Half of shoppers plan to increase their use of contactless pickup as the holiday shopping season progresses. To fulfill this need effectively, retailers will need integrated data analytics and management tools on mobile devices to keep employees up to date and advanced inventory management in order to ensure a seamless shopping experience.
2. Retailers Must Accommodate Varied Forms of Payment
Much like retailers must make accommodations for contactless pickup, they also need to accommodate new forms of payment in response to changing customer preferences. Contactless payment is key in this endeavor, and more shoppers are using it than ever before.
Research from the National Retail Federation found that 1 in 5 shoppers said they made a contactless payment for the first time during the pandemic, according to The Financial Brand. The same research found that 57 percent of customers said they would continue using contactless payment when the pandemic is over.
To accommodate new customer demands, retailers will need to have contactless point-of-sale readers as well as mobile POS systems. The convenience of these systems will cause them to last into 2021 and beyond.
3. Digital Commerce Will Expand the Use of AR/VR
Industries are finding new uses for augmented and virtual reality constantly, and retail is no different. AR/VR was featured on last year’s list of trends, but the sudden and steep shift to expanded digital commerce propelled by the pandemic has presented ideal circumstances for retailers to increase adoption of this technology.