Technology
Contactless retail: What can retailers do to stay relevant?
Steve Horton, solution director, Global Solution Management, Oracle Retail, shares why contactless technology is no longer a luxury; it has become the standard in today’s retail landscape.
April 13, 2021 by Steve Horton
The emergence of new consumer behavior is blurring the lines between online and in-store shopping experiences. According to an Oracle Retail consumer study, 39% of shoppers said a lack of social distancing would cause them to have a bad shopping experience. In comparison, 66% of the shoppers noted that contactless checkout was a top priority to shopping safely while in-store. As a result, retailers worldwide have had to quickly adapt to consumer needs by enhancing their digital and contactless capabilities, speeding up the checkout process, and implementing social distancing regulations to help shoppers feel safer.
Although contactless technology has been around for more than a decade, the pandemic has accelerated its adoption and pushed it to be an integral part of retail's digital transformation, fueling the global retail industry's recovery. With four out of five consumers stating that they plan to continue to use contactless payments in the future, this technology is here to stay.
What does this mean for retail? Contactless technology is no longer a luxury; it has become the standard in today's retail landscape.
Understand changing customer behaviors and expectations
With the surge of efficient technologies, consumers are becoming less tolerant of inefficient and painful checkout experiences. They'll be expecting a seamless payment process where they can pay with just one quick click, tap, or scan. According to Oracle Retail's research, Anatomy of Change: Understanding Consumer Behavior in the New Next 2020, 71% of consumers stated that the speed of service, checkout experience, and delivery options are critical to staying loyal to a retailer. And with competitors adding more expedient technology every day, retailers need to keep up.
Retailers who want to continue to innovate must look at reimagining consumer experiences, focusing on efficient self-service and contactless engagements that don't sacrifice safety. By eliminating potential checkout roadblocks, retailers can streamline the customer experience, simplify the payment journey, and combat basket abandonment.
Create a seamless commerce experience
Consumers value a seamless shopping experience more than ever: according to Adyen, 60% of consumers see convenient shopping experiences across in-store and online as a reason to shop at one retailer over the other.
With the increasing number of retail channels ranging from web to mobile to curbside pick-up and buy online, pick-up in-store (BOPIS), retailers must find ways to optimize the customer journey. Adopting a seamless omnichannel experience is one way to do so, putting a single solution in place that supports commerce on the front and back end through all channels. Having a single omnichannel retail solution allows retailers to accept secure online and contactless transactions while also capturing and centralizing customer data for future engagements.
To unify the consumer journey, retailers must be committed to bringing together technology systems and bridging the gap between in-store and online operations. Additionally, they must be committed to working with an integrated payment company that enables retailers to accept payments in a single system that supports contactless experiences and revenue growth in-store, online, on mobile devices, and at the point of service. Transitioning to a unified approach will ensure that shoppers can more easily move between sales channels, ultimately fostering loyalty and driving conversion rates.
Reimagine the future of retail
Multiple sales touchpoints have brought about an unparalleled wave of data. Retailers must leverage this information to gain insight into customer expectations and make more informed business decisions about what consumers want. Today's shoppers expect retailers to deliver on their expectations of safety and superior customer experience, even after the pandemic.
With that, retailers need to reimagine what customer experience looks like in a contactless retail era. Retailers need to adopt more innovative methods to ensure customers feel safe and satisfied. Innovations such as digital and mobile wallets, 'Pay by Link,' and QR codes are on the rise and are becoming more popular across all generations.
Retailers also need to reimagine the store associate experience, equipping staffers with more streamlined, up-to-date technology to bring them closer to the customer and make the customer journey more convenient. Providing store associates with all-in-one mobile POS and payment devices will allow staff to interact with customers without sharing devices and enable customers to pay in multiple, contactless and safe ways.
Contactless technology, payments, and interactions have become the standard, and retailers who do not adopt this technology will be left behind. Retailers will also need to define new customer journey possibilities that enable store associates to interact efficiently with customers in various, contactless ways. They will need to drive cross-channel insights.
By understanding these concepts and examining their business models and valuable cross-channel insights, retailers can reimagine the future of retail, customer journeys, and profitability across platforms.
Steve Horton is solution director, Global Solution Management, Oracle Retail
About Steve Horton
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