BDO's Mark Schiavello discusses the importance of technology's role in the overall customer experience.
Bunnings managing director Michael Schneider expects Bunnings to have a fully transactional website offering more than 60,000 products in 18 months.
This is further proof that to succeed today, retailers must play to the strengths of both offline and online. In 2017, retail e-commerce sales worldwide amounted to US$2.3 trillion and are projected to grow to US$ 4.9 trillion in 2021.
A key ingredient to overall customer experience and spend is high quality product imagery and video. Alarmingly, 68% of all e-shopper journeys are abandoned. A key reason for abandonment is lack of product information which includes product imagery (be it poor imagery or no imagery).
For retailers seeking consistent and high quality imagery, the current journey is: (a) costly and (b) a logistical burden. Currently the journey looks something like this:
(a) pack your goods;
(b) ship them to the studio;
(c) un-pack our goods,
(d) engage stylists and photographers
(e) head in to post production (remove background, touch-up etc.)
(f) ship goods back to store
(g) upload photos on-line
Sound familiar? In my role I’m fortunate enough to meet some amazing people and experience some incredible solutions. I’m proud to advise that the following solution has been developed by an Australian owned and operated robotics company, MMAPT Pty Ltd.
The solution is currently being utilized by a number of Australian based retailers, and, according to them, is solving a real problem.
Technology summary – What is it?
A robot that shoots your products, removes the background and uploads imagery and videos directly onto your e-commerce platform. No shipping, no stylists, no post-production. Just a Robot! By leveraging a robotic solution, all camera moves and shots are repeatable, delivering unparalleled consistency. All images are stored in the cloud and are accessible by all departments (PR, Marketing etc.).
It will be interesting to see what technology or process Bunnings adopts to upload its 60,000 products to deliver a very positive and very Bunnings experience.
Contact Mark Schiavello and learn more about how BDO can help your retail business.
Read more at https://www.bdo.com.au/en-au/our-people/mark-schiavello