鈥淥ur AR platform gives consumers and companies personalized virtual shopping and training experiences, expanding the horizon of what AR can do for any brand or company,鈥� said Kanav Singla, founder and CEO of Adloid. 鈥淲e鈥檙e making the benefits of this technology more accessible and contextual to create an immersive experience for customers or employees on an e-commerce Website or within applications, directly from someone鈥檚 mobile device.鈥�

Convenient 鈥楾ry Before You Buy鈥� Shopping

Unlike earlier AR tech that relied on clunky headsets with varied compatibility, Adloid鈥檚 AR platform runs on any smartphone, allowing customers to experience products at scale, in context. Once the online shopper logs in through their phone, the device鈥檚 camera scans their real-world surroundings and virtually mirrors the retailer鈥檚 or manufacturer鈥檚 product.

鈥淧eople can see how a new sofa or chair would fit into their home or apartment with a click of their smartphone,鈥� said Singla. 鈥淐onsumers can virtually try on jewelry, makeup, and other products. Remote workers can see if that laptop, screen, and desk configuration will fit in their home office. It鈥檚 as if the actual products are in front of you.鈥�

He added that manufacturers were interested in using the AR platform within training modules for industrial machinery service technicians, providing them with hands-on learning in a virtual setting.

Immersive Product Discovery Experience

On the consumer side, AR technology is tailor-made for online shoppers who can鈥檛 get enough information about products they might purchase.

鈥淔or someone trying to decide between different car models, AR lets them virtually go inside the trunk to see how much space is in there,鈥� said Singla. 鈥淭hey can open and close the sunroof or try out the controls on the entertainment console, experiencing various car options before going to the showroom.鈥�

Automotive manufacturers are among the startup鈥檚 biggest customers, along with e-commerce platforms of all sizes, retailers with or without brick-and-mortar stores, and manufacturers located in the U.S., Germany, and India.

Augmented Reality Increases Sales

Some customers using Adloid have increased sales conversions from online channels up to 200%. One online retailer tripled the number of online customers who purchased consumer items after using the tool. AR also boosts customer engagement time viewing product images and videos from an average of 30 seconds to a whopping eight minutes.

鈥淚nstead of being limited by a finite number of pre-posted images or videos, AR allows people to interact longer with products in a more personalized way, creating a powerful sales channel that鈥檚 always on at the customer鈥檚 convenience,鈥� said Singla. 鈥淧eople can better understand how a product would fit into their lives, in many cases motivating them to make a purchase decision during that single online session.鈥�

Connected Data for Intelligent Enterprise

Adloid securely anonymizes all customer data and doesn鈥檛 store any personal images or other information once someone ends their AR session. However, organizations can extract valuable insights from the tool鈥檚 analytics.

鈥淎 car might come in six colors, but which ones are customers viewing the most? Companies can see what options people are most interested in, then connect back to inventory management to make sure they can meet market demands,鈥� said Singla.

Indeed, one of Adloid鈥檚 biggest strengths is working with the 麻豆原创 Startup Studio for India, startup accelerator program. Singla said that his team gained validation for product iterations, along with access to 麻豆原创 solutions, including , and the company鈥檚 enterprise customers.

鈥淲orking with a global leader like 麻豆原创 gives our product immediate credibility because we learned what customers were looking for,鈥� he said. 鈥淎dloid is integrated with , , and , helping companies connect data to become intelligent enterprises.

AR Bridges Gap Between E-Commerce and CX

Singla鈥檚 entrepreneurial spirit was initially sparked by his family, all of whom own businesses. He founded his first startup at age 21 during his undergraduate studies in engineering, then saw a major selling gap as e-commerce took off.

鈥淐ompanies went online with their catalogs, but customers couldn鈥檛 more fully experience these products,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 launched Adloid to turn e-commerce into 3D commerce where customers can try out products virtually on their mobile device. We expect AR will provide immersive experiences in more consumer and B2B online sites including fashion, travel and tourism, and large industrial machinery.鈥�

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To make this possible in an easy and simple format, the XR Cloud was developed by 麻豆原创 starting in late 2019 as part of a customer co-innovation project. It is based on the Unity3D platform, which allows XR applications to be built for more than 25 platforms. While Unity developers are experts in designing XR applications, they may lack 麻豆原创 expertise. Therefore, XR Cloud and Unity Integration Toolkit bring these worlds together. Unity developers and XR designers can easily integrate digital twin threads and other 麻豆原创 data into Unity and build an -powered XR application for 麻豆原创 customers, supporting them to run at their best.

