Even the shopping cart – offline, that is – was a revolutionary shopping tool when it debuted in 1936, dramatically changing the way people shopped, Raymond Burke, founding director of Indiana University’s Customer Interface Laboratory, told Retail Systems 2001 conference this week. “It dramatically changed the way people shopped – before then, they had hand-held baskets,” he said. Similarly, e-enabled shopping tools will change the way consumers shop – but not all of the technology innovations developed for the retail marketplace will find a permanent home there.
Burke’s laboratory specializes in testing how new shopping technologies impact both online and offline shopping behavior. Among the success stories of new technologies in retail he listed the Internet itself. Others yet to prove definitive success are wireless PDAs and touch screen kiosks, among others. Technologies still being developed for retail but even farther from proving themselves include digital receipts and virtual reality displays that will let online shoppers “tour” a graphic depiction of store aisles to visually locate products.
Just because a technology works doesn’t mean it will find useful application in retail, Burke says. Among the reasons technologies fail to win retailers' support are that the technology is too expensive, incompatible with existing systems, of uncertain benefit, or lends itself to quick obsolescence, he says. Reasons technology innovations don’t succeed with shoppers are that they perceive the technology to be difficult to use, of little value, or intrusive, he says.
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