Measuring the Impacts of Smart Retailing Technologies Pilot Implementation – Proposal Framework

Smart retailing technologies are transforming retailers’ operations, consumer shopping experiences, and perceptions about retailers. These technologies are becoming increasingly numerous and may have different interfaces and ways of implementation. Based on the literature review, this study develops a framework to measure the impacts of implementing non-store-based and store-based smart retailing technology pilot projects, with appropriate metrics based on brand leadership, market performance and word-of-mouth. The proposed method is based on a survey distributed to a sample of customers and control groups, using an experimental Latin square design that controls the effects of extraneous variables. With this methodology, different interfaces can be evaluated in the non-store-based pilot projects, and different locations in the store-based pilot projects implementation, controlling extraneous variables such as seasonality, customer profiles and store-specific characteristics. Finally, the academic and managerial contributions to retailers, consumers and technology companies are highlighted, as well as limitations and avenues for future research

How can customer experience improve retail operations sustainability?

Trabalho apresentado em 3rd International Conference on Quality Innovation and Sustainability – ICQIS2022, 3-4 maio 2022, Aveiro, Portugal.Consumer needs drive supply chains, so they are arguably the main actors in the process. Nonetheless, consumers are unaware of their ability to con tribute to stock management and the sustainability of retail operations, from the reduction of stockouts and waste to the minimization of energy-environmental impacts, through the centralization of stock in distribution and consolidation of last mile delivery in pooling systems. For this to happen, companies must provide channels that allow consumers to actively participate in the process and negotiate delivery times and prices through sustainable purchase options, through a crowdsourcing strategy in phygital stores. This paper explores two alternative strategies, maintaining or changing the current physical retail business model, based on the increase in online commerce and the use of mobile devices and ap plications in the purchase process. The first is applied in physical stores in a gam ing context through a consumer-facing augmented reality mobile application that rewards users for identifying stockouts and informing the need to replace prod ucts in the shelves. The second involves the transformation of physical stores into a showroom format, where desired products are read through a QR Code or using artificial intelligence through a mobile application, in which virtual shopping carts are created and deliveries can be fulfilled via home distribution centers, col lection points or drive-inN/

What Would You Ask to Your Home if It Were Intelligent? Exploring User Expectations about Next-Generation Homes

Ambient Intelligence (AmI) research is giving birth to a multitude of futuristic home scenarios and applications; however a clear discrepancy between current installations and research-level designs can be easily noticed. Whether this gap is due to the natural distance between research and engineered applications or to mismatching of needs and solutions remains to be understood. This paper discusses the results of a survey about user expectations with respect to intelligent homes. Starting from a very simple and open question about what users would ask to their intelligent homes, we derived user perceptions about what intelligent homes can do, and we analyzed to what extent current research solutions, as well as commercially available systems, address these emerging needs. Interestingly, most user concerns about smart homes involve comfort and household tasks and most of them can be currently addressed by existing commercial systems, or by suitable combinations of them. A clear trend emerges from the poll findings: the technical gap between user expectations and current solutions is actually narrower and easier to bridge than it may appear, but users perceive this gap as wide and limiting, thus requiring the AmI community to establish a more effective communication with final users, with an increased attention to real-world deploymen

eXtended new reality

This article addresses some aspects of the potential of Extended Reality (XR) technologies in the context of the accelerated ongoing digital transformation, with public awareness and wider acceptance being prompted by current pandemic, due to the widespread adoption of teleworking, distance learning, and virtual conferences. The state-of-the-art of XR technologies and immersive environments is briefly addressed from the perspective of their sustained adoption in multiple scenarios, including education and training, well-being and active aging, and business.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Worth and human values at the centre of designing situated digital public displays

The development and design of computational artefacts and their current widespread use in diverse contexts needs to take into account end-users needs, likes/dislikes and broader societal issues including human values. However, the fast pace of technological developments highlight that the process of defining the computational artefacts not only needs to understand the user but also engineers and designers’ creativity. Considering these issues, we have been exploring the adoption of the Worth- Centred Design framework, proposed by Gilbert Cockton, to guide our development efforts regarding situated digital public displays. We will present our insights as a design team regarding the use of the WCD framework for the on-going development of situated digital public displays. Furthermore, we will discuss our current efforts to extend the adoption of the framework. Finally, future steps are presented, and will focus on enriching our understanding concerning potential places for situated digital displays, stakeholders’ views, encouraging open participation and co-creation

