Tech Bytes: Three Reasons Consumer Behavior Lags Behind Technology Innovation
New technology innovations pop up in retail all the time. The Amazon Dash button made a splash on April Fools Day, and before the end of the month Apple Watch will offer consumers a whole new way to engage retailers.
Every time a new retail technology innovation rears its head, pundits proclaim that the whole consumer-retailer relationship will be instantly re-invented. And the relationship between consumers and retailers has changed dramatically since the introduction of e-commerce 20 years ago.
But that change has been gradual, not sudden, as evidenced by the continuing supremacy of the store. Here are three reasons why consumer behavior typically lags technology innovation.
There’s Too Much to Keep Up With
New ways for customers to engage with retailers are presenting themselves all the time. The typical harried consumer does not have time to actively investigate every opportunity to streamline, personalize or increase the value of their shopping experience.
In addition, many consumers may not realize that new technologies have a retail component. Despite heavy overall consumer adoption rates of social media, social retailing is growing at a slow pace. Consumers are simply not recognizing the retail potential of social media at a rate retailers would like.
In many instances, consumers are content to let early technology adopters have first crack at new retail IT innovations and wait for solutions to organically grow to mainstream acceptance. The initially slow and then rapid growth pattern of mobile commerce is a perfect example of this phenomenon. And this leads to the second obstacle.
Innovation Isn’t Perfect
The typical early adopter is a tech-savvy individual who prides themselves on knowing how technology is “supposed” to work. They are genuinely delighted by improvements, but also genuinely offended by glitches. And new, innovative technologies often come with a lot of glitches.
To continue the example of slow mobile commerce adoption from above, one reason it took a while for mobile commerce to gain acceptance with early adopters and infiltrate the mainstream is that early m-commerce sites were mostly terrible. Retailers hadn’t yet figured out to design mobile sites that were optimized for smaller screen sites or unique mobile capabilities.
Once retailers mastered the art of mobile development, mobile commerce adoption took off. New technologies and customer experiences usually undergo some growing pains, and the average consumer would rather sit out those awkward years and wait for the mature version to emerge.
Sometimes Innovation Fails
Up until a couple of years ago, “wearable” technology meant eyewear- or headset-based connected devices, as exemplified by Google Glass. It’s no secret that Google Glass failed, with consumers finding it awkward and creepy enough that Google quietly discontinued support. Going back further, remember when Segway scooters were supposed to change how people traveled?
Consumer behavior also lags innovation because sometimes innovation simply fails. Behavior may not have a chance to adapt to the new technology before it proves itself unsuitable. Failed innovation may return in a modified form, and advances in augmented reality and form factor may yet make headset-based connectivity commonplace. But before declaring a new technology innovation a success, retailers first must give it a chance to fail.