of which is is a developing technology to let you experience new things and to transport you to places without actually going there.

–All tech-related products seemed to have blue tooth  capability —  home appliances, sound, security, etc.

 

CLICK HERE FOR ADDITIONAL HIGH-TECH RETAILING SUMMIT NOTES.

 

A FEW PHOTOS TO SHARE FROM THE SHOW: