Ipsos News | Alick Zhou Interpreted the Development Trends and Opportunities of New Retail at “AI Empower the Retail Scene” Forum

President of Ipsos China

According to Mr. Zhou, the National Bureau of Statistics data showed that although China’s online retail sales continued to grow, the growth rate nationwide had declined for three consecutive years. The traffic dividend brought by the Internet has shrunk, and the “ceiling” of e-commerce emerged. Meanwhile, e-commerce has encountered such problems as insurmountable user experience gap, high e-commerce marketing costs and logistics costs.

Then how to break through the encirclement of the increasingly difficult living environment, stand on the heels and achieve sustained growth? In view of this, Mr. Zhou elaborated on the development trends and opportunities of new retail under the context of AI. First of all, to be consumer-centric, and sell what they need, love, and seek after. To realize the reverse growth of C2B is one of the key development trends of new retail in the future. To this end, it is essential to know what consumers want, and to examine and probe into consumer portraits and their potential needs. Besides, for the high e-commerce operating costs and the user experience gap that e-commerce can't make up, new retail needs to restructure the supply chain, optimize inventory, reduce costs and enhance the experience. However, the development of new retail does not mean the decline of traditional channels. Despite its rapid growth in 1st and 2nd -tier cities, its penetration in lower-tier cities is limited and traditional channels remain the first choice for consumers in lower-tier cities.

The new retail emphasizes data + online + offline + logistics, and in the future, it must optimize the entire chain from "people – goods - scene". AI empowerment is reflected in all aspects of the chain, from efficient data collection methods to accurate insight into consumer needs, customer experience optimization to efficient inventory management, and detailed and intensive work such as monitoring consumer behavior and habits via eye movement recognition, detecting consumer sentiment via face recognition, “smile to pay,” UAV tally, robot shopping guide, AR/VR clothing try-on, etc. can be a major development opportunity for new retail in the future.

The event went on smoothly in a heated atmosphere, when attendees in charge of enterprises from the new retail, FMCG brands, AI industries, and industry experts exchanged on the application and development of AI in new retail, FMCG and other fields, and explored the development trends, involvement and application of AI in new retail.

It is an irresistible trend for the integration of new retail online and offline, the dual-drive business mode of technology and data, and AI empowerment. It means more opportunities and challenges, and is also a compulsory course for related companies to stand out from the new retail industry.