Feature
3D digital twins: a reimagined future of retail
With new technologies continuing to evolve, there are great possibilities to transform the customer experience across online channels and brick-and-mortar facilities. Capturing immersive digital twins of retail stores is one such example - an innovative solution that preserves what consumers consider “the best parts of a retail experience” while still creating new possibilities that signpost a reimagined future of shopping. Many retail facilities managers are already pivoting their business model to stay relevant in an increasingly digitised landscape by using 3D experiences - not only as a way to continue to thrive while physical stores have been closed, but also to map out safe routes to reopening their doors when lockdown lifts.
Going forward, 3D digital twins can be used to help plan and facilitate shopper routes and the flow of customers through a store, as well as access to facilities in larger spaces and determining details like where sanitisation stations should be placed. The scans are to-scale, so shoppers can check ahead of time, from any device, for assurance that social distancing measures are implemented effectively and confidence that they can return to stores safely.
Facilities managers can also quickly capture 3D virtual tours of in-store equipment, inventory, product selection and placement, and POS displays, enabling them to create a consistent brand experience across different locations. Using this visual data, they can plan, implement, and manage floor layouts and merchandising more efficiently than ever before, and share these across their operations in a matter of minutes, meaning shops can quickly reopen with consistent designs and products, at scale, in any future lockdown event. As well as the significant time this saves, there is also an important sustainability benefit to be realised, as teams can collaborate remotely to achieve results rather than needing to meet on the shop floor, which dramatically reduces travel and therefore emissions.
Bridging the divide between in-person and online shopping experiences
The impact of COVID-19 on the retail industry has served as a catalyst for changes already underway in the sector. It’s evident that consumer preferences were fuelling a digital evolution long before the coronavirus pandemic; and it’s now time for retail facilities managers to embrace new technologies and ways to survive and thrive. Digital twins represent a compelling space between physical spaces and online shopping, where consumers interact with the places they know and love and where merchants offer new products and experiences in exciting and interesting ways. Customers can now virtually walk around their favourite physical stores from the comfort of their own homes.
But digital twins are also critical assets for managing each physical space through mapping safe guidelines which can be quickly cascaded across all branch locations, delivering remote employee training prior to opening, and providing consumers with the reassurance that retailers are committed to providing safe shopping experiences. Successful retailers will be those whose omnichannel environment seamlessly unites their brick-and-mortar locations with their eCommerce platforms. 3D capture technology has proven to be an asset not only when redesigning retail spaces to make them safer, but also as a means to provide customers with the visual assurance that the right measures and precautions are being taken on these premises to restore shopper confidence.
Over the years, a common misconception is that digital innovation will contribute to the decline of brick-and-mortar stores. However, 3D technology is more likely to form a strong connection between eCommerce and brick-and-mortar, solidifying the relevance of physical retail spaces in the shopping landscape of the future. Using 3D scanning technology, retail facilities managers can create a digital twin of their entire premises in a few minutes. As social distancing measures start to ease, digital twin technology will allow customers to visualise and browse the retail environments that they have longed for during lockdown, and allow shoppers and retailers alike to see how stores are safely reopening.
¹:
https://go.matterport.com/rs/911-LXO-192/images/Retail-eBook-Exploring-the-Future-of-Retail.pdf
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