Study: Retailers plan personalized, real-time in-store experience

Boston – The in-store customer experience is going to get a lot more personalized and timely. According to a new special report by Boston Retail Partners (BRP), “Real-time Retail – The New Retail Imperative,” by 2020 nearly two-thirds of retailers will identify a customer when they walk in the store via their smartphone. In addition, 76% of retailers plan to provide suggested selling based on a customer’s previous purchases within three years.



Other key findings gathered from recent BRP surveys include:

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  83% of the respondents plan to offer promotions based on the customer’s geographic proximity within five years.


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  91% of the respondents plan to have real-time inventory available at the POS within three years.


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  95% of retailers plan to implement real-time analytics within five years.

“Customers are forcing a fundamental reshaping of retail by demanding a seamless convergence of the in-store and digital experiences,” said Ken Morris, principal, Boston Retail Partners. “Successful retailers realize they can no longer divide that experience among separate channels and must work towards a holistic shopping experience that transcends channels and offers contextual guided selling and promotions – in real-time. It is promising to see that nearly 50% of the retailers indicated that real-time retail was one of their top three priorities (BRP POS Survey).”