Seven Ways Retailers Are Embracing Tech
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With Forrester predicting online shopping will reach $370 billion by 2017, retailers are fighting hard to get consumers to visit stores — and provide a quality experience when they get there.
The trick is matching the convenience, speed and depth of information in-store that the online world easily provides. Also taking priority: time-saving techniques like virtual try-on; faster, more secure checkout; and protecting customers’ information. Consumers “expect the in-store experience to match the convenience of online,” said Chris Donnelly, global managing director of Accenture Retail. Evidence the growth of mobile payments, which Accenture said will quadruple to $630 billion by 2014.
But retailers have a lot of work to do technologically. About 70% of retail executives said they plan to refresh existing software in the next three years, and only 26% have capabilities now that allow consumers to use mobile devices to make a transaction inside physical stores, according to a recently released National Retail Federation survey of 200 retail executives in the U.S. and Europe conducted last fall. Here’s a look at what might be in store.
