By Doug Stephens<\/p>\n

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Like most people, at least a half-dozen times a day I consult Google for answers.\u00a0 Some of what I search for is trivial, \u201cbet-settling\u201d sort of stuff but there are also times I need more comprehensive, substantive or complex pieces of information for research. Regardless of which, I almost always find what I\u2019m looking for. As a consequence, I’ve been thoroughly conditioned to expect that just about anything<\/i> I want to know is just a click or two away.<\/p>\n

The Retail Disconnect<\/b><\/h2>\n

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This assumed level of access to information makes it all the more jarring, when we go shopping, to have even our most basic questions met with shrugging shoulders, blank stares and best guesses by sales associates.\u00a0 Simple stuff like Why is product A better than product B<\/i>?\u00a0 Or, what does my warranty cover<\/i>?\u00a0 And even, how does this product work<\/i>? These routine questions are all too often left unanswered or at least not answered adequately to inspire a confident purchase.\u00a0 It\u2019s all causing tremendous cognitive dissonance for retail customers and forcing more and more customers to seek online information \u2013 often while standing in a retailer\u2019s store. Although retailers will point the finger at price as the smoking gun behind showrooming, research shows that in fact, it\u2019s more often the pursuit of adequate and accurate information that drives customers online.<\/p>\n

To be clear, this knowledge gap in no way the fault of the salesperson. \u00a0Rather, it’s an inevitable outcome in a retail industry with notoriously low wages and wickedly high turnover. But it’s that very gap that’s put many retailers in an untenable position.<\/p>\n

An Un-trainable Gap<\/b><\/h2>\n

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Retailers like Best Buy exemplify the problem. Given the depth of online technical information available to electronics consumers, the customer can (and very often does) know more about a specific product than the employee who is assisting them, all of which negates much of the value of having sales associates in the first place.<\/p>\n

As a means of stemming this growing imbalance, Best Buy has made promises of providing more intensive training to its store employees. \u00a0There is, however, an inherent flaw in this logic.\u00a0 A chain like Best Buy cannot pour significant costs into training while at the same time wading into the deep, dark water of price competition with Amazon, which it has done through its price matching policy.\u00a0 It\u2019s simply not mathematically possible or strategically wise to attempt to do both.<\/p>\n

Any retailer who is serious about hiring, training and retaining true product experts, cannot simultaneously be the low-price leader in the market.<\/p>\n

Other chains, like Home Depot, have opted to equip their store associates with tablets and other handheld devices<\/a><\/strong>, giving them access to the information customers may require.\u00a0 While this isn\u2019t a bad thing, one can\u2019t help but wonder if simply making the employee the keeper of the information doesn\u2019t just add an unnecessary element of friction between the customer and the data they need to make a purchase.\u00a0 In other words, why should a customer have to hunt down a store employee, only to have them<\/i> consult a database the customer could have accessed themselves, given the opportunity? \u00a0It’s a recipe for frustration.<\/p>\n

Big Bets on Artificial Intelligence<\/b><\/h2>\n

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Meanwhile, technology companies like IBM appear to be going all-in on artificial intelligence<\/i> or cognitive computing<\/i> as it\u2019s sometimes called. \u00a0Artificial intelligence is a branch of computer science aimed at creating computers that have the capacity to actually learn and take steps to make themselves more intelligent over time. Many are hailing artificial intelligence as the next major frontier in computing.<\/p>\n

As if to prove this, IBM recently announced its plans to pour a billion dollars into it\u2019s Jeopardy dominating<\/a><\/strong> A.I. platform Watson to prepare the system for deployment in a wide range of verticals, not the least of which will be retail.\u00a0 In IBM\u2019s desired future reality, Watson is not only the retail sales associate but also the digital shopping assistant that\u2019s carried in the palm of every shopper\u2019s hand.\u00a0 In theory, Watson would become smarter with each new shopper query and recommendation until there is virtually no customer question beyond its intelligence.<\/p>\n

Adding to the fervor around artificial intelligence, Google recently purchased the U.K. based A.I. company Deep Mind<\/a><\/strong>. Soon, Deep Mind\u2019s founders will be working with Google\u2019s resident inventor and futurist Ray Kurzweil, who has openly mused about creating a search engine so sophisticated that it becomes like a \u201ccybernetic friend.\u201d\u00a0 With deep artificial intelligence at the core of Google, consumer products like Google Shopper<\/a><\/strong> will learn and even begin to anticipate our shopping needs and preferences.<\/p>\n

The Autonomous Store<\/b><\/h2>\n

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At the same time, companies like Seattle\u2019s Hointer<\/a><\/strong> have been honing and refining their fully-automated store concept.\u00a0 Using a combination of robotics, mobile apps and self-checkout, the brand has all but eliminated the need for human staff in the store. \u00a0\u00a0Product information is easily accessible using the brand\u2019s app and with clothing items delivered robotically to the fitting room, customers need not wait for an available salesperson.\u00a0 Self-checkout eliminates the need for cashiers.<\/p>\n

<\/b>Fewer Humans With Better Jobs<\/b><\/h2>\n

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This new wave of technologies represents nothing less than a\u00a0<\/span>New Industrial Revolution<\/i>\u00a0where much of the service work in retail will now become the domain of systems, apps and robotics.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Regrettably, for the vast majority of retail workers, this revolution will likely not be generous, kind or welcoming.\u00a0 In fact, a recent study<\/a><\/strong> out of Oxford University estimates that the likelihood of retail sales people being replaced by technology within a decade is approximately 92 percent.\u00a0 This places them among the most likely of all job types tracked by the Bureau Of Labor Statistics to be replaced by technology.\u00a0 Much, like manufacturing was assailed by robotics through the 1980’s and 90’s, much of the service work in our economy will become the domain of cyber-assistants in the decades to come.<\/p>\n

On an optimistic note however, one can also see an emerging era of opportunity for higher-skilled and very<\/em> human<\/em> retail employees \u2013 true Brand Ambassadors who embody the brand and animate the experience.<\/p>\n

New Skills For A New Era<\/h2>\n

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But in order to add<\/a> value, this new breed of retail associate will have to be super-users<\/em> of the brand\u2019s products, devout\u00a0believers<\/em> in the brand\u2019s creed and avid co-creators<\/em> who love working with customers to tailor the perfect product solution. They must be people with innate likability and capability – \u00a0expert at forging a connection with their customer. Far from being slaves to the technology, they will be the masters of it and skilled in using it to surprise and delight their customers.<\/p>\n

And for this, make no mistake; they will be paid not just fairly, but handsomely. \u00a0No longer merely regarded as interchangeable input costs, the new breed of retail salesperson will be seen as a unique and highly valued brand asset and an investment in the brand’s future.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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