Ahead of the Retail Week Technology & Ecommerce Summit, Retail Week speaks to representatives of the automotive and gaming industries.

Klas Bendrik says “In a modern vehicle, there might be different types of apps and they can be updated”.

From virtual reality headsets to social gaming via smart cars and the internet of things, the automotive and gaming industries are just as exposed to the changing tides of technology as retail is.

So what can retailers learn from these industries’ responses? There are plenty of lessons to take from them, from ways of changing internal culture to developing industry-disrupting ideas.

Retail Week speaks to Volvo and Green Man Gaming – both of which are speaking at the Retail Week Technology & Ecommerce Summit in September – about why they are innovators in their fields.

Volvo and technology

Klas Bendrik, chief information officer at Volvo, says innovation at the auto company has been overhauled over the past few years – and Volvo has learnt a lot from the changes.

“Our approach to innovation and technology has rapidly changed,” he says. “It was always about products and product features, and now it’s much more about using technology to drive consumer value in different ways. It has shifted towards asking what is simple to use from a consumer perspective.”

The transformation is ongoing, he adds, and is likely to intensify over the coming years.

“Our approach to innovation and technology has rapidly changed”

Klas Bendrik, chief information officer, Volvo

That has led to everything from product development cycles becoming much shorter to technology being a far more integrated part of a product. But the key change from the auto industry’s point of view, he adds, is the introduction of smart technology in vehicles.

Bendrik says: “Historically, the product has been static after it has been produced.” Now, the type of technology that means smartphones can be updated during their life cycle is being introduced in cars, making them ‘smart’. “In a modern vehicle, there might be different types of apps and they can be updated,” Bendrik adds.

Disruptive innovation

Being a young, disruptive company whose business model goes against the status quo of the gaming industry, Green Man Gaming has different lessons to teach retailers.

Its platform disrupted the traditional distribution model of the video games market when it appeared in 2010. It  enables players to buy a game online, download it and play it for an unlimited time before trading it back in, rather than buying a physical game.

Green Man Gaming founder Paul Sulyok says these disruptive influences often come from outside a certain sector. “Often entrepreneurs are not part of the industry they work in – they just spot a gap in the market. If you
live and breathe that industry you are often not able to see the opportunities fresh,” he says.

He adds that retail is likely to change fundamentally in the coming years. “How we operate and how we sell will change. Whether we opt for something like the South Korean model of shopping walls or something else, retail will adapt.”

“You have to have a mindset of what works for the customer and pursue that with diligence”

Paul Sulyok, founder, Green Man Gaming

Sulyok thinks the automatic answer is not necessarily to become fully digital, but to consider what works best for each retailer’s customers. “You have to have a mindset of what works for the customer and pursue that with diligence. Some elements [of retailing] won’t change and even though I run an ecommerce site, I still believe in the value of physical retailing.”

Bendrik says the trick is to take the innovative approach that Volvo brings to product development – which is also found in many retail businesses – and extend that into other areas.

“Innovation has always been one of the core capabilities at Volvo, for instance, innovation relating to safety. Now we need to bring that working method into new areas,” he says.

Sulyok maintains the best way for retailers to rethink their processes is to conceive of every idea from the customer’s point of view. “My advice to ecommerce experts within retail would be not to take the easiest route, but to take the right route – the easiest route is not necessarily easiest for your customer.”

Bendrik says innovation needs to come from two separate strands. Some ideas will come from the new technologies that are being released on the market, while others will come from within the business and be enabled by new technology. “It’s an interactive process,” he says. “Technology drives the idea generation, but also when great ideas come up they can be enabled and realised by modern technology. Those two aspects live together.”

Bendrik adds that different teams in the business need to work closely together. “It is those who collaborate the best who have competitive advantage,” he says. “Cross-functional innovation means you leverage all the knowledge in the organisation to come up with new ideas.”

Volvo and Green Man Gaming will speak at the Retail Week Technology and Ecommerce Summit in September – Bendrik will discuss his approach to innovation and the audience will hear how Green Man Gaming rose to become a disruptive ecomm giant.

New technologies and disruptive entrepreneurs will continue to produce ripples in the retail sector – retailers that haven’t done so yet will need to carve out their own niche in a technology-driven environment.

The Retail Week Technology and Ecommerce Summit

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The Retail Week Technology and Ecommerce Summit – held on September 17 and 18 at the Emirates Stadium – will bring together some of retail and technology’s biggest names. Here are some of the highlights:

  • Mike McNamara, chief information officer, Tesco: McNamara is one of the most influential chief information officers in British business, controlling technology for the world’s third-largest retailer. He will share insight into how technology dictates the future of retail.
  • Jeremy Fennell, multichannel director, Dixons: Dixons and Carphone Warehouse’s merger will create “a leader in connectivity”. Fennell will deliver exclusive insight into how connected devices will change consumers’ lives.
  • Bertrand Bodson, chief digital officer, Argos, and Simon Forster, executive director, multichannel and supply chain, Selfridges: The structure of a truly omnichannel retailer is something retailers constantly debate. Bodson and Forster will discuss this issue, including the cultural challenges and internal tensions arising from the pace of change.
  • Michael Tankenoff, co-founder, The Orange Chef Company: Tankenoff will share the story behind The Orange Chef Company, from seeking funding through Kickstarter to gaining investment from some of the biggest venture capitalists in the world.