5 Technologies Reshaping Retail In 2017

New technologies continue to reshape retail interesting and unexpected ways. For example, the phrase “conversational commerce” was fairly unknown in retail entering 2016, but throughout last year, the sector took major steps into the conversational commerce era with new solutions using artificial intelligence and chatbots to interact with customers. “Today’s market demands convenience,” Jake Weatherly, CEO of verification technology company SheerID, told Retail Dive in email. “As we enter into the new year, we will see the continuation of multi-channel retailing; however, businesses will spend significantly more on both their customer experience teams and technology that will allow them to understand their customers in a deeper level.” Retailers are already making significant investments in tech, of course: Wal-Mart alone spent more than $10.5 billion on IT in 2015, topping the list of the world’s biggest technology spenders. Even so, many retailers are scrambling to meet the expectations and demands of an increasingly digital customer base. Read more at Retail Dive.