5 Retail Tech trends to watch out for in 2020

Now we are near the end of the first week of 2020, It will be interesting to see how technology disruption will help drive the customer experience and what impact this will have on physical retail stores.

It's safe to say that very few industries have been disrupted with emerging technology as much as the retail sector has in recent years. With the ease of shopping online, the impact of eCommerce and fast fashion, retailers are looking to the latest trends to engage more with their customers.

As technology continues to emerge and be refined, the retail landscape is likely to continue shifting towards technology to compete with rival retailers in their space. Retail tech trends have been discussed and assessed by experts with more retailers looking to take note of what technology is going to do for their business in 2020.

Augmented and virtual reality is not just simply developed for certain industries or innovative lead companies, it’s now moving heavily into retail. In 2020, more retailers will be looking to adopt this technology within their stores and using AR to help online shoppers find everything from shoes to furniture. AR will also be used for customers wishing to try on new products in-store without having to physically try anything on.

Many predict from 2020 onwards, that it'll be the norm for retailers to incorporate AR/VR alongside each other as there's a clear demand from a customer viewpoint and as the technology is becoming more advanced and convenient to rollout, we will see a lot more of this technology in 2020.

With more and more competition on our high streets. Big Data is expected to support retailers in their drive to give their customers more. Retail is one industry that particularly stands to gain from data collection as a means of service improvement and learning more about new and existing customers.

In 2019 there was a massive push for retailers online to capture data and focus heavily on remarketing. This is expected to grow in 2020 with the use of website cookies to learn more about popular products and customer browsing history.

According to McKinsey Global Institute, there will be 30 billion IoT devices in operation in 2020 and it is predicted to have a massive impact on retail from automated shopping to customer loyalty offerings.

Mobile retailing will be used more in 2020, according to leading tech experts. Customer purchasing via mobile and smart devices will be used largely by generation Z in 2020 as these are the generations who use the latest technology the most. Mobile payment has made it as easy as possible to pick and item up in-store and pay without having to have your debit or credit card available.

More retailers are set to encourage and promote apple pay in 2020 due to the growing use of Apple devices and smartwatches as a means of payment.

Store design has changed aesthetically throughout the years with more emphasis on open space and options for socialising in store, such as a cafe for example. Larger retail stores and outlets are looking to change the layout of their stores to cater to a different type of customer that once shopped with them 20 years ago. By changing the outlay of a store, you can encourage a younger generation of customers to shop for your products, this includes WI-FI and mobile payment.

As a leading retail IT provider, we not only support some of the largest retail brands across the globe, we understand what it takes for a successful IT rollout and how to support retailers across all of retail.