Physical Retail Leaves Enormous Potential Untapped – BizLab Points to the Next Competitive Advantage

With conversion rates in physical retail ranging from only 20–60%, a vast potential remains untapped. Michael Lemner, with over 30 years of senior leadership experience at companies such as H&M, Bally, and New Look, together with Tanja Cronqvist, Head of Retail Media at BizLab with a long background in data-driven analytics, argue that the key lies in understanding all visitors to the store – not just those who make a purchase.

“It’s time to start measuring and analyzing the entire customer flow. With demographic data such as age and gender, combined with information on how long customers stay in the store, retailers can identify target groups, understand behaviors, and work more precisely to increase conversion,” says Michael Lemner.

The technology is already here. BizLab’s AI-based solutions provide anonymized, GDPR-compliant, real-time insights into in-store visitors. This makes it possible to optimize assortment, store layouts, and campaigns.

“Most retailers today have good insight into their paying customers, but knowledge about all visitors is often lacking. Here lies a major opportunity to increase both revenue and profitability by taking control of that data,” says Tanja Cronqvist.

According to Lemner and Cronqvist, the next big competitive advantage for physical retail will be to transform the store into a data-driven media platform where every visitor can be measured, understood, and influenced.