Development of XR Cloud

In the business world, extended reality is a topic that has been popular for some time, but the technology could not always fulfill customer expectations.

Now, extended reality is more familiar. XR is the umbrella term for augmented, mixed, and virtual reality, or technology that helps customers visualize business data in new ways. With XR, business data is no longer bound to a computer screen. The data can be connected or 鈥渁ugmented鈥� to the physical, such as a building, an assembly line in a factory, or a machine providing services in the field. Service operations and work instructions can now be better understood and executed by the user, saving time and increasing product quality.

The technology concept of 鈥渟mart assets鈥� was the foundation of this XR venture. The Unity3D platform supports all major XR devices, but also mobile augmented reality (AR) devices.

The smart assets are 3D 鈥� for example, complex CAD drawings 鈥� or 2D objects 鈥� for example, barcode labels, documents, or 麻豆原创 terminals 鈥� that reside in an 麻豆原创 system. Smart assets are considered smart because they contain scripting logic to interact with other smart assets or to retrieve and exchange data in real time to 麻豆原创 systems.

Smart assets are stored in the XR Cloud and open up the world of 麻豆原创 to the world of XR applications. They can be used during design by any third-party application that is written in Unity and can be embedded during the run phase into the third-party application.

The vision is that companies can share their smart assets throughout 麻豆原创 Business Networks. Imagine customers downloading a smart asset from Ariba before they order the physical asset. Following this approach, many validations can be done in advance, such as how the model of an equipment fits into a plan and can be connected to the IT system. Returns of the physical equipment can be avoided and the company鈥檚 carbon footprint is minimized.

Augmenting the Future

Considering the possibilities of the technology, a multitude of use cases are imaginable. At 麻豆原创, we identified two areas where we see the most potential and customer value today: augmented and mixed reality for service, maintenance, and quality inspections of assets.

Operators in a factory or in the field do not need to browse through spare part catalogs or do paperwork anymore. As the smart asset augments digital twin information directly to the physical counterpart, users get 鈥渋n-context鈥� access of real-time enterprise information and transactions.

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Business Process Modeling and Training in Virtual Reality

IT projects that affect many business processes are often challenging. Many stakeholders need to understand the new process and its implications to their domain. To achieve a common understanding of the new business process, on-site workshops are organized and many documents are shared and reviewed. But still, when the IT project goes live, design flaws are discovered, leading to high costs that may even cause production to stop.

Many of these design flaws and misunderstandings can be avoided if virtual reality technology is used in a new way along the journey, through 鈥渧irtual commissioning.鈥� Today, this approach is being used for machines, not yet for business processes. For 鈥渧irtual business process commissioning,鈥� more requirements must be met, such as:

• Simulation of the location where the business process is executed
• Simulation of the IT system to run the business process
• Simulation of the people, tools, machines, and robots connected to the IT system

Here, smart assets can play a major role, as they are able to simulate the IT system as well as tools, machines, and robots to bring the virtual business process very close to the reality.

There is still much to learn about application cases, especially which ones make most sense from a business perspective. But one thing is clear: XR will not see mass adoption just because of the innovative nature of the technology. There must be clear and measurable business value to justify the investment in innovations driven by XR technology. The potential of XR is just starting to be explored. Use cases could be manifold, from collaboration and conferencing, applications in marketing and sales, to completely revolutionizing the way we interact with computers.

BearingPoint Is First Customer On Board

One customer piloting the use of smart assets and virtual reality to introduce new IT processes is BearingPoint. The management and technology consulting company is currently implementing 麻豆原创 S/4HANA for its customers and will showcase the use case of XR Cloud for visualization and virtual process simulation of business processes, working to ensure that the user departments understand the new 麻豆原创 processes. Being a front runner, BearingPoint plans to bring value to its customers by leveraging this technology to reduce implementation effort.

Michael Spiess is the Extended Reality Venture lead at 麻豆原创.

