3 UX innovation topics in China you didn’t know about.
China moves fast in making digital and physical experiences work together seamless and integrated.
In the following I want to tell you about another reflection from my time in China, mostly Shanghai. This time about topics that impressed me when it comes to physical/digital retail experiences, mostly HEMA Stores (Alibaba). It’s not just about technology and infrastructure innovations but especially consumer behaviour and cultural openness to change that is a key enabler. Furthermore, I was impressed by an attitude of pragmatism towards new, uncommon and better solutions that stand out in this consumer market.
The progress happening highlights the unique value of physical experiences and how they tie together with the digital world.
How both sides of the experience elevate each other in the aspects one side (physical/digital) is missing or lack (in terms of values people desire). Many of the ideas are maybe obvious but still unmatched when it comes to execution at scale and consumer adaption.
1. Flexibility and Convenience
It’s very common to eat in supermarkets. So maybe you want some of the things you picked up to be cooked directly from a cook? Fish your fishes and get a full meal if you like. There are many big aquariums that let you decide the animal you would like to select to either be cooked by a chief directly or to just buy and cook at home. There are also many stations that let you choose from a menu directly. Fresh products are on sale for just one day to guarantee freshness, but anything not purchased will be transferred to the in-store restaurants and food preparation area to guarantee absolute freshness and less / no food waste.
2. Openness and Access
Selecting products by hand and having a closer look at the physical products continues to have relevance in the age of digital. The supermarkets stay flexible to resonate to as many user behaviours patterns as possible. Many people go to HEMA stores to collect their items but then get it delivered in the end and not walk out with their products. Customers have the chance to put the shopping basket on a conveyer belt and get it delivered to their home instead. No need to do the transportation themselves and it’s enabling people to do the groceries during lunch breaks but get the fresh products delivered before they come home from work. Locals can have goods delivered within 30 minutes. Visitors to the store will see products being taken away on overhead conveyor belts. You can also order via the app directly and you will find many employees running around in the store to collect the orders of customers since the shops act as a warehouse at the same time. In addition, they also offer to deliver the food cooked as a prepared meal already.
Furthermore, the self-checkout stations recognise automatically what product it is automatically which in many cases removes the need for a barcode. Alipay (Alibaba’s version of Apple Pay) is used to pay at the checkout.
3. Digital Exploration.
The digital companion enables people to get to know what ingredients are in the products as well as further information about them. In addition, there are many QR codes for further information and offerings. Since they also gain all the data about your shopping behaviours (physical and digital) they can make highly personal and accurate recommendations to users.
Each aisle has screens that let you see what items are most popular in the category and area as well as what are related items (similar to Amazon’s recommendation algorithm). Price tags are electronic to react quickly to supply and demands. This is great if you look for good deals but it can become more expensive when products run low.
Maybe in the future, they can even track what you picked up already, what’s in your fridge and recommend you how to make a dish of it? We will see. But in the end, these retail experiences show how the data quality and data access is one main driver to deliver some of the future shopping experience concepts we can maybe predict already from many science fiction movies.
Feel free to send me your feedback and what you think of the innovations? Would they be useful for you as well?
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