Bricks to Clicks: Why Businesses Need to Close the Gap in 2025

If businesses are to remain competitive, then there has to be a focus on creating seamless interactions for customers by embracing current technology. The latest key areas of focus for several online businesses have included streaming and AI, and exploring ways these features can vastly improve the customer experience.

Bridging the Gap

Small business owners need to embrace technology so that the gap between brick-and-mortar stores and the online world can be bridged. Amazon Live is a prime example here. Brands, influencers, and sellers can stream live from their location, whether it is on-site, in or in a warehouse. The platform allows sellers to interact with their viewers in real time, offering product demonstrations and answering questions.

Viewers can also purchase products instantly from the stream, bridging the gap between the physical and digital worlds. Another example would be the Hippodrome online casino as they offer several live-streamed games. This includes Live Bellagio Roulette, Live Lightning Roulette and Live One Blackjack. Each game is streamed from a casino in real-time, with players allowed to interact with a live dealer, as if they were there in person. Even though the Hippodrome Casino in London gets a lot of foot traffic, by streaming games live, they can cater for online users as well, bridging the gap between the physical and digital worlds. This presents some unique opportunities, which mutually benefit everyone involved.

AI and Virtual Services

Even though live streaming is one of the best ways to connect the physical and digital worlds, there are other aspects that businesses can explore. One of them would be virtual services. Virtual concierge services allow guests to communicate through a live video call or an app, giving them access to everything from room service to local recommendations. Some high-end hotels, including The Hilton offer Connie powered by IBM Watson.

Source: Pexels

The Hilton’s Connie AI might have been around since 2016, but since then it has evolved, becoming more intelligent over time, to the point where it is now able to learn from guest interactions to provide a better experience. Another example of a business that is using AI to bridge the gap would be Domino’s Pizza. They use AI virtual assistants including the Dom chatbot, to streamline the ordering process. Customers can place their order, track the delivery and receive an alert when their pizza is ready to collect.

With the option to ask questions about the menu, this helps to reduce the reliance on physical employees, while providing a seamless ordering experience. When you place an order, you can also see the stages of your pizza cooking, such as when it’s being prepared, when it’s cooking, and finally, when it’s ready. This helps to provide additional insight while using technology to bridge the gap between the consumer and the business. Not only has this helped the company to make more sales, but it’s even become part of Google Home, showing the potential that technology has to offer brick-and-mortar businesses.

The potential for tech is huge, but retail businesses have to make sure they are fully embracing it and closing the gap between the online world if they want to survive this new digital era.

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Header image: Source: Pexels