The retail sector has always been looking to innovate with changing environments. Whether it is deploying advanced technologies or enhancing customer experience by delivering superior services, the retail space remains one of the largest spread industries across the world. But in the recent past weeks, in the face of COVID-19, retailers are grappled with severe challenges and exploring new ways to keep their businesses going. In this way, they are turning actively towards digital technologies to help customers keep shopping effortlessly, deliver online experiences, and ensure customer expectations of physical stores.
The recent advancement of retail tech has brought in massive changes in the way small to big players run their businesses during the crisis. According to a report, in-store retail tech investment is growing, increased by nearly 60 percent to US$3.7 billion in 2019. This is majorly being done as retailers realize the need to invest in technology that can potentially improve their productivity and profitability alike.
Here we have accumulated 4 retail tech innovations that are set to reshape the industry in the post-pandemic world.
Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality (AR/VR)
As COVID-19 induced lockdowns already sent billions of people to stay home, consumers are unable to visit stores in person, which is severely affecting retail businesses. To keep this challenge at bay, immersive technology such as AR and VR capabilities are helping shoppers by engaging them with products prior to purchase. The adoption of immersive technologies such as AR and VR is likely to increase in the retail sector. In its report, Coresight Research, a data-driven insights provider, revealed that the market of augmented reality and virtual reality is forecast to reach US$18.8 billion in 2020. The report illustrated that the retail sector could see increased spending on these technologies.
Automation
In the era of social distancing due to the outbreak of COVID-19, automation technology is playing a crucial role in helping retailers adhere to social distancing measures and safeguarding their staff from getting exposed to the virus. From large supermarkets like Walmart and Kroger to smaller grocery and retail outlets, autonomous machines are relieving workers by helping customers, pulling heavy inventory carts, cleaning floors and others. A developer of intelligent, autonomous navigation systems Brain Corp, for instance, has deployed over 10,000 autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) across the United States, which are providing 8,000 hours of work every day.
Mobile Self-Check Out
The wake of COVID-19 is significantly changing shoppers’ behaviors while shopping in-store. However, in response to the crisis, retailers are now using innovative ways to helps their customers using mobile self-checkout option. Already, over 70 percent of shoppers are using touchless, robust self-checkout options or shopping at frictionless micro-markets, compared to nearly 29 percent that are shopping online, according to a consumer survey by Shekel Brainweigh Ltd., a weighing technologies provider. The survey report also revealed that self-checkout options remain popular with almost 75 percent of shoppers using it to pay for groceries frequently.
Voice Commerce
Today, people all over the world are equipped with smart devices and voice assistants like smart speakers. And the adoption of these devices is continuously growing with the advances in artificial intelligence and NLP. This is the reason why most retailers are turning to voice assistants or voice-enabled commerce during the crisis. This kind of commerce typically refers to a type of conversational commerce where a customer interacts with a brand, and sales are made through voice recognition technology. In the time of contactless or touch-less business, voice commerce seems inevitable. Big tech giants like Amazon, Microsoft, and Google, among others, are already using voice interface, chatbots, and NLP. According to a report, the global market of smart speaker is expected to reach from US$4,358 million in 2017 to US$23,317 million by 2025, growing at a CAGR of 23.4 percent.