Three big challenges retail technology leads need to face

1. Forget physical vs online stores. Consumers want Bricks-and-Clicks

More than a third of consumers are now put off by brands that deliver an inconsistent experience across online, mobile and in-store, according to Salesforce.

No surprise then that 59% of retailers are already working to make their offering consistent across every channel (source: RIS).

If customers have the option to split a bill, use multiple payment methods, collect loyalty points or redeem a voucher in-store, a successful omnichannel strategy should deliver the exact same options to customers whether they shop via desktops, tablets or smartphones.Aligned functionality will also provide the opportunity to delve into in-depth customer behaviour insight, regardless of whether they step into a store or choose to buy online.

This will enable a retailer to further bolster it’s personalised proposition and create a truly consistent cross channel experience.

2. The in-store retail experience is evolving – mobile is the new shop window

Two thirds of consumers (63%) now use their smartphones to compare prices when shopping in-store, while 43% say they plan to increase their use of mobile shopping over the next two years, according to BRP.

And considering that 54% of consumers say they will leave a store if they can’t find what they’re looking for, it’s no surprise that 56% want interactive, shoppable screens as part of their in-store experience, and 59% want to then checkout with their smartphones (source: RIS).And with 41% of a retailer’s competitors currently in the process of “polishing” their mobile experience (source: RIS), tech teams that haven’t started work on this, will need to get their skates on in 2020.

3. Consumer attention is turning towards shopping app security

Beyond a fast, convenient and personalised experience, trust and privacy must remain core to a retailer’s relationship with their customers.When app security firm NowSecure recently reviewed 250 popularly used mobile apps, 70% were found to leak personal data, including names, emails, account details and phone numbers.

Retail apps were the worst offenders, with 82% leaking sensitive data – in short, this is a GDPR nightmare for retail businesses.

There are several ways to ensure all customer data is secure, such as double tokenization, but when more than half of consumers  say they need to see a clear benefit exchange for their data (source: DMA), retailers will also need to get a skeptical public more comfortable with data sharing.

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If you’ve got this far, be sure to download our latest report on what the future looks like for high street retail…

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