Placeless Store or Ubiquitous Stores?
New Technological Frontiers in Retailing
Eleonora Pantano
1
and Saverino Verteramo
2
1
Department of Marketing, Branding and Tourism, Middlesex University London,
The Burroughs, Hendon, London, NW4 4BT, U.K.
2
Department of Mechanical, Energy and Management Engineering, University of Calabria,
via Bucci 46c, 87036 Arcavacata di Rende (CS), Italy
Keywords: Placeless Store, Ubiquitous Store, Ubiquitous Computing, Innovation Management, Technology
Management, Retailing.
Abstract: Retailing is subject to a continuous innovation triggered by the constant progresses in technology. The new
technologies are dramatically changing the way for searching, comparing, choosing and buying products, by
providing new exciting and more effective shopping experience. Among the available technology-based
innovations for retailing, especially advancements in networking systems and ubiquitous computing provide
a totally new scenario where competing. In particular, these ones develop new shopping environment not
limited to the traditional physical points of sale, by becoming a promising area for research. This paper aims
at investigating the new competitive scenario, by emphasizing the shift from e- to m- to u-store, and
outlining possible future directions in a placeless shopping scenario.
1 INTRODUCTION
Retailing is currently subjected to a continuous
innovation triggered by the constant progresses in
technology. In the one hand, these are dramatically
changing the way for searching, comparing,
choosing and buying products, by providing new
exciting and more effective shopping experience; in
the other one, they provide retailers with new tools
for market seizing and sensing, and service delivery.
(Bennet and Savani, 2011; Ngo and O’ Cass, 2013;
Demirkan and Sphorer, 2014; Pantano and
Timmermans, 2014; Pantano, 2014).
These technological innovations further modify
role and function of physical store in retail settings,
which is no longer the one contact point between
firm and client. As a consequence, the innovative
force in retailing increases the competitive pressure,
while the complexity and the risks in the emerging
scenario growth (Pantano, 2014).
For instance, the proliferation of e-stores
introduces the electronic market for competing, by
enlarging the traditional offer of a physical point of
sale through internet (Bourlakis et al., 2009).
Similarly, the diffusion of smartphone offers another
channel for shopping based on mobile networks and
applications, designed for an easier faster, and
funnier access to products (Lai, and Chuah, 2010).
Moreover, mobile technologies can be integrated
with additional tools, ad Quick Response codes
(QR), Near Field Communication (NFC), image
recognition, augmented reality, 3D functionalities,
contactless systems for increasing the functions and
services. The ubiquitous retailing emerges as an
evolution of mobile stores based on the adoption of
ubiquitous computing, by creating a new ubiquitous
scenario for shopping from mobiles (Pantano, 2013).
Therefore, from a strategic point of view, new
markets and customer can be interrelated while
integrating new services satisfying also the tacit
consumers’ needs, which can be addressed (Zawslak
and al., 2012; Pantano and Timmermans, 2014).
Therefore, a new question arises in the emerging
technology-enriched scenario: which will the future
retail scenario be?
The aim of this paper is to shed lights on the
actual innovative competitive scenario, by
evaluating the shift from e- to m- to u-store, and
outlining possible future directions in a placeless
shopping scenario.
173
Pantano E. and Verteramo S..
Placeless Store or Ubiquitous Stores? - New Technological Frontiers in Retailing.
DOI: 10.5220/0005531301730178
In Proceedings of the 12th International Conference on e-Business (ICE-B-2015), pages 173-178
ISBN: 978-989-758-113-7
Copyright
c
2015 SCITEPRESS (Science and Technology Publications, Lda.)
2 TECHNOLOGY-ENHANCED
SHOPPING EXPERIENCE
Currently, research on retail solutions for enhancing
shopping experience are grown fast, reflecting
consumer increasing consciousness of their power.
In fact, the actual sense of consumer value is shifting
from product to service to experience and interaction
(Prahalad and Ramaswamy, 2004; Heinonen et al.,
2013; Ngo and O’Cass, 2013). Hence, the actual
trend is to develop new technologies able to provide
immersive and engaging experiences, which
consumer access through high interactive and
realistic interfaces.