*These materials are not sponsored by or affiliated with Unity Technologies or its affiliates. 鈥淯nity鈥� is a trademark or registered trademark of Unity Technologies or its affiliates in the U.S. and elsewhere.

鈥淎cross the C-suite, there鈥檚 tremendous demand to provide people with the skills and knowledge to support innovation for successful digital transformation,鈥� said Eva Zauke, chief knowledge officer at 麻豆原创. 鈥淲e鈥檙e seeing companies ramp up learning to be well-positioned as economic recovery emerges. What鈥檚 different is that everything has gone digital and organizations need a direct link between learning investments and business impact.鈥�

厂础笔鈥檚 trains millions of 麻豆原创 professionals and business users across customers and partners each year. The learning offerings鈥� recent name change to 麻豆原创 Training and Adoption is the latest evolution and reflects the new corporate learning reality. In an eye-opening conversation, Zauke shared five ways corporate learning is evolving for educators and learners.

Attract Learner Attention and Measure Results

In a recovering and post-pandemic world, power flips from the educator to the learner. We can expect learners to begin where it interests them and proceed at their own pace. To keep these learners engaged, educators need to teach in smaller and more interesting segments with hooks that capture and keep their interest. The objective is to inspire groups of learners to get fired up, explore their own questions, and report back with their findings.

Both educators and learners also need continuous communication to measure the effectiveness of any digital program. For instance, people using learning offerings from 麻豆原创 regularly share feedback about their experiences, allowing educators to adjust content and format for optimal business value. Zauke said that 麻豆原创 also measures the impact of its learning programs based on customer feedback about its effectiveness as well as the customer鈥檚 innovation index.

Community Fosters Learning

Even with an eventual return to some in-person contact, digital enterprise learning elevates the importance of groups. Learners will form virtual groups based on shared interests and skill levels to pose 鈥渟tupid questions鈥� and explore new directions.

鈥淧eople are naturally social,鈥� said Zauke. 鈥淭hey want to ask questions and hear what others are thinking about. That鈥檚 why people come to online learning rooms in 麻豆原创 Learning Hub, where they gain updated product information from experts and participate in moderated discussions with experienced coaches and peers. It鈥檚 a community for exchanging ideas and fostering learning about the latest products and technologies.鈥�

Since the crisis began, 麻豆原创 Learning Hub training course log ins and completions increased by 33 percent. Recent popular topics across the digital learning platform included 麻豆原创 S/4HANA Cloud, with over 22,000 members in that learning room, supply chain resilience using technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT), machine learning, and analytics, as well as how to use the latest tools from 麻豆原创 to manage a company鈥檚 carbon footprint.

Educators Become Coaches

As learners increasingly operate as self-organized, contained groups, a educator鈥檚 role shifts from handing down knowledge to filling gaps and introducing new topics. Self-motivated learners may move too fast, transforming the educator鈥檚 role into providing direction or putting on the brakes during individual and group coaching sessions. The best educators use questions as fuel, guiding learners through the struggle of learning and helping them emerge with hard-won understanding or even more questions.

Learn by Doing

Like everything else in a post-pandemic world, enterprise learning must be faster given the speed of innovation. People will increasingly learn by doing instead of knowing, shedding old skills to gain new and more valuable ones. For example, delivers relevant tutorials to people as they use the company鈥檚 software solutions, including products co-innovated with customers. This kind of in-the-moment training, directly built into most cloud solutions from 麻豆原创, speeds up learning 鈥� not just about 麻豆原创 products, but also customer-specific business processes such as , , and .

Corporate Learning as a Full-Body Experience

In the future, virtual, augmented, and mixed reality headsets 鈥� VR, AR, and MR respectively 鈥� will help corporate learners break away from the tyranny of a flat screen. Educators will stimulate learners鈥� curiosity through storytelling and simulations. Learners could enact situations, such as applying a new technology on the factory floor or in the operating room. VR for education is estimated to be a by 2026.

Reinvent Learning for Business Results

Corporate learning may not fully replicate our favorite binge-worthy entertainment series, but they can inspire educators to develop well-constructed narratives and engagement tools that help entice learners to stay fully engaged. After all, the future of every business depends on innovation.

