Top Tech Retail Stores in NYC: AI, Robotics, VR, Augmented Reality, Social Retailing, Circular Economy
NYC’s Top Tech Retail Stores
If you’re in need of a new smartphone, a sleek new laptop or a high-tech home appliance, check out NYC’s top tech retail stores. These places offer the latest gadgets, repair services and more.
These retailers use innovative technology to deliver a great in-store experience. Learn how you can improve your store’s technologies to drive customer and associate engagement.
AI & Robotics
Incorporating AI into brick-and-mortar retail provides a powerful new set of tools for increasing efficiency and profitability. The technology offers advanced predictive capabilities, which help retailers optimize inventory and improve customer experience.
Some retailers are using AI to eliminate checkout lines completely. Amazon’s ‘Just Walk Out’ concept uses RFID to track items and scan them at the store exit, allowing shoppers to leave without ever waiting in a line. It’s a win for both the retailer and the customers who can get back to the office sooner, and it makes good use of technology that most consumers already have in their pockets.
Real-time item tracking and analytics are another area where retailers can make use of AI. These systems can provide a visual map of a store’s merchandise based on engagement data, which helps guide merchandising decisions. They can highlight areas where a new style has the highest potential to convert, for example, and alert stores when it’s time to restock.
VR & Augmented Reality
Virtual Reality (VR) removes people from the real world through a headset that presents simulated visuals and audio. It is often used in healthcare, architecture, education and in manufacturing and industrial settings. Augmented Reality, on the other hand, superimposes digital information onto the real-world using devices like smartphones and glasses.
AR applications are a great choice for brick-and-mortar stores that want to offer customers a personalized experience and make it easy for them to find products. They can also help ecommerce sites stand out and boost customer satisfaction.
Some retail companies are even using VR to create training simulators for employees. These allow people to practice different skills such as handling machinery or providing customer support without having to be in the same physical location as a trainer. This is a huge advantage for large retailers with many stores and locations that are short on staff and resources. It can also reduce the cost of hiring in-store personnel.
Social Retailing
Modern technology doesn’t simply provide a more immersive shopping experience; it can also help retail stores meet consumers where they are. With the help of POS systems such as ConnectPOS, retailers can offer social media-like experiences in their physical retail store that can boost sales and loyalty.
For example, Sephora’s beauty talk community enables customers to upload content, chat with each other and receive personalized recommendations. Beauty Talk community members spend two-and-a-half times more than other customers while the most active spend ten times more.
While most stores are focused on integrating social media features to their online platforms, some have gone further. Burberry’s Shenzhen location uses the WeChat app to allow shoppers to engage with its content, learn more about products and even book in-store appointments. The more they engage, the more virtual currency they earn that can be used to hatch and evolve an animal character on their smartphone. This gamification of the shopping experience increases customer engagement and brand awareness.
Circular Economy
The circular economy, popularized by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, is an alternative to our current linear “take-make-consume-throw away” economic model. It replaces it with a system that prioritizes product durability, remanufacture and recycling to keep materials in use as long as possible. It also eliminates unnecessary pollution by designing out negative impacts in the design phase, such as greenhouse gases, traffic congestion and waste.
Retailers are already beginning to make the transition towards circularity. For example, Best Buy now offers free or low-cost recycling options for televisions, computers, cell phones and appliances in select locations. Other retailers, like the Home Depot and Ace Hardware, are offering battery recycling in some stores.
Smaller businesses may be the key to inciting systemic change, as they have more agility and risk tolerance than larger companies. For instance, Lizee uses its technology systems to help fashion brands move from a linear to circular business model. This enables them to offer customers more choice, quality and convenience, while reducing the total ownership cost of goods.