London, 03 June 2008 — The first global study into the future of retail has revealed that half of UK consumers believe their weekly shopping trip will soon be taken off them by networked fridges and online devices.
TNS’ New Future In Store report suggests that UK households will routinely have networked devices in the home that monitor what products people use, create shopping lists and communicate arrange deliveries online. And with this automated shopping technology already available to retailers, the majority of us expect networked fridges to be in widespread use by 2015.
However, when it comes to Brits’ willingness to embrace automated shopping, the future for intelligent fridges looks less rosy. While 52 per cent of UK shoppers predict networked devices will be used widely in seven years’ time, just a quarter see this as having high appeal for them – disliking the thought of handing over the grocery shop to a computer. And despite the promise of time freed up by the loss of the arduous weekly shopping task, just 10 per cent of consumers say they would be likely to use a networked fridge.
Barry Lemmon, Global Head of TNS Retail & Shopper Insights, said: “The technology to automate shopping to the degree we described to our survey participants is available right now, and in time we will see this in the average household. The networked fridge is the most obvious kind of appliance that will facilitate this. But retailers will need to help their customers understand the benefits of shopping this way – as is evident from the current unwillingness that our study revealed regarding using this kind of capability. Retailers might have got the technology at their fingertips – but they need get their customers on board.”
TNS’s survey asked more than 4,600 primary household shoppers online in eight countries to comment on 12 innovations, including intelligent shopping trolleys, interactive dressing rooms, collaborative shopping communities that give power to the people and social network shopping sites.
Although automated shopping is one of the technologies most in the grasp of retailers and consumers, it ranks relatively low in general appeal status. However, some shoppers are embracing a future governed by fridges: In China, 52 per cent of respondents are highly attracted to the proposition of networked shopping devices, and in Spain 45 per cent, compared with the UK’s 25 per cent. Likewise, twice as many shoppers internationally show themselves as very likely to use this device, compared to the reticent UK.
Siemon Scamell-Katz, founder of shopper strategy consultancy TNS Magasin, said: “There is no doubt that networked shopping is coming, especially as homes become more digital. Consumers can expect to shop location-free via wireless broadband and wireless devices. Networked appliances, man-machine interaction and device-to-device communication will help us replenish our routine food, beverage and household items automatically.As this becomes more prevalent, it will have an impact on the numbers of new products coming to market, and we’ll see a higher new product failure rate and extensive range rationalisation in those categories where consumers will no longer have much involvement in what they buy."
He continues: “Innovation may well come from new category invention rather than minor product development in established categories. This means that product innovation processes could look very, very different – with a consequent impact on what eventually ends up on the store shelves.
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Note to editors:
New Future In Store surveyed more than 4,600 primary household shoppers online in eight countries – Canada, China, France, Germany, Japan, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States. The data was collated and analysed in February 2008. Go to http://www.tnsglobal.com/news/key-insight-reports/ for a copy of New Future In Store in PDF format.
Here is the list of 12 retail innovations in our consumer survey:
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Interactive Dressing Room Mirror
It looks like any other mirror, but is actually a high-resolution digital screen with a camera that can relay live video and project holographic images of clothing items so customers can see how they will look in an outfit without trying it on.
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Interactive Dressing Room Helper
Using a digital touch-screen, a shopper in the dressing room can communicate with sales personnel – without having to return to the sales floor to search for help.
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Smart Carts
A smart cart incorporates interactive technology via a video screen on the front of the cart, enabling customers to locate products, access shopping lists, check prices, receive promotions and coupons, and scan purchases. The technology also can provide retailers and suppliers with rich data on the shopping trip.
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Biometric Payment Fingerprint
A shopper can pay for purchases by placing his/her finger on a sensor that reads its fingerprint, linking it to the shopper’s bank account or credit card to record the purchase.
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Shopping Social Network Site
Shoppers share information about the hottest stores, designers, trends and must-have products – all online. Retailers and suppliers will be able to monitor social networking sites to find out what consumers want and take early action to develop and stock those products.
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Group Buying by Consumers
Shoppers join online collaborative shopping communities to aggregate their buying power with other consumers.
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3D Body Scanning
A 3D scan of a shopper’s body will be used to make recommendations about the brands and specific clothes most likely to fit well, or to help fit custom-made clothes.
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Sales and Product Information via Mobile Phone (Based on Location)
Shoppers will opt-in to networks that send them text messages about sales, products and retailers that are relevant to the shopper based on current location.
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Holographic Sales Assistant
Shoppers will interact with an in-store hologram that can answer questions and facilitate merchandise transactions.
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Participate in Collaborative Product Development
Product developers will encourage consumers to post ideas and answer surveys online about new products and how existing products can be improved.
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Shopping by Mobile Device
Consumers will use mobile devices to place orders and arrange delivery from remote locations.
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Self-activated Shopping Agents
Networked devices in the home – such as networked fridges – will monitor what products consumers use, create shopping lists, and communicate with other devices to arrange deliveries.
About TNS Retail & Shopper Insights
TNS Retail & Shopper Insights is a specialist area of expertise that helps leading consumer products manufacturers and top retailers gain actionable insights into the shopper environment. TNS has built a unique offering that tracks the entire ‘shopper journey’ (before shoppers enter a store, as they walk around a store, at the point of purchase, and after they have selected a product for purchase). Equipped with the latest technology and research techniques, a team of TNS retail and shopping experts is forging global partnerships with some of the world’s best-known manufacturing and retail brands.
www.tnsglobal.com/research/retail-shopper-research/
About TNS
TNS is a global market information and insight group.
Its strategic goal is to be recognised as the global leader in delivering value-added information and insights that help its clients make more effective business decisions.
TNS delivers innovative thinking and excellent service across a network of 80 countries. Working in partnership with clients, TNS provides high-quality information, analysis and insight that improves understanding of consumer behaviour.
TNS is the world’s leading provider of customised services, combining sector knowledge with expertise in the areas of Product Development & Innovation, Brand & Communications, Stakeholder Management, Retail & Shopper and Customer Intelligence. TNS is a major supplier of consumer panel, media intelligence and audience measurement services.
TNS is the sixth sense of business™.
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