The 2018 U.S. Census Bureau survey reports that there are 128 million families in the nation covering apartments, home rentals, and home ownership (over double the 1960 count of 53 million families ). Whether you’re a tenant or an owner, being a fixer upper now is not the laborious chore it was. Retail invention brings the resources customers want –easy-to-follow online tutorials, better quality materials, and energy-efficient choices –more and more families are embarking on do-it-yourself jobs.
Gone are the days of winging it when it comes to a job –home & DIY retail is revolutionizing the customer experience and enabling more people to DIY through informational, educational, and convenient technical inventions. Let us take a look at the current landscape–and learn more about the untapped potential for retailers to construct a better in-store encounter.
Revamping the house in 2019
Americans now spend up of $400 billion annually on home remodeling and do-it-yourself developments. In an increasingly uncertain market (where homeownership is less and less common), almost half of all customers (47 percent ) DIY their home improvements rather than hiring a contractor.
A vast majority of shoppers–Millennials and Gen-Z’s–might be embracing more nomadic lifestyles (and leasing shoebox apartments in droves), but the home improvement and DIY business is still going strong. Modern dwellers will need to renovate and upgrade whether to add market value to their own home or just add personal flair, and DIYing enables them go for it while staying within their budget.
The home business has always been tactile, but as technology evolves, there is a need to enhance the shopping experience through retail innovation while still being able to touch and feel substances, see them up close, and quantify, measure, measure. Consumers are trying to find new ways to get the benefits of technologies and find the proper pieces, components, and fittings more quickly.
Integrating retail innovation throughout the aisles
By way of instance, home improvement goliath Home Depot noticed that many clients were purchasing things online and picking up in-store, or performing extensive online browsing and study before heading into a physical location. According to this trend, they introduced the online experience in-store using an all-new app that provides customers in-depth info and testimonials for things they see on-shelves–and similar items which are either carried in a distinct Home Depot location or online only. The app also allows clients to bring a photo of a house item (such as a broken door handle or tap ), search the catalogue for similar possibilities, and attempt replacements using augmented reality (AR).
See more :
/pos-system-for-omnichannel-experience/amp/
/seamless-gift-card-experience-magento/amp/
/ecommerce-and-customer-data-the-era-of-gdpr/amp/
/ecommerce-trends-southeast-asia-2018/amp/
/personalization-boost-fashion-sales/amp/
This type of helpful, electronic in-store interaction may then be leveraged to present other home improvements based on other clients who have been through similar projects. Bringing Amazon’s tried and true methodology to the shop via AR –“other clients who purchased new faucet handles also bought this built in soap dispenser — and we’ll discount it for you 10%!”
For crafty customers, JOANN is leveraging technology to create realizing their creative vision easier. The fabric and specialty shop partnered with Glowforge to provide 3D printing across shops after introducing the technology in a first-of-its-kind crafting theory shop. Other in-store enhancements include upgraded ordering kiosks, DIY tutorial videos, and live-streaming classes.
These kinds of store upgrades make it possible for clients to embark on projects effortlessly. When an item is out of stock or the wrong size–or a client is not sure what they really need–sellers can easily find the ideal piece or search for alternatives to execute their vision.
Empowering clients to DIY
In tandem with educational elements, retailers are implementing additional technology that enable customers to take on DIY projects.
Home superstore Lowe’s recently rolled out what it calls a”virtual reality DIY skills-training practice”: the Lowe’s Holoroom How-To. The room uses virtual reality (VR) cans to immerse consumers in a room or outside –wherever they would finish a job –to walk through tasks such as setting up a fence or tiling a bathroom before attempting by themselves. The VR segments are incremental, photorealistic quality, and powerful: at a consumer trial comparing VR to some YouTube tutorial, 30 percent of VR participants had greater recall of the job compared to their counterparts.
The VR demonstration isn’t just tactile enough for customers to take away real understanding of how to renovate their house, they have an additional bonus. The customer is already in the shop to pick up valuable information andthe elements they want –and ask staff any burning questions.
While AR and VR technologies may seem foreign to elderly shoppers, retail leaders are making it possible for the less-tech savvy to get the new understanding. Advertisers such as Lowe’s and Home Depot are leveraging training technologies so that workers can walk shoppers throughout the processes within an easy-to-follow way.
Powering an even smarter home shopping experience
All these in-store innovations are leaps and bounds ahead of where DIY retail was only a couple of years back. But there is always room for, shall we say, advancement. Consider how to engage customers on a deeper level and bring projects to life before they make a purchase, giving them the confidence required to DIY.
Just consider the possibilities that might give your shop an edge:
- Is your app effortless to pull up? Imagine if customers could access certain attributes through AR-enhanced signage–and, by way of instance, attempt on a paint color more quickly?
- Are your renewable, energy efficient things simple to identify? Imagine if customers could track the entire life cycle of mulch or job how much energy they would save with a specific washing machine.
- Are clients able to envision items in their dwelling? What if clients were able to not only put an item in their house, but see how it would seem as the light changes throughout the day?
- Can you bring landscaping into life? Imagine allowing a shopper hover within a perennial or annual and see how the plant will appear once it has fully bloomed.
Sources:
ways-to-increase-footfall-to-retail-stores-after-covid-19/
how-different-generations-shop/amp/
how-to-deliver-personalization-in-retail/amp/
connectpos-and-netresearch/amp/
online-retail-trends-2019/amp/
/holiday-commerce-win-physical-stores/amp/