Your shopping journey start at home.

Your average grocery shopping trip does not start when you walk into the store, does it? No, it starts when you open your fridge and realise that you have nothing to eat. In today’s world, you would start to make your grocery list, order your Hello Fresh or go to Deliveroo. In tomorrow’s world your smart fridge, interactive fitness devices and automatic pantry scanner will automatically connect with your personal AI assistant. When you open your shopping app you will find that your assistant has already created a list that includes all the items you need to buy, based on your dietary wishes and selected your favourite items from your previous purchases. Now you only have to decide if you click order and have it drone-delivered to your doorstep, or if you feel like going on a real-life adventure to the supermarket? Signing up for the latter? Your app has got you covered once again. It will tell your autonomous car the quickest way to your favourite store.

Welcome back → Add to cart.

As you walk into the supermarket and reach out for a cart, it greets you by your name, thanks to the facial recognition and fingerprint scan in the handlebar. The display on your cart lights up with your grocery list, transmitted by your AI assistant from your phone, sorting out the most efficient path throughout the store. As you navigate the aisles, your shopping cart autonomously moves a few steps ahead of you, and the shelves subtly shift their displays to present personalised offers that align with your buying habits and values. Not convinced? Why not ask your shopping cart to showcase its entire journey, from farm to fork, recorded on the blockchain. As you grab your items and place them in your cart, they are automatically scanned by sensors and crossed off your list. While you fill up your cart, you realise that nothing seems to be missing. In the supermarket of tomorrow, supply chain challenges are no longer an issue; No more out-of-stock signs and food waste, all items are ordered according to your needs and potential cravings.

Check it out → pay as you go.

With your fully loaded card, you walk towards the checkout section and to your surprise there are no queues for you to wait in. Your items have already been scanned and weighted by your smart cart, saving you the hassle of unloading, scanning and paying at a traditional register. As the friendly bagger packs your groceries, your phone buzzes with the receipt on your all-in-one super-app, syncing it with your finances & collecting your loyalty points and coupons for next time.

Once you have loaded your groceries into your car, there's no need to return the cart. It smartly navigates back to its station, ready for the next shopper. As you drive away, your AI assistant provides insights on your spending, offering tips for budgeting and discovering new products that you might enjoy based on today's choices.

Bringing the convenience of online, offline.

As we return from our trip to the supermarket of the future, it is clear that emerging technologies are set to enhance the shopping experience in a way that will feel both ordinary and revolutionary at the same time. These innovations are not about reinventing the wheel but rather about smoothing its roll, removing pain points to create a customer journey that is more convenient, personalized and catered to our evolving lifestyles.

Welcome to the new era of customer experiences, where technology doesn’t just facilitate; it transforms. Here are 3 tips to start creating your future customer experience:

1. Shop for inspiration: Look outside your organization to see what’s happening the world around you. What players inside and outside of your organization are ahead of the game. What can you learn from them? What can you apply to your own business?

2. Fill up your cart with new ideas: Now is as good of a time as any to start ideating what the future of your customer experience is going to be. Start brainstorming on how emerging technologies can enhance your customer experience in the future.

3. Try before your buy: Looking to explore technologies that can upgrade your customer experience? Our advice: don’t go all in at once. Explore how they can work for you and if they can really help you to create more value for your customers.