From the Editor –
Lots of feelings in today’s edition of the Quick-Take: We lead off with some assurance and some guidance on the importance (perceived) of your retail tech investments, two meaty (but short) bits on consumer trust (there’s a lot riding on your shoulders), we’re not all that miserable, and a potential end to ChatGPT hallucinations. Until next week …
– Mike Giambattista, Editor in Chief
FEATURE: How UX Design Can Help Brands Thrive in the Metaverse
User experience (UX) designers will play a major role in making consumers feel comfortable with the metaverse. That comfort will allow customers to fully enjoy the benefits of metaversal experiences and help brands achieve the best possible return on their metaverse investments. Read more …
RETAIL TECHNOLOGY
Majority of consumers say retail technology will improve overall shopping experience
While nearly 60% of the 573 respondents cited technology that speeds and simplifies the self-checkout process, more than 30% expressed a desire for offerings that help them get in and out of the store as fast and as easily as possible.
- In 93% of the responses, more accurate technology, system simplification for ease of use and improved user experience and eliminating the need to individually enter items were cited as reasons a consumer may be more likely to try self-checkout.
- 90% said a self-checkout system that could automatically identify produce items would be helpful during the checkout process.
- 50% said they were not familiar with the concept of a smart cart.
- When provided with the definition of “a shopping cart that automatically performs checkout when items are added to the cart,” 74% were very likely or somewhat likely to try this if the option was available to them.
CONSUMER TRUST
Edelman Trust Barometer Reveals Business is the Only Institution Viewed as Ethical
Business now holds a staggering 53-point lead over government in competence and is 30 points ahead on ethics. Its treatment of workers during the pandemic and return to work, along with the swift and decisive action of over 1,000 businesses to exit Russia after its invasion of Ukrainehelped fuel a 20-point jump on ethics over the past three years. Business (62 percent) remains the most and only trusted institution globally.
CONSUMER TRUST, PART DEUX
Digital Trust now critical for maintaining customer loyalty
Enterprise employees 100% agree on the importance of digital trust, with 99% saying they would consider switching vendors if they lost trust in their products or services. While consumers were less universal, still more than two-thirds of consumer respondents (68%) feel digital trust is important. But almost half (47%) say they have stopped doing business with a company that lost their trust in the past. The wealthier the consumer, the more likely their feeling that digital trust is important – 58% of above-average income consumers feel digital trust is extremely important. Looking ahead, 84% of consumers say they would consider switching their business if they lose digital trust.
THE MISERY INDEX
The misery index is getting better, but Americans may feel a lot more miserable in 2023
The misery index combined inflation trends and the unemployment rate as a way of predicting voting patterns, with the idea that more miserable voters tend to throw the bums out, a risk for the party in power. Investors can also try to harness the predictive power of the misery index as they forecast consumer spending, profits, and stock prices.
DIDN’T SEE THAT COMING
Company Develops AI to Identify and Address ChatGPT Hallucinations
Got It AI, the Autonomous Conversational AI company, announced an innovative new “Truth Checker” AI that can identify when ChatGPT is hallucinating (generating fabricated answers) when answering user questions over a large set of articles or knowledge base. This innovation makes it possible to deploy ChatGPT-like experiences without the risk of providing incorrect responses to users or employees. Enterprises can now confidently deploy generative conversational AIs that leverage large scale knowledge bases such as those used for external customer support or for internal user support queries.
See you next week!
Photo by Vinicius “amnx” Amano on Unsplash