鈥淭he more skilled and knowledgeable people are about the technologies that run their business, the greater their job satisfaction and productivity,鈥� Zauke said. 鈥淲ith an engaging learning experience, people can innovate faster 鈥� whether it鈥檚 our customers directly or consultants and partners cascading our tools to create learning materials for their customers. All of this learning has significant business results.鈥�

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.

J.C. Penney is the most recent casualty among retail giants, joining Neiman Marcus, Macy鈥檚, and others in filing for bankruptcy. Meanwhile, April retail sales in the U.S. compared with 2019.

Stores in some parts of the U.S. are reopening, but not fully. The number of customers allowed inside stores may be limited, and many people will continue to stay away from non-essential businesses.

To survive the financial fallout, retailers need new ways to stay close to customers virtually.

Here, two startup founders and an 麻豆原创 expert describe how technology can help retailers survive and recover — all while keeping their brands and customer followings intact.

Augmented Reality Brings the Store to Your Home

Co-Founder and CEO Ashley Crowder thinks that 3D and augmented reality (AR) solutions like the ones developed by her company can increase conversion rates for online shopping.

鈥淰ntana makes it easy to take existing manufacturing design files and immediately create 3D and AR experiences proven to more than double conversion rates and reduce returns by 40 percent,鈥� she said.

Vntana works with customers like Shah Jewelry to create virtual versions of products that let customers “try on” items at home. Even before the pandemic, Vntana saw increased conversion from browsers to buyers among companies that provide 3D experiences for customers. For example, Crowder says Ikea experienced a 30 percent increase in revenue when consumers could virtually place products within their home.

Crowder believes AR and virtual reality (VR) technology is here to stay: 鈥�, an AR and VR research publication, did a that said 45 percent of consumers want to try AR/VR shopping. Thirty percent said if that can provide good enough information to make a decision to buy, they would never want to go into a retail store again. So people want this content and they want this option.鈥�

She expects adoption to accelerate because of the coronavirus crisis and points out that the companies that move quickly now will be better positioned for survival and future growth.

Hyperlocal E-Commerce Boosts Bricks and Mortar Retail

Sandeep Bhanote co-founded , a startup that improves shoppers鈥� e-commerce interactions by providing hyperlocal, personalized experiences. Like Crowder, Bhanote is a participant in the accelerator program in New York, which currently supports a cohort of customer experience-focused companies.

Radius8 solves this challenge. E-commerce looks the same no matter where consumers are located, which can result in subpar experiences for online shoppers, particularly if the retailer has many stores across the country.

鈥淥ur technology takes the consumer location and determines their proximity to any one of those stores within that retail chain and dynamically changes the e-commerce experience to reflect where they are,鈥� Bhanote explained.

Bhanote believes that uniting the digital and physical store experience will propel retail to the next level.

Using geospatial data, Radius8 gives consumers a better online experience while also boosting in-store sales by driving people to specific store locations. Bhanote explains that the focal point for integration between virtual and physical stores has been limited to understanding inventory.

鈥淏ut the reality is all these physical stores have all these wonderful things that are happening that almost never get communicated digitally — not even within the radius of that physical store,鈥� he said.

Bhanote said customers — including adidas, Lucky Brand, Snipes USA, Orvis, and Eddie Bauer — already use Radius8 to create great experiences across virtual and physical sites.

Intelligent Enterprise Delivers Unique Experiences and Agility

Matt Laukaitis, executive vice president and global general manager for Consumer Industries at 麻豆原创, believes that maintaining customer intimacy is paramount for retailers.

鈥淚t鈥檚 the ability to continue reinforcing that connection with consumers,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e seeing a lot of innovation from brands large and small, where people are doing creative things with virtual personal stylists and individual video-shopping sessions to give customers a unique experience.鈥�

Whether it鈥檚 an online or traditional brick-and-mortar experience, the winners of the future will maintain brand consistency while increasing customer relevance and loyalty. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 what鈥檚 going to enable them to successfully execute as they reopen stores,鈥� Laukaitis said.

Retailers鈥� agility to respond to the pandemic will make or break them. 鈥淭he companies that will be able to best navigate the crisis are the ones that can be creative and agile operating in the current environment,鈥� he said.

