Contactless, Frictionless, Limitless.
Our learnings on unmanned retail across varying lines of business.
Over the last 2-3 years within Contract Foodservice, Compass Group has led the charge for frictionless checkout and has embraced a mobile-first strategy critical to reaching today's customers. This simply means shaping their retail business with mobile users as a top priority. This makes the shopping experience more seamless, personalized, and connected.
Amazon (of course) set the stage early with the creation of Amazon-Go, which has since evolved into Amazon's Just Walk Out, with sensors and computer vision that can track when consumers physically pick up an item or return it to the shelf, add or take away from a virtual cart. Then, the customer can just walk out with their chosen items, which are automatically scanned and charged to the customer's account. No more waiting in long lines.
The Three Keys to Contactless Success.
Contactless commerce brings many opportunities — safer, faster, and content-rich immersive experiences — but it also brings challenges related to privacy, data security, escalating customer expectations, and new roles for in-store staff, to name but a few. According to Mark Purdy (Contributor for the Harvard Business Review) , to capitalize on the opportunities and mitigate the risks, retailers can consider 3 key actions:
- Keep it Broad without losing purpose - Keep it broad and focused on the core brand mission, avoiding overly complex stories or initiatives that the brand can't deliver.
- Empower your Operators - Higher adoption comes when you start your story but allow your sales force and clients to continue it for you. No one wants to feel dictated to which is why its important to allow your extended teams and clients to extend your core values through their voice within their communities.
- Functional Flex for the Win - Offer flexible options that appeal to any budget, such as modular products, menus, and point of sale vehicles, to effectively engage customers and create sustainable models for the future. This helps to ensure that your service or product is a valuable investment for customers.