Irina Mushtina, CF.Digital: “The main task of retail and e-commerce is to minimize time”

Time is becoming the most valuable resource — and often the decisive factor in choosing a service or product.
Although this trend is not yet fully obvious in Ukraine, considering the overall forecasts for the Ukrainian market and retail in particular, I would define “time minimization” as a global objective for the next few years — especially for major retailers and e-commerce projects.

1. Retail must be where the potential customer is — and in a format that is convenient for them.

This should be a fully closed-loop system that the buyer finds hard to escape from — an optimal combination of offline and online business, offering all necessary services.

This applies primarily to the use of multi-channel strategies for attracting potential customers. Our experience promoting stores with both online and offline presence shows a strong influence of assisted conversions.

Assisted conversions occur when a user visits the site through multiple channels before completing a transaction.
For example: a user first visits through a paid ad, leaves, then comes back via organic search, leaves again, then clicks through from a social media post — and only then clicks “buy.”
This path includes three assisted conversions: contextual advertising, search, and social media.

In the sporting goods category, the share of users passing through four or more channels before converting reaches 12% — which is above market average.
Previously, users made decisions faster; now, they take more time to research and compare. That’s why brands need to be present everywhere — the more touchpoints, the higher the chance of a conversion. This is especially true for high-value products.

Over 70% of users use more than one advertising channel before making a purchase. This confirms a global trend — omnichannel marketing — which means being present wherever the customer is.

2. The offer must be as personalized as possible.

In e-commerce, this technology is already well-developed and widely used.
For instance, analyzing user behavior and profiles using Enhanced Google Analytics can boost conversion rates by 20% or more above the average.

In offline retail, however, personalization is still a new concept — even globally.
Tracking consumer behavior in physical stores using sensors like Kinect, analyzing which product groups attract attention, what the shopper places in the cart, and identifying demographic markers (such as gender, age, or the presence of a child) can help generate effective upsell offers or targeted checkout promotions.

Such technology isn’t possible without AI.
Yet pilot campaigns are already underway. In the U.S., a city street billboard was installed that changed its message, visuals, slogan, and even fonts based on the behavior of people nearby.
Tracking was done using a Kinect sensor that could simultaneously analyze the behavior of up to 12 people.

Now imagine adding image-based profiling that detects users’ social media presence — you could form a personalized offer by predicting a person’s needs and behavior based on their interests.

3. Getting the product or service “here and now”

Meeting this need requires high-level automation and Big Data analysis.
Such technologies help forecast demand by analyzing behavioral patterns across geographic zones, tracking product availability, and enabling delivery in a matter of minutes.

This can’t happen without the robotization of logistics.
What once seemed futuristic — like drones and airships from Amazon — is quickly becoming a new normal.

As early as May last year, Amazon patented a system of airborne drone warehouses housed in airships, from which drones deliver products directly to customers.

Amazon’s most successful case to date? A 13-minute delivery of a TV set-top box in Cambridge — from order to doorstep.

According to Amazon, the airship model will make this service scalable worldwide.

This is just a fraction of the technologies that are rapidly transforming the way we shop — shifting decision-making from emotional to rational.
With the addition of the Internet of Things and artificial intelligence, the process will be revolutionized even further.

Soon, your personal assistant will be able to buy household goods on your behalf, based on signals from your refrigerator.
For now, we can settle for Amazon’s Dash Button, which automatically places an order for the selected product with just one press.

Published on Retailers.ua