The Next Battle For Retail: Convenience – Part 2
The following post is part 2 of a 2 part series.
Mobile Commerce and Voice have emerged as hot topics in the space but both suffer from friction issues. On the mobile front, there is a wide monetization gap between where people spend their time and where they spend their money. Mobile may account for almost 80% of the time spent shopping online but only accounts for 32% of the share of sales. Checkout and payments are a big friction point in Mobile and it still has room to grow before it becomes a dominant solution. 10 years ago, the idea of banking on your phone was crazy. Today, mobile is the dominant banking channel that has forced banks to re-imagine the purpose and footprint of their physical storefronts. The behavior is already there. It’s just a matter of fine-tuning the user experience.
Voice is another interesting channel but still has a ton of barriers to overcome. The idea of purchasing items via Voice seems interesting but in reality, it introduces way more friction as compared to the next alternative method. As long as there is always the next best alternative, it will be hard for this channel to take off. The low hanging fruit is enabling repeat purchases and still worth exploring for certain platforms and consumers.
Grocery retailers have seen a ton of success with Cashierless checkout and Click-and-Collect in driving incremental growth due to more frequent shopping trips. Another interesting tool being tested is in-store wayfinding and mobile tools akin to using Google Maps and Search to find exactly what you want. The battle here is for the busy consumer as grocery shopping is a frequent, time-intensive trip with high search costs and a frustrating checkout line.
Whether it’s offering to order ahead capabilities, reducing checking out waiting times, or eliminating the need to checkout altogether, the consumer stands to benefit from this new battleground.
Sources:
- eMarketer, Frictionless Commerce 2020
- Unlocking the customer value chain: How decouplers drive consumer disruption by Thales S. Teixeira
