INTRODUCTION
Welcome to Retail Done Right. These Show Notes accompany our Season 2, Episode 3 podcast, “Fixing the Broken Checkout Experience.”
Waiting for anything sucks. In a physical retail store, waiting can directly impact your experience and the impression you take away with you. But waiting to pay is the worst!
I’m in your store. I’ve selected what I want. Then I have to wait to give you my money? There’s never been a better time to rethink, redesign – to reinvent – the check-out experience. Let’s make this last impression one of the best.
FIXING THE BROKEN CHECKOUT EXPERIENCE
Check out this stat from Shopify.com to validate our point:
Although 61% of shoppers would rather shop with brands that also have a physical location over brands that are online only, more than 70% of surveyed consumers said the checkout experience is their biggest pain point.
We start with the basics. We’re in the 4th quarter – yes, Christmas shopping season. There’s clearly demand out there and people are shopping.
It may not be practical to roll out any new processes or even new tech. But you can reiterate, reinforce and work with your teams that the checkout is the last impression you leave with your customer.
It’s time to treat the check-out as Priority #1. A positive, fast and efficient check out process can help to soften any frustrations during their shopping journey.
We continue the conversation by exploring technology available in the marketplace today, including “Just Walk Out” from Amazon and MasterCard’s “Shop Anywhere” platform, created in partnership with Accel Robotics.
Our conversation focuses on the grocery segment, self-checkout and expands from there. It’s wide ranging conversation that we hope you find interesting.
Many of the articles and reports referenced during our discussion are listed below.
RESEARCH AND LINKS
· The Future of Checkout: How Retailers are Innovating the Payment Experience
· Just Walk Out
- · Mastercard Launches Frictionless Retail Technology Solutions to Enable Touchless Economy
- https://investor.mastercard.com/investor-news/investor-news-details/2020/Mastercard-Launches-Frictionless-Retail-Technology-Solutions-to-Enable-Touchless-Economy/default.aspx
- Self-Checkout Installations Surged 25% in 2020
- Global Food Retailer All In on Facial Recognition for Its Frictionless Future
· Tiffany Haddish Looks To ‘Build Bridges’ By Opening A South Central LA Grocery Store
- Alles Voor Mekaar (Everything for Each Other)
- Dutch Supermarket Introduces a Unique “Chat Checkout” to Help Fight Loneliness”
- Supermarkets Dig into the Challenge of Food Waste
CONCLUSION
To close this episode, Cristene took us on a journey.
“I know I’m reaching here but I want to try something a bit aspirational…and I have to take another small detour first:
- Did you know that in 2020 payments giant Pay Pal allowed their people to select if they’d like to be paid every day?
- With automation, this is far more possible than ever. What if – now bear with me here – what if you could offer someone who can work for you sporadically – the opportunity to shop using their wages, loaded to a payment card?
- What if they could supplement what they buy with a percentage of items that would be going to a food pantry – so you can save them a trip. You can cap it at a percentage or a dollar value or item count…
- What if… you could then send that mom – and yes, I think it’s likely to be a mom working to feed her kids or family – in an Uber, Lyft or other self-driving vehicle or local van with the bags so she can get them home and, in the house, pretty easily?
If you ask me about retail done right – that’s it right there.
Let’s go shopping!
Jeff Fisher & Cristene Gonzalez-Wertz
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Connect with Cristene on LinkedIn