Have you ever dreamed of solutions that would allow you to leave a store without having to worry about payment? Mobile payment solutions are currently at the heart of innovation. With the arrival of 100% connected stores, the question of the traditional “checkout” is widely debated. All the means are good to manage the payment in a more fluid way: QR code, applications, connected bag, store without staff...
A connected store, without checkout, it's possible!
Some stores are trying to eliminate the famous payment boxes. They are trying, in this way, to provide a 100% connected shopping experience through the use of a smartphone. This is a central and essential tool throughout the customer journey. It becomes even more important at the present time when it helps to pay for purchases.
You must have heard of Amazon Go, a convenience store located in Seattle that allows you to enter the store, help yourself and leave without going through the "payment" box. The only prerequisite to enter this store is to have your smartphone and activate the Amazon Go application. At the entrance to the store, the customer simply flashes a QR code. The technologies integrated for this program are numerous: sensitive sensors that detect grip movements, facial recognition cameras, microphones and infrared that analyze the movements of each customer, etc.
The benefits for customers are numerous. For example, he does not have to scan the products he puts in his basket. These are automatically added to their Amazon account. Payment is made once the individual exits the store. He doesn't have to have any means of payment on him.
A store where you are only accompanied by technologies
In Sweden, a convenience store with no checkout, no staff, and no big tech exists. You are alone with the products and the store is open 24 hours a day, 24 days a week. In order to access this convenience store, you simply need your smartphone, as for Amazon Go. Inside, the customer must scan the products he buys using his smartphone. Then, every month the client pays through his personal account. Payment is made monthly via the customer's personal account. The idea is particularly interesting, especially for very rural places where few stores and large surfaces are established.
Other stores of the same type exist in Shanghai, for example, where payment is made immediately thanks to the prior registration of the credit card. In Belgium, this type of store is also used for a DIY store.
The limits of the connected and autonomous store
Internet users' purchasing paths will be greatly disrupted with the arrival of this type of store. All the steps are dehumanized, which risks creating a whole set of barriers to purchase in the minds of individuals. Dematerialization is indeed sometimes difficult to understand and accept for some.
On the other hand, this type of store does not create jobs because they do not need any “humans”. However, it has been widely recognized in Marketing that in-store staff improve the customer experience through welcoming, information or even advice. One of the main limits therefore lies in the fact that 100% connected stores cannot offer an experience as enriched as that offered by a traditional store. However, we believe that these two types of stores meet different needs and that one does not encroach on the "flower beds" of the other...
Mobile payment
As we have seen, retailers are constantly looking for solutions to improve the shopping experience. This necessarily involves the desire to reduce waiting times at the checkout. The signs are gradually beginning to test some innovations in the field. For example, at Monoprix, consumers no longer queue to checkout. This service allows a "dropping of the shopping cart". In a few words, the customer leaves his shopping cart at the end of his shopping and a delivery service takes care of bringing the shopping home. Payment is then made at that time. A mobile collection using a Monoprix application is also being tested
In the same style, Franprix offers payment mobility. Employees visit customers in the store to register all purchases and process payment. Currently, Nespresso and many other brands allow payment on the move thanks to sellers equipped with tablets or smartphones allowing payment to be made.
Expect a considerable development of mobile payment in all sectors of activity! This represents a real time saver for consumers and a way to respond to one of the major obstacles to selling in physical space.