Companies that have already embraced digital transformation and invested in an intelligent enterprise infrastructure will have a leg up on competitors. They have the speed, simplicity, and flexibility required to adapt business models while delivering on consumers expectations.

One thing is for sure: E-commerce is growing quickly. The recent U.S. revenue growth rate for e-commerce was .听 And the crisis has sped up people鈥檚 need for better digital experiences.

Newer technologies like AR and geospatial, combined with a strong digital core and traditional customer experience technologies, will allow retailers to pivot fast and keep customers.

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Listen to the full podcast on or .

The 麻豆原创.iO Foundries program enables startups to develop technologies to help existing businesses go beyond digital manufacturing and seamlessly connect all aspects of an entire company 鈥� from design to operations to sales and service. The program helps 麻豆原创 customers to find and adopt these disruptive technologies.

鈥溌槎乖� is committed to our customers鈥� successes, and innovation and collaboration are key to this commitment,鈥� said Thomas Saueressig, member of the Executive Board of 麻豆原创 SE for 麻豆原创 Product Engineering. 鈥淲e see this program as an important step in accelerating 厂础笔鈥檚 Industry 4.Now initiative with new and innovative solutions, which capture and integrate data into business processes to drive outcomes.鈥�

, part of 厂础笔鈥檚 strategic business unit, is designed to accelerate innovation and drive new business models for 麻豆原创. This zero-equity-ask program provides startups with curated expert support from within and outside of 麻豆原创, exposure to 麻豆原创 technologies, and opportunities to meet and collaborate with 麻豆原创 customers.

The following startups are joining the听麻豆原创.iO Foundry Berlin Spring 2020 program:

• produces software and microclimate monitoring equipment that turn soil and climate information into a management strategy.
• connects shippers to the largest hubs of local carriers in Europe through a new standard road-freight organization.
• saves millions of dollars by optimizing complex product portfolios.
• analyzes satellite data to monitor large-scale infrastructure grids.
• allows everyone, even those without technical experience, to teach robots quickly, easily and inexpensively.
• has developed a very simple and flexible solution to work with augmented reality (AR) and thereby merge digital 3D experiences into any industrial environment.

The accelerator program will conclude with an 麻豆原创.iO Demo Day presentation in the beginning of June.

Visit the . Follow 麻豆原创 on Twitter at and .

Media Contact:
Benjamin Nickel, +49 170 4920616,听benjamin.nickel@sap.com, CET
麻豆原创 麻豆原创 Room; press@sap.com

Any statements contained in this document that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as 鈥渁nticipate,鈥� 鈥渂elieve,鈥� 鈥渆stimate,鈥� 鈥渆xpect,鈥� 鈥渇orecast,鈥� 鈥渋ntend,鈥� 鈥渕ay,鈥� 鈥減lan,鈥� 鈥減roject,鈥� 鈥減redict,鈥� 鈥渟hould鈥� and 鈥渨ill鈥� and similar expressions as they relate to 麻豆原创 are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. 麻豆原创 undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations. The factors that could affect 麻豆原创’s future financial results are discussed more fully in 麻豆原创’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), including 麻豆原创’s most recent Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the SEC. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of their dates.
漏 2020 麻豆原创 SE. All rights reserved.
麻豆原创 and other 麻豆原创 products and services mentioned herein as well as their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of 麻豆原创 SE in Germany and other countries. Please see for additional trademark information and notices.

We can鈥檛 all be superheroes, but fashion lets us become someone else, even if only a little bit. As our clothes and accessories demonstrate, fashion is visual and fun. But it鈥檚 also the interface between us and our world, protecting us while broadcasting who we are and who we want to be.

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In the not-too-distant future, fashion will enhance much more than our appearance. It will monitor our physical and mental well-being and signal our needs in the moment. It will be more assistive, thinking and acting to help us improve our performance in a given environment. It will be more adaptive, made from advanced materials that change their appearance and function according to our requirements and desires. The extreme possibilities could genuinely make us more than we are 鈥� an exciting prospect for those of us who secretly dream of acquiring superpowers!