As a consequence, retailers try to differentiate
their offer by providing smart consumer solutions
than stand-alone services or new products
(Biggemann et al., 2013; Pantano, 2014; Pantano
and Timmermans, 2014). Since the introduction of
advanced systems within the stores provides new
self- services able to eliminate or drastically reduce
the human assistance by moving some tasks
traditionally executed by sellers to an automatic
machine or allowing consumers to perform by
themselves (Tang et al., 2001; Vesel and Zakbar,
2010; Lee et al., 2013), their experiences in the new
environment is mediated by the technology and
changes dramatically.
Due to the advancements in virtual reality and
3D graphics, new virtual environments and products
displays have increased the appeal of online
services. In fact, the quality of 3D graphics enhances
the realism of the experience and the feeling of
interacting within the real environment, while the
high level of interactivity allows consumers to view
products from different perspectives, as well as to
explore the different functions and features of
products on sale like in a real environment
(Algharabat and Dennis, 2010; Cheng et al., 2014).
This paper focuses on the changes in consumers
shopping experience in the case of e-store (online
store) and m-store (mobile store based on the usage
of smart devices such as smart phones).
2.1 E-store
The rapid diffusion of Internet technologies among
potential consumers provides new online platforms
where clients could purchase directly at home 24/7
(recognized as I-commerce, e-commerce, e-tailing,
or e-store), by offering the online easy access to
shopping environment (e-store) also to that part of
population with limited mobility. Prior studies on e-
stores highlighted their high level of perceived
convenience by consumers (Hsiao, 2009; Pantano
and Servidio, 2012). In fact, these retail settings
provide a superior shopping experience according to
several factors (Katerattanakul and Siau, 2003;
Pantano and Servidio, 2012):
- physical facilities, because e-stores provides
flexible architecture and layout (they can be updated
more frequently than a physical store, with a limited
investment in software and programming), while
offering a fast response time (the response time does
not depend on the number of the clients in the store,
in opposite with the physical store that can be very
crowd with negative consequence on the speed of
service delivery);
- product presentation, because 3D graphics
enhances products displaying and the interaction
with the available products. Resolution and
interactivity are related to the computer interface
employed for the connection;
- service, because the e-store offers a wider
range of services, such as recommended systems for
supporting consumer’s purchase decision, enhanced
information on the product (i.e. video explaining the
manufacturing process), home delivery polices, etc.;
- convenience in terms of location, parking,
opening hours and access, because it consist of store,
accessible anytime (24/7) and anywhere when an
desktop internet connection is available;
- visual appearance in terms of store atmosphere
and attractiveness, because e-store provides new
engaging and entertaining experiences based on the
use of 3D graphics, user-friendly interfaces, high
realistic environments, advanced input devices, etc..
To date, the substitution of physical stores for
online ones is considered still unrealistic, while they
are considered a strong supporting tool for shopping
(Rotem-Mindali, 2009).
2.2 M-store
Similarly to the rapid spread of e-stores, another
trend emerges from the improvements in the
connectivity (i.e. wireless, cloud computing,
ubiquitous access, etc.) that might reduce the
physical spatial dimension of a store, while
enlarging the store offer, and can be considered as
an evolution of the e-store (Wu and Hisa, 2008;
Bennet and Savani, 2011). This consists of the use of
mobile devices for shopping (if connected to
internet), moving the web-based functionalities from
desktop applications (e-store) to all environments
equipped with a network connection. The large
diffusion of mobile computing, based on the
portable accessing technologies always connected to
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174
internet for accessing to multimedia contents
repositories (e.g. location based services) (Lin et al.,
2011), pushes retailers to provide mobile
applications for consumers, with the aim to
influence them to buy anytime and everywhere.
These apps show products through mobile interfaces
supporting mobile purchase. In this way, the mobiles
became a kind of interactive guide in the new retail
settings. A meaningful example is the IKEA app,
which consists of a digital version of the catalogue
allowing users to view 360 room sets, to access
more information on products, and simulate the
placement of selected furniture from the catalogues
in their own room with the 3D augmented reality
tool (based on the usage of user mobile camera).
Similarly to the case of e-store, m-store offers a
large convenience if compared to the traditional
physical points of sale, in terms of:
- physical facilities, because m-store contents
might be customized on users’ requests and be
constantly updated;
- product presentation, because m-store offers a
large variety of products and enhanced related
information and the interaction with the available
products (i.e. access to video, audio, 3D virtual
manipulation, etc.). Resolution and interactivity are
related to the mobile interface employed for the
connection;
- service, m-store offers mobile payment systems
(for fast self-check out), access to personalized
contents and recommendation systems, etc.;
- convenience, by offering a store accessible
anytime and anywhere;
- visual appearance, m-store provides 3D
graphics, user-friendly interfaces, high interactive
and realistic environments, which could be
integrated within a real shopping environment as a
supporting shopping guide (see the case of Ikea
mobile catalogue), etc..
3 UBIQUITOUS STORE
Similarly to e-store and m-store, another trend based
on the diffusion of high connectivity is related to the
integration of ubiquitous computing in retail settings
for creating a new ubiquitous scenario for shopping:
the u-store.
In particular, ubiquitous computing enables (i)
the automatic identification and communication
among objects and mobiles, (ii) the ubiquitous
access to the data available within the network, and
(iii) the secure transfer of information (i.e. for
contactless payments).
Main limits of m-store are related to the mobile
technical characteristics such as memorization and
computing capacity (Hejazinia and Razzazi, 2010;
Yang and Kim, 2012). In opposite, in a u-store, the
integration between consumer own mobile and the
technological environment makes possible to
overcome these limits by shifting the computing
capacity to the ubiquitous system (Hejazinia and
Razzazi, 2010; Yang and Kim, 2012).
The functioning of this system is as follows:
- each product is associated with a QR code (a
sort of bidimensional barcode that memorizes
information to be read by a mobile camera);
- consumer accesses the product by focusing
mobile camera on the QR code and visualize the
related information;
- consumer might choose to buy and create his
virtual basket;
- if consumer want to buy, the system transmits
the information to the center that calls consumers to
proceed with the order and the payment;
- all the purchases are delivered directly at home.
Since u-store is based on the virtual reconstruction
of the products (the product displayed are virtual), it
can be easily adapted for a wide range of products,
by changing the code, modifying the image of each
product and updating the data repositories.
Therefore, an u-store merges the advantages of e-
store and m-store (i.e. a wider amount of products,
fast response to consumers’ requests, open 24/7,
possibility to fast visualize and compare a huge
number of items, etc.) and the ones of the physical
store (i.e. the possibility to visualize the products
with the real size, and have a more realistic
experience), by offering an alternative to the both
shopping environments.
For these reasons, u-store is increasing diffusion
around the world, especially for groceries, by
meeting the needs of that part of population whit
limited time for shopping food and beverage. The
idea to place these stores at the bus/metro stops,
support shopping of daily food that consumers need
to buy frequently but have not time to do. For
instance, Homeplus app developed by Tesco
supermarket allows buying through the “Tesco
virtual stores”, virtually located on walls of metro
stations and bus stops. Similarly, Sorli Virtual
proposed a u-store at the metro stop Sarrià in
Barcellona (Spain) (Figure 1).
From a managerial point of view, due to the low
costs of information sharing, ubiquitous computing
is able to increase the number of transactions by
supporting the delivery of customized services and
complementary products (Pantano, 2013), and to
PlacelessStoreorUbiquitousStores?-NewTechnologicalFrontiersinRetailing
175
Figure 1. An example of ubiquitous store: Sorli Virtual in
Barcelona (Spain).
further provide updated data on each consumer
accessing the service, which can be exploited for the
development of marketing strategies.
From a customer point of view, ubiquitous
computing modifies the purchasing process, in terms
of product searching, product displaying,
information accessing, payment modalities, and
vendor-client relationships (Pantano 2013; Pantano
and Timmermans, 2014).
