The Journey of Life from A to Z: A collection of experiences and ideas

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Simply enter a word or phrase. Common words, such as "and", "is", and "the", also known as noise words , are bypassed in a search. Living Stream Ministry publishes the works of Watchman Nee and Witness Lee, providing the authoritative and definitive collections of treasures from these two servants of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The writings of Watchman Nee and Witness Lee focus on the enjoyment of the divine life, which all the believers possess, and on the building up of the church, the goal of God's work with man in this age. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited. Contact Us Sitemap Copyright Policy. Common words, such as "and", "is", "but", and "the", also known as noise words, are bypassed in a search.

The following is a list of noise words:. Rank is a value from 0 to indicating how closely a match scored or ranked against the original search string. Rank values are affected by the following factors:. This option breaks out the search string into its individual words and generates all conjugations and declensions for each word in the search phrase.

A search on the word, dwell, would search for dwell, dwelling, dwelling's, dwells, dwelt, and dwelled. This option searches for exact matches of the specified words or phrases used in the search string. A list of all noise words is as follows:. The evolution of retail has created a chasm between the online and offline experience. Shopping in-store and online with the same retailer can feel a totally different brand experience. The transactional nature of online has created a consumer expectation of ultra-convenience, which is often not reflected when the consumer visits a store.

Meanwhile, shopping online can feel an impersonal experience devoid of brand equity. Their belief in the power of the retail store appears well founded. The IBM Customer Experience Survey found the sophistication of the digitally integrated in-store experience is rated adequate or worse for the vast majority 91 percent of brands.

How retail marketers are transforming tomorrow's shopper experience

I think it has to be the case the retail store is shifting and it is going to be experience and technology-led," says Levene. Nathan Watts, creative director at retail and brand consultancy Fitch, says retailers are starting to "gamify" their stores by "blurring the lines between retail and experience to make that a more fun experience". The retail store will change for sure but the need and want for human interaction is still really apparent.

Fitch is a believer in the "smaller human rituals" that delight customers and make them feel like honoured guests. This refocus is needed because some are prone to forgetting the retail basics and expect retail technology will fill the gaps, according to Watts.

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Rather than detracting from a personal in-store experience, technology can add to it if handled correctly. Technology and data offers the possibility of extending "clientelling", the practice of sales assistants establishing long-tem relationships with key customers, beyond just the luxury sector. In a way it is weird because it is just returning retail to what it used to be — going to your local store and them knowing who you are. Drinkwater says the best implementations of in-store tech should "hide and disappear" and avoid adding another layer to the consumer experience.

This is exactly what Amazon is attempting to do with its Amazon Go checkout-free store concept, which uses sensors to record the items customers pick up and then charges them to their Amazon Prime account. Boundaries within retail marketing are blurring all the time to create a multi-layered shopping ecosystem. One area this is most evident is the increasing amalgamation of retail and social. The social media sites have been quick to recognise this and are now introducing "shoppable" functionality to their websites.

Social media is allowing some retailers to punch above their weight and disrupt the dominant players in the market by innovating in the area of discovery. Retailers are even going as far as creating their own social media networks. Primrose social network has been set up as a means to allow users to "share their garden" with other enthusiasts. The site is currently in beta but the idea is users will eventually be able to buy product from within the platform.

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Bhattacharya believes two key areas for the future of retail evolution are augmented reality and voice. Numerous powerful use cases of the technology are already on show such as Charlotte Tilbury allowing customers to virtually "try-on" numerous make-up looks through an AR-powered digital mirror. When it comes to voice, Amazon is once again blazing a trail with Echo and Alexa. Amazon director of international ad sales Dan Wright told delegates at Dmexco that voice technology "will open up a green field for innovation and creativity".

The technology is destined to revolutionise search marketing. Joint Microsoft and iProspect research forecasts half of all search queries by will be carried out through voice. While innovations including voice and chatbots are exciting prospects for retailers in themselves, it is artificial intelligence that is stitching them all together.

McCormick predicts the prospect of shopping in a virtual environment is not far off. The technology is already being used on a business-to-business basis to help retailers with their visual merchandising. The natural next step is to extend it to allow the consumer to shop. As is always the case, how these technologies are most effectively implemented must come back to the needs of the customer.

Retail is evolving faster than ever and customer expectations are off-the scale, but fortunately for retailers technology is at hand to ease the transition. We always think about the ideal method — digital or otherwise — to immerse our customers in the world of Kate Spade. Maintaining a strong purpose and keeping a laser-like focus on remaining relevant and serving customer needs is imperative for a retailer to flourish.

New technology can and should play an assistive role in this process and either disappear into the background or delight the consumer.

Beyond omnichannel

Meanwhile, brick-and-mortar stores still clearly have a key role to play despite previous predictions of their downfall because in an increasingly digital world customers are still yearning for the human touch. Retail faces its fair sh are of challenges but for those with the right approach the future should hold tremendous excitement for them and, more importantly, their customers.

Personalisation of products is about to hit an unprecedented scale due to robotics and 3D printing. Drinkwater believes technology advances will allow the instant production of consumer products to order.

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Shopping used to require a great deal of effort from the consumer to find the perfect product. However, now all the heavy-lifting can be done by retailers.

Advances in machine learning are allowing retailers to sift out the noise and create a complex picture of the customer through big data. King of convenience Amazon has driven this trend and it is influencing every single touchpoint. Customer expectations have been raised sky high by online retail and this is now filtering through to all aspects of retail.

Amazon is now bringing convenience to the physical environment with its checkout-free store format Amazon Go. Start-ups are also tapping into this trend.

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