Redefining Retail

19Be Invisible

In the introduction we discussed how, in a post‐digital world, retail is entering its fifth wave and technology is becoming less visible but more present. Everywhere, tiny sensors will gather and analyze data about people with increasing accuracy in real time. This will revolutionize the way individuals interact with each other and how brands and retailers communicate and sell. Those communications will be contextually relevant and fully personalized for each customer. Surprisingly, this mass personalization will feel even more human—since people will be engaging with technology through their bodies and communicating with their voice—instead of using keyboards and screens. We also argued that in the post‐digital era digital and virtual will feel (nearly) just as real as physical experiences do.

One of the reasons why people expect technology to be invisible is its ubiquity. In Chapter 4, “Experiential Benchmarks,” we explored how the widespread adoption of technology is breaking down barriers in various industries and retail sectors. This trend has posed challenges for established brands and retailers, as it has opened up new opportunities for smaller, innovative players to compete head‐on. The accessibility of once prohibitively expensive technologies has fueled this virtuous cycle, empowering digitally native companies to experiment and introduce cutting‐edge products and services without the constraints of legacy systems. As a result, customer expectations ...