As We Head Into 2020, Technology Will Continue To Shape Consumers’ Interactions With Brands

It’s the start of a new decade and although we don’t have flying cars (yet), technology is well posed to impact our lives even more so than it has in the past. Technology has found a myriad of ways to make consumers’ day-to-day lives easier and this is hugely exemplified in the retail and restaurant industries. 

In order to combat the ascension of Amazon and other like online retailers—shipping you basically anything in a matter of hours—brick-and-mortar retailers will need to get creative, which ultimately means figuring out what kind of technology they can implement to make consumers want to shop there, buy their products, et cetera. 

According to CNBC, a new technology to entice consumers to shop could be virtual changing rooms. Gone would be the days of dragging a pile of clothes into the dressing room as you could “just scan an item in a store with your phone and try it on yourself without actually having to physically try it on”. “There’s just amazing technology out there that’s already available that if it were applied to retail would fundamentally change the shopping experience,” said former Walmart U.S. President and CEO Bill Simon. 

In addition to retailers, recently, the restaurant industry has been impacted by the use of technology—and quick-service restaurants are the ones grabbing the technology bull by its horns. For example, Panera announced a new AR technology that lets consumers “play with their food”. The brand launched an app that allows users to virtually place Panera food in front of them also allowing them to view nutrition facts of the food: this technology was made to “increase transparency in its menu provide a better customer experience.”

Chipotle is another brand that has immersed itself in the world of digital technology. In 2019, the brand rolled out self-ordering kiosks, “Chipotlanes” and a new restaurant design to coincide with being more digital friendly. 

Like Chipotle, KFC has certainly upped its digital game. As a part of its 2020 strategy, the fried-chicken brand announced it’s going to explore AI-powered digital menu boards and license plate recognition capabilities, all as a way to improve consumer experience and streamline ordering processes. 

We already knew technology was going to rule the world someday… Let’s see where this new decade takes us!