Data supremacy in physical retail 2025 – the next battlefield for retail

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 lies one of the biggest untapped opportunities in retail. In many segments, only 20–60% of visitors convert to purchases, 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.

With the mother technology becomes the store a new data source. GDPR-secure digital footfall counters can now measure gender, age and how long customers stay. This creates new opportunities to build data superiority in brick-and-mortar 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 obsessed with data as e-commerce already is. Then the store can evolve from a traditional sales area 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.