Connected, segmented, cross-channeled, omni-channeled, seamless, automated and optimized. Whatever the adjective,whatever the angle, all of these seem to boil down to the one meta-buzzword of our epoch: Customer Experience (CX). It might be tempting to dismissit as
hype. But the quest for CX is reshaping the multi-billion industry that is retail. It is also threatening millions of jobs, as employees of insolvent giant chains sadly learn almost on a daily basis.
Sales are analyzed, broken up and reassembled; the customer is depicted from a multitude of angles. Digitalization is just like Cubism. The early-20th-century art movement pushed European painting and sculpture in one dramatic leap into the 20th century. Cubism was to impressionism what digitalization is to retail: a tool for fully exploring a customer, and catering to the multitude. It deconstructs and redefines. Amazon and Alibaba are the industry’s canvasses. CX is a visit to the gallery.
Source : Allianz