Introduction

After the wave of digital transformation, what’s next? The rapid growth of e-commerce has made it easier for customers to shop globally, but it’s also made it tougher for brands to stand out. As we enter the Industry 4.0 era, where AI anticipates our needs and immersive technologies create new engagement opportunities, focusing on the human experience (HX) can set you apart. To tackle this crucial moment in retail, BigCommerce and FS have created a guide to innovation at the intersection of cultural trends, technology, and consumer values.

This playbook addresses one crucial question: How can you design more desirable and responsive shopping experiences without losing sight of the human at the center?

By considering the overall context, available tools, and individual layers, retailers can build unforgettable experiences that transform us.

Bridging Realities

With more connected devices creating new sales points and immersive technologies blurring the lines between digital and physical, we explore the best practices and innovations for omnichannel experiences that prioritize customers over mediums.

Topics covered:

• Enhanced immersion
• Continuous experience
• Intuitive interactions

Enhanced Immersion

The pandemic accelerated advancements in VR and AR, changing how we interact with digital experiences. The metaverse, while less trendy, still offers valuable insights into merging digital and physical spaces to enhance immersion. Telepresence, or the feeling of “realness” in digital environments, will be crucial for retailers as these lines blur. Embracing this convergence can lead to creative engagement and design integrations, including:

• Interactive 3D: Essential for telepresence, 3D assets enable augmented reality try-ons and virtual environments. These assets, especially in fashion and home markets, can reduce returns by up to 35% and be leveraged for marketing and AI applications.
• Scrollytelling: Websites use dynamic features inspired by the metaverse, like multi-directional interfaces and parallax, to create depth. Examples include Longines’ aviation-inspired journey and Moooi’s multi-layered furniture showcase.
• Unlocking community: 3D assets can foster meaningful engagement, as seen in gaming. Digital avatars can enhance customer service and self-expression, like Elynxir’s AI-driven music companion for discovering and trading music.

Continuous Experience

New commerce channels and interfaces, such as social media, smart TVs, connected cars, and QR codes, offer opportunities to create seamless end-to-end journeys across multiple devices. Retailers should embrace these touchpoints to connect initial inspiration to final sales. Examples include starting a Netflix show on TV and continuing on a mobile device. However, this often relies on traditional account sign-ons, which can add friction. Emerging technologies like biometrics and decentralized digital identities (DDID) can facilitate seamless, continuous journeys through the commerce landscape.

Intuitive Interactions

The rise of mobile phones and connected devices has expanded user interaction options beyond physical touchpoints into the spatial web. Retailers face the challenge of creating seamless, interconnected experiences within this ambient commerce. Key developments include:

• Motion-based interactions: AI computer vision is tracking product interactions in stores. Technologies like Samsung’s palm selfies and Google’s facial gesture controls for Android 12 and Project Gameface are just the beginning.
• Voice interactions: Voice assistance systems can help users with motor disabilities. As smart speaker ownership and usage increase, voice user interfaces (VUI) are evolving to interpret accents, and speech impairments, support multiple languages, and provide multimodal translations.

• Introduction
• Addressing this pivotal inflection point as we head on the fast track to Industry
• Bridging Realities
• The new best practices for creating a seamless cross-channel experience from physical to digital — and the spaces in between.
• A Holistic Path to Purchase
• Examining the mechanisms that propel customers towards the finish line, such as filtering options, visualization aids, and checkout.
• Connecting Emotionally
• From visual design to content, addressing those elements that provide a direct line to user emotions.
• Closing Thoughts
• In dealing with the constancy of change.

Number of Pages:

• 24 pages

Pricing: 

• Free