166 I NT E R V I EW Striving for retail innovation Lindsay Carpen shares how RSM’s focus on understanding retail consumers helps its clients create premium customer experiences The retail industry is a breeding ground for innovation as businesses seek to meet the needs of consumers in the most effective and inspiring ways. “We have found real value in changing the customer experience by embedding technology directly into interactions,” says Lindsay Carpen, a partner in retail and consumer products at RSM. “Using technology to evaluate user behaviour and spot changing preferences or emerging trends is a hot topic for us.” Carpen is among the many retail experts that believe that the main goal of technology in the industry is in understanding customers. “Once you know what your target audience is looking for and how they interact with your business, it is much easier to give them what they want,” he says. With this belief at its core, RSM has made a name for itself in helping clients to reimagine how to leverage technology to drive new and exciting customer engagements. For example, during a partnership with a winery, RSM developed a virtual sommelier using an artificial intelligence-driven hologram, a guided wine selection tour using AI and lights, and a wine history experience that saw images and information projected onto a restaurant tabletop. “We were particularly proud of this partnership as it enabled us to think outside the box and create a unique set of technologyenabled experiences for a particular target audience,” says Carpen. Another customer, Priority Bicycles, came to the firm looking to develop a new and exciting BY E L LY YAT E S - ROB E R T S “ Once you know what your target audience is looking for and how they interact with your business, it is much easier to give them what they want” LINDSAY CARPEN, RSM
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