What can we learn from the CES 2020 regarding the future of Retail?

Health Tech and Wellness Tech were in the front row at the Consumer Electronic Show in Las Vegas. We discovered products dedicated to health, sleep (bracelets, connected beds, headbands), dental hygiene (connected toothbrushes or radio-frequency waves), well-being (massage chairs, therapeutic sex toys, etc.) and security (smart lockers, etc.).

This massive presence overshadowed the retail experience somewhat, even though the major brands were presenting increasingly convincing connected journeys: Amazon, Procter & Gamble, or Walmart, and brands such as Samsung, LG, or Haier are continuing to penetrate the market, and some start-ups are positioning themselves as leading players.  

Some technological bricks are coming to maturity

Mirror, mirror on the wall

The holy grail of the sector, connected mirrors are still highly visible on the stands. They have achieved an increasingly convincing level of finish, with discreet borders, seamless experiences, and various use cases such as:

- Body measurements and individual product advice

- Previewing of clothes worn

- Product scan for more information in AR

- Voice control

The deployment of the CareOS start-up demonstrates the maturity of the technology and its prospects. Partnerships are being developed with LVMH and Pierre Fabre.

Haier's Smart Closet imagined in a bedroom or a store © DR

Style suggestions on Haier's Smart Closet © DR

... How to be THE most beautiful: personalized recommendations 

Overall, smart screens are flourishing in the aisles of the CES, especially among the major players such as LG, but also among start-ups, which are competing with proposals such as stress or skin diagnosis, or make-up advice with preview and product recommendation.

The start-up behind Perfect Corp's YouCamMakeup AR application announced several partnerships including with Estée Lauder, Neutrogena, Henkel Beauty Care, and retail brand Sally.

Lipstick preview via the YouCamMakeup application © DR

Diagnosis of the stress level © DR

Personalization also takes place through terminals with integrated sensors and artificial vision functions. Non-intrusive and respectful of the GDPR, they are interesting for mass marketing, for example. For example, Becon, a start-up backed by Samsung, offers a scalp scanner that analyses the scalp and recommends the most suitable shampoos.

   Scalp scan and product recommendation with Becon © DR

Persistent trends 

The walls of the store are expanding

In-store mixed-reality experiments are continuing, as demonstrated by the service offered by the French startup Retail VR, which presented an application developed in collaboration with Nespresso. An in-store VR prototype proposed several use cases:

- Virtual handling of products

- Presentation of the brand universe

- Cross-selling

- And even the purchase itself

VR experience in a Nespresso store with Retail VR © DR

Would you care for a fresh Ramen? Continuous personalization experience outside the store

Capsules still have the wind in their sails to offer ultra-personalized home-made products.

Maison Berger acquired the start-up Bescent and its Sensorwake: they provide personalized, multi-sensory alarm clocks using scent capsules associated with music and light. Other good ideas are emerging, such as Reduit's designer diffuser that invigorates or smooths hair with special capsules; or even more intriguing ideas: Yo-Kai Express, a machine to make fresh Ramen in 45 seconds, Olio Fresco to make olive oil, or Tigout to make muffins ... with capsules!

Tigout's home-made muffins made with capsules © DR

Warehouse logistics remains a land of limitless exploration 

Did you know that your foot is unique?

Yes, each individual's foot is different, but the direction of walking is always the same, from the sole to the toes: the start-up Technis exploits this specificity with a mat that detects the entrances and exits in a room precisely, thanks to plantar sensors. This non-invasive, GDPR-compliant product allows for point-of-sale measurement of presence and exit rates.

The Technis carpet © DR

Good news, exoskeletons will compensate you for your efforts!

For handling stock in warehouses, upstream in the supply chain, or why not in the warehouse, exoskeletons are being perfected. The difference between unassisted and assisted wearing of the external "skeleton" is striking, as we have experienced at Sarcos, a Delta Airlines partner.

The Sarcos exoskeleton for Delta Airlines © DR

For you, is paying a slow, painful experience?

We did not find many offers related to payment, especially crypto-payment, but some all-in-one machines are still interesting. Nuvi Labs is deploying a machine in the canteens of several Korean schools that scans food, provides a dietary diagnosis, and allows direct payment by card: an interesting opportunity for mass marketing.

A little further down the aisles, Yallvend's vending machine makes it possible to pay directly via Apple Pay or Google Pay after a quick handling and scanning of a QR code.

The Nuvi Lab food scanner © DR

The vending machine with mobile payment © DR

Multi-channel retail: this buzzword will continue to surprise you

An alert on your mobile of the availability of a computer to be tested within a few meters

Microsoft has launched its Microsoft Synchronized Shopping solution in partnership with Harvey Norman, which improves the multi-channel shopping journey from home to the store. Based on a series of questions, product suggestions are offered and synchronized with the availability of these products in stores. The customer receives a shopping pass on his mobile via a QR code integrating geo-location: he is alerted when he is near a store where one of the products is available. 

A snack in the middle of the countryside delivered by a nice robot

Smart delivery is improved with Panasonic's autonomous, electric trucks for the last few meters of delivery, or smaller vehicles for specific products such as snacks. Ford is also introducing a robot equipped with LIDAR technology, capable of climbing steps to deliver directly to the end user.

Smart lockers are also still very present this year with new features such as facial recognition or the Alfred brand, whose locker works without electricity: interesting advances to secure this very strategic "last mile".

A smart locker with facial recognition in the aisles of the Seoul Smart City © DR

Advised by a virtual assistant ... disturbing humanity?

Virtual assistants are also very much in the spotlight, Amazon Alexa voice commands are everywhere, especially at car manufacturers. The decompartmentalization of the shopping experience continues from the store to the kitchen, the car, and even the bed.

Some brands go further in humanizing the experience, such as Samsung, which presented avatars that are truer than life, true copies of men and women capable of emotions, the famous Neon project.

Samsung's ultra-realistic avatar project © DR

In bed with Amazon Alexa © DR

Authors: Clémence Tolot and Ari Kouts, VISEO Innovation Consultants

About VISEO

VISEO is a DSC, a digital services company that uses technology as a powerful lever for transformation and innovation to help their customers leverage digital opportunities, address new uses, and compete with players who are changing the rules of the game.

With 2200 employees working on five continents, VISEO combines the agility and complementarity of its expertise – design of new products and services, digitization of business processes, data valorization, development of digital assets – to make digital technology a real lever for competitiveness and performance.