Before we can reach this future, though, the fashion industry has some urgent catching up to do. Its current business听model听doesn鈥檛听work for听today鈥檚 consumers, who听are rebelling against fashion鈥檚听tradition of pushing听whatever comes off the runway at听them.听Instead, consumers want听what听their favorite social media influencers are wearing. And they want听it fast, with a personalized fit.听Today鈥檚 consumers are also increasingly passionate about sustainability even as the fashion industry听confronts a听waste problem of global proportions.

Facing听the urgent need to modernize its business model and solve its sustainability problem without sacrificing growth, an industry not known for leading the way in technology adoption is suddenly on the verge of听a massive technology makeover.

Advanced Technologies Are the Industry鈥檚 New Look

In its explorations of new technologies, the fashion industry is right on trend. Like virtually every other industry, it is looking at the potential of artificial intelligence (AI), centralized platforms, blockchain, and virtual and augmented reality (VR and AR) 鈥� and it likes what it sees.

For example, manufacturers can鈥檛 afford to waste time and money creating products that听increasingly rebellious听consumers don鈥檛 want. Enter predictive AI, which uses image recognition and machine learning to break products down into collections of data points,听such as听color, pattern, material, and design detail,听so manufacturers can听quickly听听and develop new offerings听fast.

Similarly, producing only enough product to听听allows manufacturers to reduce waste while appealing to customers鈥櫶齞esire for customization, whether that means a tailored fit, a unique color combination, or nonstandard details.听Robots and 3D printers听are making it possible to manufacture anything from shirts to shoes on demand.

The industry is also trying on听VR听and听AR听for size, with mirrors and glasses that let听customers听cycle through multiple items and entire outfits in听shops听without removing their own clothes, as well as听Web听sites that let people听鈥渢ry on鈥澨齝lothing and accessories in their own homes before buying.

And the latest generation of听, with their built-in speakers, video-recording ability, and integration with phones and digital assistants, are both useful and,听well, we won鈥檛 go so far as to call them听fashionable, but they鈥檙e not听hideous.

Improving Accuracy in the Supply Chain

Companies are also starting to explore how听technology can help them tackle their sourcing issues, from choosing vendors听that听can meet both delivery schedules and ethical employment standards to using materials produced more safely, delivered more efficiently, and tracked more closely to prevent loss and theft. Using听specialized听, blockchain, RFID, and other听next-generation听听technology can help the听industry听track products and their component parts.

Digital transparency into the supply chain improves inventory accuracy and availability, prevents counterfeiting, and听鈥撎齣n a nod to consumers鈥櫶齣ncreased interest in the broader societal impact of their purchasing decisions听鈥� creates听greater supply chain transparency. Some fashion companies are already giving听their customers听听about听every step of a product鈥檚 journey,听from the farm where wool for a sweater was sheared to the factory that spun it into yarn听to the actual truck that delivered it to the warehouse or store.

Technology Makes Circularity Stylish in the Fashion Industry

Growth in the fashion industry generates a continuous stream of appealing new products 鈥� and, unfortunately, an equally continuous stream of听.听If the industry doesn鈥檛 change its practices, it will create an听听148 million tons of waste听by 2030, or 38.5 pounds听(17.5 kilograms)听of waste for every person on the planet.听Yet this crisis could also听create a runway for听new opportunities to satisfy customer demand for both new looks and new ways of doing business.

Technology makes it easier for fashion to join the circular economy, which is based on reusing materials and听ending听waste. This can take multiple forms:

• To make听, fashion manufacturers听need听to source, track, and verify the content of recaptured materials and design products that听take advantage of the materials鈥櫶齜est qualities.
• To make听听蹿谤辞尘听,听manufacturers听need听to听identify听and听source used clothing, ensure that it can be recycled or upcycled, and design products that incorporate it.
• 罢辞听听barely听worn or unworn clothes, brands听need听to track both items and past customers in order to identify and recapture previously sold or never sold items for resale.
• Brands can also participate in听subscription/sharing models, in which consumers听听听before听sending it back听for something different.

In听all of听these cases, success requires manufacturers to听听(what they are, what they鈥檙e made of, where听they听come from, how听they听can be reused) so they can track the components, maximize their value, and continue to reuse them with minimal waste.

