How Physical Retailers Can Win Shoppers In An Algorithm-Driven World

I had a client a few years back who planted a simple but revolutionary idea in my head. “What if online retail had been developed first?” He described a world where online was the only kind of shopping for any kind of goods and services you wanted to buy. Then, he said, imagine one day someone comes to you in that world with this wild new idea: in-person shopping.

Suddenly, he went on, you can enter a space filled with the things you might want to buy - a space where you could touch them, try them on, smell them and taste them. To help you through this process, you’d have an advocate for these goods, perhaps even the person who chose them, sourced them or made them in the first place. That person could attest to their provenance and authenticity, as well as inspire you with stories of how they came to be.

It’s a fun thought experiment. But it's also one that I think is particularly resonant right now. In my view, today, we’re sliding closer to the reverse of his thought experiment. Consider a survey by Attest, which found that more than half of consumers who responded said they foresee a future where they can no longer speak to a real person when interacting with a brand or business.

To read the full article with Forbes, click here.