A New Product-led Series by Tangiblee

A New Product-led Series by Tangiblee

With cities around the world opening up, everyone has questions about the future of shopping. Are malls going to be as popular as they were before? How can store managers keep environments clean and safe?

Getting clarity on answers 😎

There are a lot of unknowns, and it’s likely going to be that way for a while, until we have a sense of what the “new normal” is going to look like. What we do know is that the rise in digital commerce is here to stay and that retailers will need to adapt to stay relevant.

...But we’re learning 💡

At Tangiblee, our team is always researching what makes a great retail experience. We are a product-led organization, meaning that we keep a close eye on how digital stores can better serve their customers with our technology.  We are starting a new series in which we publish what’s on our mind and what we’re learning, every week.

Here are some things we’re thinking about during the first week of July, with enough time to plan for the Q4 holiday shopping season:

Perspectives from the product team:

1. Websites are the new brick and mortar storefronts

Digital experiences are no longer extensions of retail locations or “nice to have.” Now, online stores are the primary way that people get what they need. 

Over this last year, one trend that the Tangiblee team noticed is that our software is now a higher priority among executive teams. We moved up from #5 to #2, for instance.

Our vantage point is that the best way to re-imagine an e-commerce experience is through the lens and mindset of the shopper. A product is more than its photos. People want realistic perspectives of what they are buying.

2. Augmented reality (AR) isn't the cure-all that most people think it is

Our product team has been looking into AR tech long before the pandemic began. Something that we learned is that these solutions require a lot of prep to get up and running.

Retailers do not necessarily have the time or resources to create an entirely new library of product photography. It often does not make technical sense to use live video. It’s a lot of effort, and shoppers often don’t want to use clunky technology, anyway. Our customers often tell us that overly engineered solutions are a hassle.

In order to actualize the benefits of AR, retailers need to simplify their technical visions, strategically.

3. The best technologies empower shoppers to make confident decisions

There is no way to create a “one size fits all” shopping experience. People are far too diverse, with their own preferences. 

Keep in mind that in the physical world, stores are all about meeting customers’ needs and giving them a pathway to making their best decisions. The experience involves more than serving ads and introducing shoppers to products.

Similarly, the next genre of retail tech will be UX driven, to help website visitors get what they need from an online platform.

This series will be a two-way street ✌️

As is the rest of this series, we're offering the insights & feedback our team has been hearing from prospective clients, lost clients, as well as current clients.  But, we want to learn more - and we want to share those learnings with you.  

Submit your questions, comments, thoughts - anything surrounding the e-Commerce industry, Augmented Reality, Customer Experience - anything - that you are curious about or have recently learned in 2021.

What you can expect in the coming weeks

In the next edition of this series, we’ll be sharing the story behind our new Virtual Try-On tech. It was inspired by the experience of AR, but we’ve built it to be way more straightforward and low-tech to implement. Stay tuned to learn about the thinking that went into this software and some of our early results.