Accenture: Contactless shop (Contactless store)

2020: Announcement of Contactless shop

On June 29, 2020 the Accenture company announced Contactless store an output to the market of the solution on reorganization of sales points.

For June, 2020 there were updated requirements to offline - trade. In addition to regular disinfection of trade premises, restrictions on the maximum single-step number of buyers in shop, expansions of options on contactless payment and delivery they include the minimum quantity of contacts in the course of purchase, observance of requirements of social distancing, etc. With respect thereto changes and in behavior of buyers are obvious.

Accenture developed the post-crisis solution for a retail Contactless shop. Photo: pymnts.com.

According to a recent research of Accenture, since the beginning of crisis in the world demand of buyers for basic instruments of remote and contactless service significantly grew. The share of clients who use contactless payments grew by 51%. The number of the users making orders through applications and for 39% buying through social networks increased by 47%. Issue of goods via automatic post offices and directly in the car was opened for themselves for 33% and 40% by more consumers respectively.

The share of clients who are going to save the patterns of consumer behavior found in the period of a pandemic connected with remote and contactless sales and service exceeds 70%.

Ensuring visible support of buyers in terms of protection of their health and providing a possibility of the free choice of the channel to them for implementation of purchase gives the chance to retailers quickly to return traffic to shops and to recover sales volumes in offline - channels.

For the solution of these questions "Contactless Shop" assumes implementation of a number of process, organizational and technology changes.

First of all, from retailers monitors of daily contacts of employees/buyers for the purpose of permanent tracking of the state of health are required. It will allow to identify timely threat and to reduce rates of development of epidemic, saving health of a large number of people.

Also retailers can reduce the number of interactions in offline store by installation in trading floors of automatic post offices of self-service for contactless issue of online orders. Fitting rooms of computer-controlled self-service of a flow of buyers and lamps of disinfecting of things which underwent fitting are relevant for retail non-food for June, 2020, but were not purchased.

Offline stores are supposed to be equipped with instruments of monitoring of admissible number of buyers and control of carrying means of protecting. An important part of the updated sales points – instruments of navigation to the necessary shelf (for large formats of trade, such as hypermarkets) and also show-windows with a possibility of independent payment and goods receipt on site (for small-pieces, but valuable goods).

Instruments of automatic remote temperature measurement of a body of the buyer, for June, 2020, are rather expensive, it makes sense to consider them how the tool for identification of people with the increased temperature on inputs in shopping centers.

Carrying out remote consultations on goods/services can become the important tool for retailers with a big advisory element on sales. The share of people who will continue to use remote consultations after a pandemic makes more than 73%.

Many practices on automation of sales process were applied the industries long before a pandemic. For example, cash desks of self-service, RFID-scanning and instruments of contactless payment. Maxim Irisov, the area director Retail of Accenture company in Russia believes