Fashion: the New Softwear

Farther down the听runway,听we may find ourselves thinking听of clothing听as听less听like听hardware 鈥� something听to听buy once, wear until it鈥檚 worn out or听obsolete, and then dispose of听鈥� and more听like听software, something that听changes听to meet our needs听(and whims)听and that we use for longer periods of time.听Think of shoes with听听that snap onto replaceable soles or听听with the wearer.

We鈥檙e already seeing the emergence of听听containing sensors that provide haptic feedback and offer assistive support to improve performance and prevent injury. The new听, for example, contain sensors that pair with a companion app to adjust the shoe鈥檚 fit and advise the wearer on how to improve the way their foot hits the ground.

This personalization trend has plenty of听extra听room in the听seams.听In the future, we听may听be able to听alter our clothing with听鈥渋n-app purchases鈥澨齛nd听鈥渦pgrades鈥澨齮hat keep an item fresh, interesting, and useful for longer while still generating revenue for the maker.

The concept of clothing听itself听will also听stretch.听Instead of selling clothes and accessories, a manufacturer might sell designs and materials for customers to create and personalize with 3D printers in the store or at home.

Meanwhile, fabrics will adapt to meet new听technology-powered听demands.听We鈥檒l see more materials developed to last longer,听, recycle more easily, and/or听听Researchers are developing听smart fabric听that听actually has听soft, flexible circuits embedded in the fibers. Smart fabric听might literally let us update our clothing digitally, with manufacturers听pushing听out听听or the ability to听听in real time.

Or imagine being the first fashion retailer to offer clothing made of fabric that can fend off bacteria, foil surveillance, track data about the wearer鈥檚 actions, and generate energy from the wearer鈥檚 motions. How is that anything other than a superhero suit?

If the fashion industry wants to听thrive听and grow, it听must听shift听from continuous consumption to responsible consumerism听while听continuing听to satisfy the unquenchable human desire for something new. It听might be the industry鈥檚 most epic challenge. But听by听using听technology,听fashion听can听transform听itself听鈥� and maybe听even听help听save the world.

Download the executive brief: .

Dan Wellers is the Digital Futures global lead and a senior analyst at 麻豆原创 Insights research center.
Fawn Fitter is a freelance writer specializing in business and technology.

Top image via Getty Images. Photographer kobrin_photo (image #1004052580).

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The rapid growth of wellness听is听being听fueled by health and environmental concerns,听innovative ideas听about healthy aging, and better scientific understanding听of听the connection between body and mind.听Growth has also been driven by听the ability of听consumers to self-educate about health concerns听and access wellness products听online, and听by听the influence of social media. In the United States听especially, it also stems from听weaknesses听in conventional medical care听that听include听rising costs听and lack of focus on preventive care.

But when consumers听look for answers about wellness products and services, they see a market that is deeply听fraught.听Wellness is听highly听fragmented听and听it鈥檚 hard听for consumers to verify the听credibility and viability of听the things they鈥檙e being urged to buy.听Consumers are听seeking听reliable sources of information and products that are trustworthy, verified,听and safe and听that听work.

Retailers听have the essential听expertise听to become听trusted听advisors听in wellness.听No other industry听better understands听consumer听needs听or听has retail鈥檚听expertise in marketing, personalization,听and consumer technology,听including early uses of听artificial intelligence (AI).听Meanwhile, retailers have听a history of combining seemingly dissimilar or unrelated experiences and听brands 鈥� think听fancy restaurants within听department stores听or听cafe-bars听in laundromats.

Retailers: Your Wellness Advisors

The retailers that will lead in the new wellness economy will use these skills to听gain market share, loyalty, and听growth by听combining听what are currently highly听fragmented, episodic activities,听such as shopping for food, seeking medical advice, socializing,听and听being听physically听active. They will听craft听holistic wellness experiences听that combine convenience and emotional satisfaction.

Technology will be the catalyst and enabler in this scenario.听Emerging technologies,听such as听virtual reality,听augmented reality (AR),听sensors,听and听AI,听are听enabling听the development of听new wellness products and experiences.听Switch on听听for example,听and听suddenly it鈥檚 an听interactive workout assistant synced to personal biometrics, with听live, expert听virtual听instruction;听curated听surround-sound听audio;听and听real-time encouragement from an online community.

