REACH startups discuss what is going on within the Retail sector
The retail sector has done a full 180 degrees turn due to the pandemic. Attendance at physical retailers has been reduced greatly, while online shopping has been flourishing. We spoke to the REACH startups to discuss what are the possibilities for growth during the pandemic and what challenges they have faced in the past year.
Smartricity is an e-commerce platform that provides consumers with transparent data regarding the energy efficiency of electric devices.
“As online shopping accelerates, and was even pushed through closed stores during the pandemic, competition is rising and forces classic, non-digital retailers to change business models and strategies” – Smartricity.
The startup believes that by developing a digital, customer-centric and sustainable strategy, retailers have a good chance for growth. This also brings great opportunities for startups that develop digital solutions to support the companies in their transformation.
Smartricity explain that with their technology, they support companies with an AI-based deduplication service that generalizes to a variety of data sources to keep their database clean. This enhances the user experience and increases sales.
The retail sector’s biggest challenge has been for brands to sell their solutions in this day and age with the lack of face-to-face meetings. Fortunately for Smartricity, they have been excelling in this endeavour.
Covid-19 has accelerated the move to digital space and this has become the new normal.
“Consumers have plenty of options to purchase products, but the shopping experience compared to physical shopping is still lagging behind. Technologies like AR, VR, and AI will make shopping online more personalized and engaging” – iERP
AI adoption by companies is still very low due to lack of understanding, unavailability of data, and very expensive implementation costs. The startup is developing solutions that can be deployed in a matter of days and with a 10 times cost reduction.
The retail sector is one of the fastest growing sectors during the pandemic. It is great to see that the business has found a way to adapt and our startups have found a niche of their own.
REACH Incubator tries to establish data value chains among various stakeholders in the industries and retail sector will surely benefit from the retail leaders sharing data with the startups in order to optimize their processes.
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