Wearables tipped to reinvent retail sector

Information taken from mobile devices such as wearables is expected to have a significant impact on customer experience and ultimately the success of businesses, according to Teradata.

"Retail is in a reinvention," Lisa Arthur, applications CMO at Teradata said during a roundtable at the firm's Partners Conference and Expo.

"Big data will enhance the retail experience... Every shopper is different, every retail experience is different. When I go to buy a television, it's a very different experience to when I go buy a suit, but I'm still the same buyer."

An individualised consumer experience has begun to manifest via the use of smartphones, specifically with showrooming,' but this has the potential to grow in conjunction with the expected popularity of wearable devices such as the Apple Watch.

Outside of the retail industry, there is also plenty of scope for big data and wearables to make an impact in healthcare, Arthur continued.

This could come about with health apps sending data based on exercise and other activity back to the user's doctor, Arthur pointed out, thus creating a more honest and informed dialogue between them.

"Eventually we're going to see maps integrated into carts and we're going to see interactive experiences," she said, while acknowledging the privacy issues and concerns raised by the technology.

"That's the other barter in here there has to be the opt-in and the value exchange. There has to be a handshake and it can't be creepy, it has to be used for value."