Survey: Shoppers are ready for leading-edge store tech
A new global survey indicates consumers are receptive to brick-and-mortar innovations such as cashierless stores.
A multinational consumer survey from digital financial technology provider Wirecard reveals that large percentages of respondents have interest in using emerging technologies to streamline a variety of in-store shopping activities. Seven in 10 (71%) are somewhat or very interested in a self-checkout app. And 65% are somewhat or very interested in a smart mirror that would allow them to view additional products, request other items and purchase goods without a checkout.
Six in 10 (61%) respondents are somewhat or very interested in shopping at cashierless stores like Amazon Go. More than four in 10 (44%) respondents said they either somewhat or strongly agree that if a physical store didn't offer ways to purchase using their mobile phone, they'd be less likely to shop there.
When asked which shopping-related technology development they would like to see implemented to improve their buying experience, 58% of survey respondents identified mobile payments as being the most important, with biometric payments/cashierless stores second (45%) and virtual reality/augmented Reality (VR/AR) third with 25%.
Specifically examining attitudes toward specific VR and biometric technologies, the survey found that 61% of respondents are somewhat or very interested in using VR to try on items of clothing before buying them online. Three in five would be interested in using biometric data to purchase products in-store (68%) and online (66%). When using biometric data to authorize payments, consumers are, on average, willing to spend $56. This drops to $43 when authorization isn't required.
Close to six in 10 (57%) respondents either strongly or somewhat agreed that using voice-assisted devices such as Amazon Alexa and Google Home Hub would make shopping easier, and 44% either strongly or somewhat agreed that they would trust voice-assisted payments to do their weekly shopping.
Consumers are also interested in using technology to research products while they are in-store before they purchase. Three-quarters (74%) of respondents are at least somewhat interested in using an app on their phone or the store's website on their phone to find out more about the product they are 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.
The independent survey was carried out by Vanson Bourne on behalf of Wirecard in Q4 2019. A total of 6,000 consumers over the age of 18 in select countries in Europe, APAC and the Americas (including the U.S.) provided answers.