Beyond Contactless. Sounds like a movie, right? Well, in a sense it is, only this particular blockbuster is going to be playing in pretty much every store you could care to mention. And coming soon? You better believe it.
The next generation of seamless shopping experiences is now showing and if you want a three-word review, how about this? Changing retail forever.
In recent years, we’ve all become very familiar with the frictionless payment checkout storyline—it’s now a cornerstone of brand loyalty, and optionality has moved right to the top of customers’ shopping lists. But, thanks to technology, the seamless shopping narrative is about to take a quantum leap—we’re going beyond contactless.
The plot here revolves around retailers embracing new and innovative payment tech to continuously improve the frictionless shopping experience and three stars are taking center stage: biometrics, in-store innovation and AI advancements.
Ready for a sneak preview?
Biometric benefits
This new world of seamless shopping is being powered by advancements in technology, and this starts with biometric payments.
There are three main types, the first being facial recognition and fingerprint payments. These are already commonplace: for example, Apple Pay uses Touch ID—a fingerprint sensor—as a biometric authentication method for making payments, but as the pace of technology continues to accelerate, expect to see more and more of this at a retailer near you.
The second key area—palm powered checkout—utilizes contactless palm or vein scanning for faster and more hygienic authentication. This biometric technology uses near-infrared light to capture a person’s palm vein pattern for identification and is particularly beneficial in high-traffic environments. After all, who wants to wait?
And thirdly, we have voice recognition which allows users to authorize payments using unique voice commands, ideal for hands-free and accessible payment solutions.
So, whether it’s facial, fingerprint, palm vein or voice recognition, we can all enjoy a secure, convenient, hygienic, seamless shopping experience with minimum fuss and maximum enjoyment.
In-store innovation
Alongside the benefits of biometrics, the in-store experience itself is changing before our eyes. Again, there are three main areas here.
Let’s start with smart shopping carts, digitally upgraded baskets that use technology to enhance the shopping experience for both customers and retailers.
Key features include sensors to detect the weight, size and shape of items, digital cameras to recognize items based on their appearance, digital interfaces to display shopping lists or product recommendations, and, of course, a payment function to allow customers to record and pay for products directly in the cart. The Amazon Dash Cart is a good example of this product in action.
Alongside smart shopping carts, we’re also seeing the emergence of Scan and Go apps which allow users to scan items and pay for them without using a traditional checkout—ASDA Scan & Go is already established and there’s also an app for members of the IRI Shopper Panel that lets users scan purchases, answer surveys and earn rewards. Walmart, too, offers Scan & Go via its mobile app, enabling shoppers to skip physical checkout and streamline their customer journey.
And finally, self-checkout kiosks are evolving to offer better customer experiences and reduce fraud—headline features include larger screens for a more immersive shopping experience, multi-tender and cashless options which allow customers to scan, bag and pay independently, and computer vision to recognize items by their bar code, weight and image, and alert staff to discrepancies.
AI advancements
The third key factor turbocharging a seamless shopping experience both in-store and online is AI. The two cornerstones here are recommendation engines and IoT micropayments.
In the case of the former, AI-powered systems can analyze customer data to recommend personalized payment methods, loyalty programs and financing options, all of which can enhance customer satisfaction. And with the latter, AI enables secure and frictionless micropayments for services like streaming, in-app purchases and connected devices, powering the growing IoT ecosystem. Imagine your smart refrigerator automatically ordering groceries and paying for them without any human intervention.
If some of this sounds like science fiction, it’s not. It’s here and it’s happening at a retailer near you. This is one movie you’ve never seen before, so, take your seats and enjoy the experience. With the help of technology, it’s only going to get better.