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Imagine needing to buy a dress that matches your exact style, design your home based on your favorite color palette, customize a sofa to suit your space, or receive AI-generated discounts while shopping at the airport. Today, brands are embracing smart technologies to make all of this possible and offering seamless, personalized experiences across their physical and digital touchpoints. From home furnishing showrooms to airport duty-free stores, brands are embracing smart technology to create meaningful and efficient experiences for today’s discerning shopper.
Personalization Takes Center Stage
Retailers are recognizing that today’s consumers want more than just products—they want solutions that reflect their aspirations, tastes, and lifestyles. Whether it’s visualizing furniture layouts in 3D or receiving AI-generated discounts at an airport, the focus is shifting to customization, emotional relevance, and tech-enabled ease.
Take, for instance, Interio, one of India’s leading home and office furniture brands that is part of Godrej & Boyce, a company of Godrej Enterprises Group with a strong omnichannel presence and over 1,000 exclusive showrooms, is combining design innovation with AI, data science, and immersive tools to deliver a unified, experience-first retail strategy.
“Today’s Indian consumer expects functionality along with emotional value and personalization in their furniture,” says Dr. Dev Narayan Sarkar, Senior Vice President and Head of Consumer Business at Interio. “Whether it’s a sofa with a charging port or beds tailored to regional needs, we deliver thoughtful solutions that connect with our users.”
To better understand what consumers want even before they say it, Interio collaborated with XLRI’s Brain Lab to track subconscious preferences using biometric responses like eye movement and heart rate. The insights are helping shape products that emotionally resonate with diverse audiences. “We’re not just designing furniture; we’re designing experiences,” Sarkar adds. “By combining emotional design, regional relevance, and intuitive tech tools, we’re building a brand that stays relevant across generations and geographies.”
Among the tools driving this evolution are AI-powered product recommendations, virtual walkthroughs, and a 3D Room Planner that helps customers visualize and personalize their spaces in-store and online. These solutions have led to 6% higher conversion rates compared to traditional retail methods. “Digital tools are helping bridge imagination with reality,” Sarkar explains. “Consumers can see, modify, and personalize their choices in real time, which builds trust and speeds up decisions.”
Interio’s recently launched UPMODS range—modular furniture that adapts to evolving household needs—offers over 2,450 configurations. The brand expects this flexible, upgradeable system to generate ₹50 crore in its first year, further cementing its position as a future-focused furniture brand. “The future of furniture retail is not just about selling a product, it’s about adapting to life’s changing moments,” says Sarkar. “Our job is to make that process seamless and delightful.”
Duty-Free, But Digitally Powered
At the other end of the retail spectrum, airport shopping is also undergoing a digital makeover.As per recent media reports, Ospree Duty Free, in collaboration with Voiceback Analytics, recently conducted a pioneering pilot at Mumbai International Airport that removed all physical promotional signage and replaced it with a single QR code.
Travellers who scanned the code received AI-generated discounts, personalized in real-time based on their shopping behavior. The entire experience was powered by Voiceback’s Dynamic Promotion Engine, hosted on Microsoft Azure. “The idea was to eliminate clutter and use intelligent tech to deliver more relevant value,” said a spokesperson from Ospree Duty Free. “It’s a shift from broadcasting to engaging—meeting each traveller with a unique offer.”
“Travellers appreciated the simplicity,” the company added. “They didn’t miss the banners—instead, they gained a smoother, smarter shopping experience.” Despite being an experimental rollout, the pilot showed consistent sales performance, proving that personalization can be more powerful than traditional promotions, especially when supported by trained staff and guided experiences.
The Tech-Driven Road Ahead
As Indian retail moves toward a more phygital (physical + digital) model, the integration of smart tools is becoming a necessity rather than a novelty. AI, immersive design technology, predictive analytics, and real-time feedback mechanisms are not only enhancing consumer satisfaction but also improving operational efficiency for brands.
From visual planning in a living room to instant offers in an airport, technology is quietly yet significantly rewriting the retail playbook. What unites these innovations is a simple principle: understand the consumer better—and serve them smarter.In this new era of retail, the brands that listen, learn, and adapt digitally will be the ones that win.
