How smart technology empowers consumers in smart retail stores? The perspective of technology readiness and situational factors

Abstract

Smart retail stores have been gaining momentum in smart retailing. Instead of relying on in-store staff like traditional counterparts, smart retail stores provide an unmanned environment purely enabled by various in-store smart technologies that support customers throughout the shopping journey. This unstaffed operating model also enables smart retail stores to provide competitive prices by reducing labor costs. However, studies have overemphasized the unique value offered by smart technology but discounted the common value strengthened in smart retail. This study applies the situational factor framework to identify both unique and common factors empowered by smart technology from a comprehensive perspective; then, technology readiness is incorporated to explore consumer purchase intentions in smart retail stores. A total of 283 survey data were collected and analyzed. The main results indicate that most situational factors have a direct effect on purchase intention, and technology readiness enhances the unique situational factors enabled directly by smart technology.