Remembering today tomorrow: exploring the human-centred design of digital mementos

This paper describes two-part research exploring the context for and human-centred design of ‘digital mementos’, as an example of technology for reflection on personal experience(in this case, autobiographical memories). Field studies into families’ use of physical and digital objects for remembering provided a rich understanding of associated user needs and human values, and suggested properties for ‘digital mementos’ such as being ‘not like work’, discoverable and fun. In a subsequent design study, artefacts were devised to express these features and develop the understanding of needs and values further via discussion with groups of potential ‘users’. ‘Critical artefacts’(the products of Critical Design)were used to enable participants to envisage broader possibilities for social practices and applications of technology in the context of personal remembering, and thus to engage in the design of novel devices and systems relevant to their lives. Reflection was a common theme in the work, being what the digital mementos were designed to afford and the mechanism by which the design activity progressed. Ideas for digital mementos formed the output of this research and expressed the designer’s and researcher’s understanding of participants’ practices and needs, and the human values that underlie them and, in doing so, suggest devices and systems that go beyond usability to support a broader conception of human activity

Mastering Omni-Channel Retailing Challenges with Industry 4.0 Concepts

Omni-Channel Management is an important trend, which allows retailers to improve customer experiences. Notwithstanding, entirely seamless integration of all channels, for example, in terms of customer or pricing data or consistent product offerings, is still a challenging endeavor. Technological developments, such as Industry 4.0 (I4.0), lead to innovation opportunities in the production industry. As there are intersections between I4.0 and Omni-Channel retailing, we propose that prominent Omni-Channel retailing challenges can be overcome by integrating knowledge from both research domains. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to investigate, which I4.0 concepts are utilized in scientific literature to overcome challenges and how these concepts can be transferred to Omni-Channel Management. To make this knowledge tangible for retailers, this article deduces opportunities on the application of I4.0 concepts in Omni-Channel retailing. The results show that especially IoT networks offer numerous deployment options and even Cyber-Physical Systems and Smart Factories provide related potentials

Tap it again, Sam: Harmonizing personal environments towards lifelong learning

The increasing number of mobile vendors releas- ing NFC-enabled devices to the market and their prominent adoption has moved this technology from a niche product to a product with a large market-share. NFC facilitates natural interactions between digital world and physical learning environments. The scaffolding of learning ecologies is a key aspect for lifelong learners in their challenge to integrate learning activities into busy daily life. The contribution of this manuscript is twofold: first, a review of scientific litera- ture in which NFC has been used with a direct or indirect purpose to learn is presented, and potential uses for learners are classified according to their type of interaction; based on these findings the NFC MediaPlayer is presented as an instantiation of an ecology of resources (EoR) in a lifelong learning context. Finally, shortcomings and best practices are highlighted in the conclusions, and future work is discussed

Immersive Technologies in Virtual Companions: A Systematic Literature Review

The emergence of virtual companions is transforming the evolution of intelligent systems that effortlessly cater to the unique requirements of users. These advanced systems not only take into account the user present capabilities, preferences, and needs but also possess the capability to adapt dynamically to changes in the environment, as well as fluctuations in the users emotional state or behavior. A virtual companion is an intelligent software or application that offers support, assistance, and companionship across various aspects of users lives. Various enabling technologies are involved in building virtual companion, among these, Augmented Reality (AR), and Virtual Reality (VR) are emerging as transformative tools. While their potential for use in virtual companions or digital assistants is promising, their applications in these domains remain relatively unexplored. To address this gap, a systematic review was conducted to investigate the applications of VR, AR, and MR immersive technologies in the development of virtual companions. A comprehensive search across PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar yielded 28 relevant articles out of a pool of 644. The review revealed that immersive technologies, particularly VR and AR, play a significant role in creating digital assistants, offering a wide range of applications that brings various facilities in the individuals life in areas such as addressing social isolation, enhancing cognitive abilities and dementia care, facilitating education, and more. Additionally, AR and MR hold potential for enhancing Quality of life (QoL) within the context of virtual companion technology. The findings of this review provide a valuable foundation for further research in this evolving field