Shoppers keen for next-gen tech to improve shopping experience says Wirecard

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Feb 5, 2020

Consumers worldwide are eager to embrace next-gen technology to improve their online shopping experience, a new study shows, and this could impact the fashion and beauty sector in a big way.

As many as 58% identified mobile payments as being the most important shopping-related technology that would boost their experience and they rated biometric payments/cashier-less stores second (45%). In fact, as many as 68% of consumers would be interested in using biometric data to buy products in-store. Meanwhile, virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) came third on their priority lists with a 25% score.

The findings are part of a global study of 6,000 consumers in select countries in Europe, Asia Pacific and the Americas, commissioned by digital financial tech specialist Wirecard.

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It said consumers are seeking convenience in particular and like the idea of an app to purchase products using self-checkout (71% said they’re somewhat or very interested).

They also like the idea of smart mirrors to view additional products, request other items and buy goods without a checkout (65% are somewhat or very interested). 

Meanwhile 61% like the thought of unmanned stores such as Amazon Go and the same number would happily use VR to’ try on’ clothing before buying it online.

It’s interesting that the study showed shoppers from Malaysia, Thailand and Brazil are among the most open to using these new technologies, with shoppers from the US, Australia and France among the lowest.

In general, the country differences are quite marked. For instance, 93% of Thai shoppers are interested in self-checkout apps, compared to 62% of UK consumers and 51% of Australians. Just 38% of Australians say they’re either very or somewhat interested in unmanned stores like Amazon Go, compared to 56% of UK and 88% of Thai consumers.

The survey also showed that mobile payments are a must and 44% of consumers expect to have that option, that number also being less likely to visit a physical store if it was unavailable.

It might be a surprise that as many as 57% either strongly or somewhat agree that using voice-assisted devices such as Amazon Alexa and Google Home Hub would make shopping easier. And 44% either strongly or somewhat agree that they would trust voice-assisted payments to do their weekly shopping. Once again, Thai consumers are the most open to new technologies with 92% either strongly or somewhat agreeing that voice-assisted devices would make shopping easier, compared to 38% of Australians.

Shoppers also want to use tech to research products while they’re in-store before they buy. Some 74% are at least somewhat interested in using an app or the store's website on their phone to find out more about the product they’re looking at, while at least 72% have some interest in using in-store screens such as tablets and 60% are at least interested in using VR.