In “Dumb and Dumber,” one of the continually top-ranked comedy films on IMDb, there’s a scene in which Lloyd explains to Mary that he and Harry are saving up money to open their own pet store. “I Got Worms!” Lloyd explains jubilantly, upon which Mary exclaims, rightfully so, “I beg your pardon?” She doesn’t understand that I Got Worms! is the name of the store. And, yes, they’re planning to sell worms.

Whether this type of pet store is the best idea since sliced bread we never get to find out. But it points out that we continue to expect retail to be a hotbed of new ideas and new variations on existing services.

Focus on the experiences that matter

In a previous blog, I talked about how Swedish grocer ICA-Roslagstull used immersive technology to delight its customers and improve their shopping experience. And in partnering with Avanade, ICA-Roslagstull also realized there was an opportunity to help its teams become more efficient through a stronger focus on the customer experiences that matter.

As demonstrated by ICA-Roslagstull and other retailers, the physical store continues to serve many purposes. Apart from being an experiential center where we as customers can use all of our senses to engage with products, the physical store can also serve as a source of inspiration. Furthermore, stores that hold inventory can function as micro-fulfillment centers, offering up endless aisle destinations that connect online and physical to enable curbside pickup and last-mile delivery options. In addition, the physical store can serve as the “phygital” bridge that allows for a virtual human-to-human curated exchange of knowledge and inspiration, adding to the frictionless buying experience.

In other words, the physical store remains at the heart of retail. And, if anything, that heart now needs to be even bigger than before because the store and its employees are expected to do even more. To power this heart, retailers need to further their ability to unlock value at scale. We call this the “intelligent store.”

An intelligent store offers a reimagined experience

An intelligent store is not the store of the future. It needs to be the store of today, tomorrow, next week or next month. The intelligent store offers a reimagined experience where retailers can be as multifaceted as shoppers themselves, serving up capabilities that meet constantly evolving customer and employee expectations.

That’s why we’ve developed Avanade’s Intelligent Store, a framework that enables retailers to combine the efforts of coordinated systems to unlock scaled value, as opposed to implementing technologies that work in isolation to solve singular problems. Because ultimately you don’t need to prove the technology. You need to prove that fixing real customer problems will lead to value for customers, employees and retailers alike.

Retailers are at an inflection point. As customers return to stores, they’re doing so with heightened expectations for convenience, personalization and experiences. That’s why it’s important to bring this reimagined store to life now.

To learn more about Avanade’s Intelligent Store, please download our whitepaper, co-authored with Microsoft, or contact your local Avanade representative to schedule a one-on-one introductory session to better understand how Avanade and Microsoft can help meet tomorrow’s opportunities today.