4 DISCUSSIONS
Our paper investigated the extent to which advanced
technologies create 3 new shopping environments
that represent a breakthrough with the traditional
points of sale: e-, m- and u-store.
Table 1 summarizes the main features of the e-,
m- and u-store to emphasize the effects of new
technologies within retail settings.
As emerging from table 1, the main differences
among the new stores based on the advanced
technology rely on the product presentation and on
the convenience.
Concerning product displaying, it is accessed by
a desktop computer, while the m-store is accessed by
a mobile device that usually has a small interface. In
opposite, u-store provides a larger surface for
visualizing the products, i.e. walls of metro stops.
Concerning the convenience, all the stores require an
internet connection. While e-store is accessed
through a desktop computer and m-store from
mobile, u-store can be accessed only from the
specific area where the new point of sale is located,
thus it overcomes the boundaries related to the
traditional stores opening hours, but not the physical
boundaries (even if it enlarges these margins).
Table 1: Comparison among e-, m- and u-store.
e-store m-store u-store
Physical
facilities
Flexible flexible flexible
Product
presentation
3D
graphics
and
interaction
with
products
related to
the quality
of
computer
interface
3D
graphics
and
interaction
with
products
related to
the quality
of mobile
interface
and usage
of
augmented
reality
tools for a
more
realistic
display
(i.e. Ikea
virtual
catalogue)
3D
graphics,
large
surface for
displaying
(i.e. walls
of metro
stops)
Service
Enhanced
services
Enhanced
services,
Enhanced
services,
integration
with real
scenario
Convenience
accessible
anytime
(24/7) and
anywhere
when an
desktop
internet
connection
is
available
accessible
anytime
(24/7) and
anywhere
when an
internet
connection
is
available
accessible
anytime
(24/7)
within the
specific
areas
offering the
service
(usually
metro/bus
stops)
As anticipated, the particular location of u-store is
able to stimulate consumers’ interest towards the
purchase of those products that are often purchased
but require time. It is especially evident in the
groceries, where this kind of store allow easily and
fast buy milk, breads, fruits, etc..
Although the current examples of u-store are
mainly devoted to the food and beverage industry,
its flexibility allows adapting to other sectors such as
the fashion industry, which would achieve benefits
from the integration of ubiquitous technologies and
virtual fit systems.
Our paper underlines the current trend in
retailing towards a new kind of store more based on
the technology. Figure 2 summarizes these findings,
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176
by put emphasis on the extent to which the higher
integration with the technology implies the lower
store spatial dimensions.
Figure 2: Current trend in retailing: from (large) traditional
points of sale to placeless stores.
Summarizing, the emerging trend consists on a
decreasing of required store spatial dimension with
the progresses in technology. In fact, the current
actual studies emphasize an exploitation of mobile
and high connectivity technology for innovating in
retailing, while excluding the usage of large fixed
technologies for supporting shopping (Pantano,
2014; Pantano and Timmermans, 2014).
5 CONCLUSIONS
Our paper provides an overview of the current trend
in retailing, which is characterized by the innovation
force pushing to a new concept of store, where
technology is more integrated and the boundaries of
physical stores are overcome, a sort of “placeless” or
ubiquitous store: a store distributed though the
technologies and not limited to a physical limited
environment. Although the substitution of traditional
store with the technological ones actually seems
quite unrealistic, in the future retailers will need to
compete also with this force, and redesign the
shopping experience within the physical store for
maintaining existing consumers. Moreover, this
study is explorative in nature, thus it would solicit
new researches providing quantitative data on the
both consumers and retailers standpoints.
Finally, some considerations can be outlined
concerning in-store consumers behaviour. Although
consumers require new shopping experiences
(Pantano, 2014), retailers preparedness towards the
innovative force in terms of practices for managing
the innovations, technology absorptive capacity,
development of ah-hoc capabilities is still under
investigated. Future researches may investigate this
trend, by focusing on the technological innovation
among retailers, and the development of new
frameworks for supporting retailers in successfully
competing in the innovative scenario.
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