These technologies are luring customers back to stores after the pandemic

How do customers get back to the shops and city centers after Corona? The current study by EHI "Technology Trends in Retail 2021" shows how retailers are reacting to new challenges and preparing for the time after the lockdown. Services like Click & Collect and Click & Reserve have seen a boost during the lockdown. With "Connected Retail", brick-and-mortar retailers can now also take advantage of the strong online demand by accepting online orders from marketplaces such as Zalando and sending goods from the brick-and-mortar store to customers. ROQQIO also supports stationary retailers in continuing their business during the store closures. According to the study, future-proof, innovative checkout areas including self-checkout or scan and go, customer centricity and the use of AI-based applications should draw buyers back to stationary retail.

The EHI Retail Institute provides these technology trends by digitally surveying CIOs and IT managers from 97 retail companies in the DACH region. Almost all respondents named the checkout area as an elementary factor influencing customer satisfaction. In order to lure customers back to the stationary branches after the pandemic, 30 percent recognize self-scanning and self-checkout as technological innovations that ensure an appealing shopping experience on site. In addition to completely new hygiene and safety measures, annoying queues also speak in favor of digital, new checkout solutions in order to remain future-proof as a retailer. Concrete rollouts, such as scan-and-go solutions via customer smartphones, are already being planned at a quarter of retailers. “The shopping experience will become less stressful, more flexible and more hygienic in the long term, and not just for customers. The employees in the branch are also relieved enormously by digital solutions such as the ROQQIO Instore App.

More time should be invested in customer care, after all, the consultants on the floor are the biggest advantage of stationary retail compared to the online world. Through our application, employees have access to all product and customer information," says Christian Jürs, Director Sales Retail at software provider ROQQIO. Finally, customer centricity through personalization and individualization of customer service continues to be the focus. With individual service offers, small retailers can continue to look after their regular customers even during the pandemic: An example of this is advice via WhatsApp and video, which is possible through the personal commitment of the seller and precise knowledge of the regular customers.

The EHI study also shows that 63 percent of the retailers surveyed see artificial intelligence at the forefront of the most important technologies of the future. The corona pandemic has caused disruptions in complex supply chains. Corresponding applications support retailers with self-learning algorithms, in particular with forecast analyzes and stock replenishment. Ultimately, the customer also benefits from the personalization of the shopping experience in the form of product recommendations and dynamic pricing. These improvements can currently only be used online, which raises the question of which digital tools can be used to improve the shopping experience in brick-and-mortar retail in the future.

The ROQQIO instore app is a tool that is currently being used stationary on tablets and smartphones to make salespeople "more intelligent" and thus improve customer service and networking with other channels. “The Corona crisis has shown that software and processes are absolutely strategic, especially in retail, and are important building blocks for future business success. The further linking of the sales channels as a central element of the IT strategy is certainly one of the many insights from the hard times of lockdowns and business closures," says Christian Jürs.

About ROQQIO

ROQQIO offers software solutions and concepts for the implementation of the customer journey in omnichannel retail. The portfolio includes systems for merchandise control, POS and the enterprise SaaS application ROQQIO Commerce Cloud. This manages different sales channels and controls complex backend processes, including order management, payment and logistics. The combination of these stationary and online technologies enables a seamless omnichannel experience. Processes such as Click & Collect or the exchange of goods bought online in the branch work smoothly. More than 1,500 companies already trust in the services and solutions of the commerce experts from ROQQIO.