Getting New Technologies Right Will Make or Break Retailers in 2020

More than 8,200 retail stores closed in 2019.  Well-known brands like Forever 21, Radio Shack, and Barneys New York declared bankruptcy as consumers continued to move away from physical stores in favor of online shopping or more specialized experiences. Whether they’re looking at a product in person or on their mobile device, consumers now expect and demand the retail experience be personalized and catered to them. Nailing this digital experience will be the difference between being around next year or joining the growing list of retail bankruptcies.

To stay relevant, retailers should jump on these key trends to meet rapidly evolving consumer expectations:

Nail Your ‘vTail’ Strategy

2020 will be the year voice commerce moves firmly into the spotlight, thanks in large part to the growing popularity of smart displays such as the Amazon Echo Show. Even though voice commerce has seen modest growth in retail so far (its $2 billion accounted for less than 1 percent of U.S. e-commerce sales in 2018), the growing popularity of smart displays paired with voice will grow that number exponentially.

According to Voicebot, “smart display owners were 133 percent more likely to make voice purchases on a monthly basis in 2018, and 76 percent more likely to be conducting product searches using the devices.” The ability to preview a product on a screen is an obvious benefit to voice experiences as shoppers will feel more comfortable purchasing products that they can see beforehand. With this validation, customers can confidently carry out a transaction and ideally return for more. Retailers must understand that “vTail” is here and that consumers expect the same frictionless shopping experience across all devices and channels. If you don’t embrace all aspects of this omnichannel experience, you’re bound to fail.

Deliver the In-Store Technology Your Customers Want

According to a new ominously titled A.T. Kearney report, Retailers Are Ignoring Consumer Expectations Around Retail Technology, a whopping 72 percent of respondents were interested in technologies that reduce checkout time, while 61 percent said they were interested in solutions that allowed them to spend less time navigating stores.

With news that Amazon.com is in talks to bring its cashierless technology to retailers in places like airport shops and movie theaters, it’s only a matter of time before cashierless stores make their way to your town. To this point, Amazon’s cashierless technology has been limited to its 16 Go stores. However, CNBC reports that the plan is to license the Go technology to other retailers in hopes to have “hundreds of these stores working by the end of 2020.” Amazon is a consistent trendsetter. With the company making a push to get cashierless stores up and running quickly, it’s only a matter of time before other major retailers follow suit, priming cashierless stores for a major breakout in 2020. Retailers need to be ready to deliver customers the Amazon-like experience they expect.

Retailers that offer their customers the opportunity to interact with them seamlessly at any time and across any channel are the ones that will succeed in today’s environment. Nailing your digital strategy and offering a satisfying customer experience at every touchpoint — whether it’s via voice or in-store — is key.

Chris Sheehan is the vice president of strategic accounts at Applause, a venture-funded company that tests software and conducts usability feedback research.