Contactless shopping may be here to stay even after the pandemic is over.
When we think of shopping, we picture the busy shopfronts, jam-packed changing rooms and long lines of people waiting to be served at the cash register.
Now, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, consumer trends have shown a huge shift. Customers are now trapped inside their homes to limit human to human interaction and as there are no customers to shop in-store as many non-essential stores are closing down.
Retailers who usually have high volumes of customers such as restaurant, coffee shops, movie theatres and grocery stores are facing tremendous challenges during the outbreak.
Fortunately the introduction of contactless shopping enables futuristic technologies such as Amazon Go stores which lets you make contactless payment. As it letting you use your phone to pick up what you like, buy and leave without the need to queue up at a cashier, for those who are likely to be in a hurry.
In Australia, Amazon and 7- eleven have pushed out cashless, mobile checkout options to avoid the spread of the novel virus. Contactless shopping offers a seamless online and in-store shopping experience as it allows you to personalise your orders and reduces queuing and wait times.
“When those consumer behaviours change over several months, they tend to stick” says Linda Kirkpatrick from Mastercard.
Bunnings have a new Drive and Collect contactless service that aligns with new social distancing rules in 250 of its larger stores.
Customers can now select a convenient time and date to collect their orders after purchasing online. Parking at a designated location in the carpark, customers texts or calls their local store while a team member brings out the orders and puts them in the boot.
Westfield Direct also enables customers to purchase products online from multiple stores in one transaction and picks them up from their car through contactless drive- through location in their local centre. From fresh foods, to food court food such as Baker’s delight, Donut King, and Boost Juice in over 8000 retailer stores.
While our country moves to incorporate more forms of contactless shopping in the face of the pandemic, we’re left wondering what this will mean for the future of retail. Will it be changed forever, with customers continuing to enjoy contactless shopping? Or will we revert back to our shopping habits from our pre-quarantined world?
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