Meanwhile, advances in听infrastructure,听such as 5G networks,听and connective technologies,听such as听the听Internet of Things,听will create opportunities to link听what are听now听highly segmented wellness categories听together.听Current efforts听only hint at the possibilities.

Retailers Connect Across Segments and Industries

For example, as electric cars听begin to听render traditional gas stations irrelevant, retail brands are looking to convert them into integrated wellness听facilities听powered by new technology.听听have听created听a concept for听repurposing gas stations听as听combined听wellness, fitness, and community centers that also generate power听for electric vehicles.听They envision three types of wellness stops: on interstate highways, on smaller commuter roads, and within communities, all accessible and designed to meet the needs of those three different environments.

Rather than picking up junk food, soda, or tobacco when they stop to fill up, consumers who stop to charge their electric vehicles could sneak in a workout, get a massage, and buy some running shorts.

To go with those shorts, consumers may consider connected running shoes, which they can get from fitness gear retailer Under听Armour.听听with the nutrition app MyFitnessPal and digital health tracker听MapMyFitness. What鈥檚 more, consumers who听have听a Samsung smartwatch and wireless JBL headphones can connect to Under听Armour鈥檚听听The goal is to help customers use their biometric measurements to improve their overall performance and health.

For听consumers听who need medical services, a retailer might provide just the right treatment.听U.S. retail chain听CVS听Health听has a听head start in becoming a trusted听medical听advisor听because its customers regularly interact with its pharmacists.听CVS鈥檚听new听in-store听听take medical advice further by听helping听people with chronic conditions,听such as听diabetes, obesity, and high blood听pressure,听stay听healthy.听The hubs provide access to health and wellness apps, connected monitors and other smart devices, and听technology-enhanced听weight听management programs,听while a human Care Concierge听educates customers and听assists in听navigating听in-store services听and products.听The first few听HealthHUBs听were so successful that CVS is now rolling out听.听CVS鈥檚听ultimate goal听may be to guide the 22 million members of听insurer听Aetna 鈥� now a CVS听Health听subsidiary 鈥� to the听hubs where听the听insurance giant鈥檚听massive amounts of听health and wellness听data can be put to use.

Tech Supplies Exponential Speed

搁别迟补颈濒鈥檚 talent for connecting diverse segments and industries will get a turbo-boost from听new听digital capabilities听that听continually听appear听and听advance听at exponential speed.

As connectors in the wellness economy, retailers could capitalize on听ideas like听the following:

• Sweat supervisor: A health professional might use听telemedicine听to听write a prescription for AR personal training sessions that听use sensor-integrated听athletic wear and workout听equipment听to track progress, offering opportunities for听currently independent segments like fitness gyms and active wear retailers to converge.
• Kitchen consultant: Today鈥檚 appliance retailers, perhaps in conjunction with manufacturers,听could听offer wellness听services through听smart kitchens听that help track and听facilitate recommendations听of听food, supplements,听health education,听and wellness听expertise听supplied听on听demand.
• Mellow maker: Furniture retailers could offer products听that monitor sleep, exercise, stress, and diet and听that听offer听AI-enhanced听recommendations to improve overall health, such as a class at a branded meditation center.

Retail’s Adaptability Will Redefine Wellness

Due to its many opportunities for technology-driven combinations, the wellness economy will push retailers to think on their feet and be constantly on the lookout for new angles from which they and their customers can benefit. This may sound like a heavy lift, but retailers are already grappling with a deep need to adapt to new technology-driven realities. While many have lost their footing, many more are thriving because of their ability to adapt to what consumers want. That characteristic will be the key to maximizing growth and opening up possibilities for integrated leadership in wellness.

Finally, as technology enables听consumers to tune their fitness, nutrition, and healthcare more precisely,听retailers will be able to deliver customized products at听scale and at听a more听granular听level than demographic segments听have historically allowed.听By taking advantage of the opportunities enabled by technology and approaching them听in the right way, retailers can听become true partners in consumers鈥櫶齱ellness journeys听and become听a powerful presence in the wellness industry.

Download the executive brief .

Dan Wellers is the Digital Futures global lead and a senior analyst at 麻豆原创 Insights research center.
Danielle Beurteaux is a New York鈥揵ased writer.听

Top image via Getty Images. Photographer Henrik Sorensen (image #527920805).