In the previous article we presented 6 innovations in the retail sector that have turned the way customers are introduced to the shopping experience, these are:

 

  • Virtual shelves
  • Metrics
  • Testing-in-store
  • Differentiated spaces
  • Automatic check-out
  • Loyalty program innovations

 

Today we are going to present you 3 more innovations, helping you to continue formulating strategies and advancing with the positioning of your business in the retail sector.

 

Launching strategies based on innovation is not an option, it is an obligation.

 

Innovations in the retail sector to take advantage of technological trends that meet user experience expectations.

Juan José Llorente, Adyen‘s Country Manager for Spain and Portugal, said: 

 

BUYERS ARE MORE CONNECTED TODAY THAN THEY’VE EVER BEEN BEFORE AND EXPECT TO RECEIVE AN EXPERIENCE THAT MEETS THEIR EXPECTATIONS.

 

 

This is how brands will continue to find more demands from buyers, and it should generate a greater level of commitment to take advantage of technological trends that meet user experience expectations. 

Therefore, it is essential to know, listen, observe and act based on what customers are expecting, in order to grow and consolidate a brand. Today’s great brands have understood this, and have positioned themselves in the minds and desires of their buyers.

That is why we have decided to make this guide that in total provides you with information on 9 innovations. 

Below you will find 3 innovations in the retail sector that you should take into account to introduce in a short or medium term future:

 

 

1. Unified Commerce

According to studies in the retail sector, during 2019, in its last semester, there was a high rate of purchase abandonment in stores that didn’t have omnichannel options. Loss in this sense is quantified at one 219 billion euros.

The truth is that customers enjoy shopping in physical stores, so it is not a total migration, but rather adjusting the digital sales channels to avoid leakage or abandonment rate.

Your physical store may have a website, but if it doesn’t have digital communication channels, such as online chat, purchases will not be completed. 

On the other hand, unifying commerce is not only about having online and digital channels, it is also about putting in place e-commerce based strategies to improve the shopping experience in the physical store, such as mobile payment terminals to speed up the payment process in the physical store.

 

 

Innovations in the retail sector to adjust the digital sales channels to avoid leakage or abandonment rate

 

 

2. Optimize payment in social networks

Social networks are sales channels too. At one time they may have been just window dressing, but today they are important conversion channels.

According to the payment platform Ayden, 44% of users admit that they have used social networks to search for products, but only 20% complete their purchase, while 80% don’t finish it, Ayden explains that 55% don’t do so because the process is complicated for them.

It is inevitable, the whole current situation suggests that social networks will take more strength as a way to reach the consumer. This means that the experience of this channel must be improved.

One suggestion is to rely on Pay by Link technology, which can generate secure and/or unique payment links. This simplifies the payment process, and a business’ social networks can earn more visibility.

 

 

44% OF USERS RECOGNIZE THAT THEY HAVE USED SOCIAL NETWORKS TO SEARCH FOR PRODUCTS, BUT ONLY 20% COMPLETE THEIR PURCHASE.

 

 

Innovations in the retail sector to optimize payment in social networks

 

 

3. Tokens

In order to improve the quality of the shopping experience, one of the innovations in the retail sector during 2020, which will continue to be developed in the following years, is related to the security of the buyer and the speeding up of the payment processes.

This innovation consists on taking advantage of the functionalities that mobile devices have, for customer identification and speeding up the purchase process. To this end, two-factor authentication is incorporated and security measures based on biometrics are established. 

Automatic payments can be made, and the transaction can be authenticated without the customer’s intervention, based on the information gathered in a payment process. 

The more security there is, the more certainty there is, and the more fraud is reduced, the buyer will confidently make the decision to purchase either through physical store checkout points that speed up the time spent waiting, or through digital channels.

 

 

Innovations in the retail sector to improve the security of the buyer and the speeding up of the payment processes

 

All innovations have the customer at the centre

These innovations in the retail sector focus on having the customer at the centre of everything, which is called customer centric. The strategies carried out on the basis of such innovations must be built with such awareness.

Providing comfort, better experience, satisfaction, establishing conditions in favor of a more friendly and less complicated purchasing process, making an impact with solutions that make shoppers feel special, these are the objectives that every retailer should seek. 

From this point, all the technological evolution that arises will be focused on the customer. A good product is not a good product if it is not attractive and within the reach of the shoppers, just as an impressive space decoration will not fulfil its objective if it doesn’t focus on providing comfort to the customer at its different levels. 

Investments in the retail sector must seek to provide a unique shopping experience at the level required by shoppers. This is why it is necessary to continue relying on data, to know better the buyer and to adjust everything for him.

Ensuring that customers enjoy a better service will keep your business growing in the sector.

In this video, Ian Geddes highlights what he believes are the most important trends from 2020 onwards: