5Qs for Carla Ferber on how tech will drive post-pandemic retail

Owners and operators of shopping malls and outdoor centers have never been known as early adopters of technology, but that most certainly is going to change in the post-pandemic era. Where should they be focusing their efforts? We asked Carla Ferber, the global VP of communications for Stefanini, a Brazil-based tech consultant that serves the retail industry in 41 different countries. She told us it won’t be mall managers controlling social distancing, but robots and drones.

Carla, nearly every developer I've spoken with about the pandemic feels that modern physical retail needs to ramp up its tech capabilities to survive. What do center owners need to focus on?
In order to survive, you need to learn how physical and virtual retail work together. One place we’re likely to see that happening post-pandemic is in the area of non-contact. When I’m in a store, I want to see and try on everything, but I don’t have to actually try anything on. I will have an app in my phone that will scan my body, and I’ll select an outfit, and it will show me how I’ll look. It’s something that works both in-store and online.

What other health precautions—perhaps outside COVID-10 concerns--will mall owners need to consider?
Terminal scanners. You have to clinically scan people coming into centers and sterilize them. You’ll need a disinfector for rails on the escalator. It all has to be automated. Centers will use the Internet of Things and artificial intelligence to measure the density and fluctuation of traffic in order to monitor social distancing. You have to prevent, predict, and control and, in the near future, it will be robots and drones that will be doing a lot of the controlling.

In what ways can technology elevate an in-store shopping experience?
Payment has to be contactless. That’s one of the things that will be very important. Another very important thing is to reach out to me on my phone with things relevant to me, but not violate my privacy. I don’t want to get communications about things I don’t want. Seventy to 75 percent of people are okay with releasing their data, but only to companies they want to interact with. And brands can do this successfully if they make the best use of AI and make contact at the correct moments. All we hear about is data, data, data, but the most important part of it is the analytics.

Mobile phones have become traffic-data goldmines for center owners. What more can apps do for stores in the center?
Your phone is going to be your personal AI portal. Your lipstick has a sensor and will send an alert to your phone and let you know you need to replace it. AI analyzes the data and provides the store with valuable information.

But will every retail brand and every shopping center be able to set up artificial intelligence networks that can compete with Amazon?
They all need to reinvent, and partnerships are going to be how they do it. Ikea has a partnership with Alibaba. And now, after only three months of COVID-19, more than 10 different AI platforms have come online really fast. Shopify is already huge in this. You don’t need to partner with Alibaba or Amazon. The big ones need the small ones — the startups, the faster ones with the cash. And because the focus now is on everything local, the mall near me has become way more important. It’s no longer the mall near my house; it’s my mall.