[reprint the New Retail Blackboard Newspaper]

What will the retail prospect be? The cross- combination results of changes in consumer side (3P) and updates of technical side (3I) are two key words: unbounded, accuracy. Unbounded means from “N→1” to “1→∞”. In the past Internet age is centralized (N→1): Numerous online users enter into a same page, and the page becomes the center of flow. We will enter into an age of 1→∞, namely, a person will face numerous screens, scenarios, and entrances. The current center of flow will become unimportant, and the really important thing is to take customers as the center.

The retail in future must be unbounded—be ubiquitous at any time. When shopping entrance has become extremely scattered and changeable, the retailers in fixed single platform will become fragile. However, the new and digital retail infrastructure will become very important, which can more efficiently serve different changing scenarios.

Accuracy means to change from “mass market” to “personal market”.The past retail and production activities are managed in the unit of category and market. They are aimed at mass market and provide batch goods, which is difficult to meet individual needs. The perception technology will give us the ability to learn about every consumers’ individual needs, and they can be satisfied flexibly through the connection of external resources. The intelligent algorithm can also make the interaction and delivery more efficient. That is to say, the retail in future is bound to be more and more accurate, otherwise, retailers who are unable to reach “cost, efficiency, experience” will be eliminated.

Unbounded and accuracy separately represents width and depth. In this picture of retail prospect, how can retail enterprises improve their width and depth? The answer must be to use digital and smart retail infrastructure. In the financial analysis, only innovative technologies and application can continue to break the boundary of retail productivity and upgrade experience and cost efficiency at the same time (Figure 2).

In the prospect of “unbounded retail”, which is defined in the fourth retail revolution, the upgraded experience not only means “convenience”, but also means the understanding of consumer needs (to know you better than yourself), connection (what you want, where you are) and realization (what you want, what you get), eventually, consumers can meet their demands at anytime and anywhere. The upgrading of cost and efficiency will also be more dependent on intelligent technology. Moreover, the upgrade of capitals, goods and information flows will go across enterprises’ boundaries, and be continuously realized in the whole retail system.