History suggests over and over again that science fails to progress or change the world as much as our imaginations foresee it will. For every two steps forward, we take one step back into the nostalgic folds of the familiar.

It is not that we are afraid, but because a high percentage of futuristic expectation ends up in the cul-de-sac of laughability. The more humanity embraces technology, the greater the hankering for human interaction and the calming influences of the natural world.

Retail is no different. Each day we are inundated by wishful hearsay of where retail is headed and woe betide the companies who don’t embrace the cyber ethos. Of course, technology is fundamental in furthering the retail experience, but shouldn’t the focus be on improving support services, such as logistics, to improve availability and value for money? Thus, freeing up resources for the sales floor and improved human communication.

There is already a public reluctance of forced technological involvement and a burgeoning suspicion of corporate motivation and agenda. Who wants to be profiled on mysterious databases and subjected to preconceptions of what we want or like based on electronic records of behaviour, gender, creed or culture? Does the public want to be served by robots, holograms and contraptions?

The arming of front line sales teams with gadgets does nothing to improve services. Don’t use technology to search and then inform customers that an item they want out of stock. Rather, use the technology to ensure full availability so the client isn’t inconvenienced, at the same time having faith in human contact for effective placation and safeguarding satisfaction.

Retail is not just about selling, but also about providing entertainment – a day out for the family, youngster or individual. We partake and succumb to impulse because of how it makes us feel, often purchasing what we don’t need, or even want. Shopping is a social event and any retailer who fails to identify what it is their punters are looking for will fail – hi-tech gizmos and all.

The future lies with the customer, human beings, who will decide where and how they spend their money. By contrast, the role of the retailer is to identify trends and translate them in line with our respective customer bases while ensuring we leave innovation to the avant-garde and looking into the future to crystal ball gazers.

Cars don’t fly, we don’t live on the moon and time travel isn’t possible – for good reason, and a fair dash of common sense.

Dave Farrell is a retailer with three decades of experience on three continents. He can be reached at [email protected].

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