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2017 & beyond: Prognostications for retail technology

Shopper behavior and expectations have clearly changed and become more sophisticated. Retail stores need to evolve to meet consumer demands, and the influence of technology will only increase as retailers and brands seek to connect with shoppers.

January 26, 2017

By Tony Rodriguez, CTO, Digimarc

In the year ahead, we expect retail technology trends to include:

QUICK CHECKOUT: With a smartphone in every pocket and the expansion of advanced barcodes and imaging technologies for scanning products, faster alternative checkout methods will continue to grow across the retail sector. Sam's Club already offers in-aisle checkout. Amazon gained attention for its vision of grocery shopping sans checkout lines. Anticipate that other grocers and retailers will seek shortcuts for shoppers that they hope will breed brand loyalty. Just grab, scan and go. It’s one step closer to the cashless society that has long been rumored, and we expect retailers and brands to lead the way with enhanced product packaging and other options for easy checkout.

REAL-TIME SALES CLERK TRAINING: A wealth of product information, particularly about the food we eat, will soon be instantly available to consumers. Supporting this trend, new GMO regulations, U.S. FDA nutrition facts requirements and the food and beverage industry's SmartLabel initiative all will take hold over the next 12 to 24 months. As a result, shoppers will often be as or more informed than sales clerks. And, this means clerks will need to use that same information to get educated themselves in order to make the sale. Look for retailers, especially in specialty grocery, apparel, electronics and some high-value durable goods, to expect their on-floor sales staff to self-manage the product training process by scanning enhanced product packaging and researching product specifications online, whether with retailer-owned mobile hardware or under a bring-your-own-device model. In some cases, sales staff may quickly research information about new products at the start of their shift.

CLICK & COLLECT: The explosive growth of online and mobile sales means retailers will continue to formulate their omnichannel strategies. One that's likely to expand is the use of existing retail store locations as fulfillment and distribution centers for mobile and ecommerce. What's more, as consumers increasingly come to rely on deliveries for online purchases, the expectation for rapid delivery will only grow. Not only is it not scalable for FedEx, UPS and DHL to deliver everything overnight everywhere, there are low-cost products that don't justify the expedited shipping costs and some items that shoppers simply need now. You can expect more retailers to combine online sales with brick-and-mortar stores by allowing customers to buy online and pick up at the store just hours later. The practice, commonly called "click and collect," will increase the need for easy-to-use mobile ordering tools, including enhanced product packaging that enables consumers to scan-and-go with a smartphone and reorder from home.

AR/VR: The huge, recent investment in augmented and virtual reality technologies, combined with a proliferation of affordable glasses and other viewers, will find its way into the retail sector. Look for retailers and brands to enable products that can be visualized wherever shoppers want. 'See' your new sofa in your living room. View various new car models and assess how well they look and fit in your garage. This will require powerful imaging technologies and enhanced products that can be scanned and saved for later viewing at home. And, the ability to buy products on the spot will not be far behind.

ROBOTS: Expect to see more robotics in retail. Robots don't tire or earn overtime, making them great for roaming aisles to automatically track inventory, perform pick-and-pack duties in distribution centers, and maybe even make last-mile deliveries to a doorstep. It's likely robots will play an unseen role somewhere along the supply chain in many of your online purchases by the 'Back to School' shopping season this summer.