Thanks to new and emerging technologies, ‘dead’ time is a thing of the past. The ability to fit small tasks in amongst others to the micro level has never been easier thanks to devices like the Apple Watch.
The Apple Watch is more convenient than other technologies and saves time incrementally – and that’s the value, or utility, of the device. A point some critics seem to be missing.
This approach to incremental value through saving time and adding convenience can be also applied to online shopping. Amazon is exploring this approach with both the Amazon Dash and the Amazon Echo.
The Echo
The Echo is what’s being called an ‘ambient computer’, a tower that sits in your living room. You talk to it, like Siri, and ask it general knowledge questions or for the weather forecast. Soon, you’ll be able to directly order products from Amazon on it too – no typing required. It’s computing without any physical interaction.
The Dash
The Dash is a small stick on trial in the US that allows you to scan a product and add it to your Amazon shopping cart. This means if you run out of a grocery item at home, you can re-add it to your shopping cart right there and then without having to remember to buy it later. Similar technology could also be used in-store to keep a tally of the cost of your shopping cart as you walk round the aisles, automatically creating an online shopping profile and shopping lists for you.
The Echo and Dash are both examples of what I call “smoothing the path to purchase” – making things easier and more convenient for shoppers and consumers by removing the road-bumps caused by technology.
So, how do other brands take inspiration from Apple and Amazon and add value to their shoppers and consumers?
The clearest example of the Apple Watch’s incremental utility – or value – is in two key areas: convenience and time saving. Perhaps the best example of this is the use of the Uber app on the watch. Via the watch screen you can check waiting times and track progress through accurate GPS of your location – you can even chose to see the driver’s face, but that’s optional.
The Uber app experience on the Apple Watch is the ultimate example of convenience. So how do you replicate this into a grocery app? There is a range of ways: reminders to check your shopping list; the option for items to be arranged into meals ideas; suggestions for tweaks to your usual meals to introduce a little variety; offers to direct you to where the items are on shelf; personalised discounts; and the option to tap your Apple Watch against a till to pay – funded through your Apple account – would all be a start.
The process above does have some technological road-bumps, but the number of ways value is added incrementally makes up for that, making for a smoother path to purchase.
As digital begins to fragment across channels and new technology comes in to play, a one size fits all approach will become increasingly less feasible. Brand and retailer integrated solutions will require looking at technology such as Amazon Echo or Apple Watch to add incremental value to people’s lives.
By Viv Craske, head of digital at Live & Breathe.
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