Data supremacy in physical retail by 2025 will be the next battlefield for retailers. In many industries today, people are talking about data superiority – that the player with the most and best data wins. But in physical retail, they have historically lagged behind e-commerceOnline, you have been able to measure everything – traffic, conversion, A/B tests and dwell time – while physical stores have long lacked this capacity.

“We have known a lot about the customers who converted to purchases, but almost nothing about all those who did not convert. Look, look. Don't buy. is a term that is often used,” says Michael Lemner, retail strategist and new to BizLabs board.

Here is one of the greatest untapped opportunities in tradeIn many segments only convert 20–60% of visitors to purchase, continues Tanja Cronqvist at BizLabThe exception is grocery retail, where the conversion rate is close to 100 %. This shows that more than half of customers leave stores without making a purchase – and without leaving any digital footprint.

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With the mother technology becomes the store a new data source. GDPR-safe digital visitor counters can now measure gender, age and how long customers stay. This creates new opportunities to building data superiority in physical retail 2025.

“If you connect this to retail media, the store can become a media house and sell to target groups instead of share of voice,” continues Tanya.

Retailers who succeed in building data supremacy in physical retail by 2025 gains a decisive advantage. However, it requires a shift in mindset – from nice to have to need to have.

“Physical retail must become as data-obsessed as e-commerce already is. Then the store can evolve from a traditional sales floor to a data-driven media platform and create new revenue in an industry with squeezed margins,” says Michael Lemner.

Termination

The question is: which retailers will be the first to capitalize on the full value of the store and build real data supremacy in physical retail by 2025With over 80% of purchases still taking place in stores, it is a battle for future competitiveness.