Frankly, shoppers just don't seem to give shopping tech a damn: "Leave me alone"

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Survey: People Don’t Really Want Fancy Technology To Help Them Shop
While retailers are falling all over themselves trying to incorporate the latest and greatest retail technology - anything from smart mirrors in fitting rooms to robots that answer questions you’d ask store employees - frankly, shoppers just don’t seem to give a damn.

Basically, shoppers just want to get what they want as quickly and easily as possible. And although stores might be excited about their latest gadgets and gizmos, Maya Mikhailov, a co-founder of GPShopper told Bloomberg, “but consumers aren’t necessarily as eager as they are.”

Chatbots fared particularly poorly, Mikhailov says, mostly because talking to robots is still not as natural as talking with a live human about what you want.

Stores are spending lots of time and money trying out new, fancy technologies like touchscreen mirrors in changing rooms and robo-assistants out in the racks to get consumers to buy more.

Shoppers couldn’t care less.

Lowe's Cos., the home improvement store, has a "Holoroom" that lets customers design spaces with virtual reality goggles. Nordstrom Inc. has a chatbot, an automated substitute for a human store assistant, meant to provide shoppers (both online and in-store) with gift ideas during the holidays. Rebecca Minkoff LLC, the women's clothing retailer, has futuristic walls and mirrors that you can interact with - all in a bid to facilitate the shopping experience. All novel approaches, sure, but most of aren’t catching on, according to a study by mobile commerce and analytics firm GPShopper and market researcher YouGov.

There’s a disconnect between stores and shoppers over tech. Maya Mikhailov, a co-founder of GPShopper, works on commerce tools for stores including Crate & Barrel, Lane Bryant Inc., and Foot Locker Inc. She explained that, while retailers fawn over the latest glitzy gadget, hoping it’ll catch on as the next big thing, people just want to buy stuff as quickly and easily as possible.

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Photo courtesy TORONTO STAR