Shoppers want high quality products at the best possible price, as soon as they can get their hands on them. But these days, there are so many ways to shop, it is a wonder that consumers can find the best deals in a reasonable amount of time. Consumers must consider where to shop, when to shop and how to shop when they want the lowest prices and fastest delivery.

To make it even more confusing, it seems like every month there is a new “disruptive” technology that is going to transform the retail experience. Things like augmented reality (AR), self-service retail, and drone/robot delivery have great potential. But, experts agree that the technology changing retail is not the overhyped stuff of tomorrow, but the more mundane things that are happening today. 

In late 2017, SOTI conducted a survey in North America to gauge consumer attitudes toward technology and how it affects their shopping experience. As expected, technology that shopping faster and easier is in high demand.

• 67% of the respondents are more likely to shop at a store that integrates technology into the shopping experience.
• Over 2/3 of shoppers believe that retailers that utilize more technology enable a faster shopping experience. It reduces the time it takes them to find what they are looking for and makes checkout faster.
• More than 3/4 of respondents think that sales associates equipped with technology (aka Connected Associates) improve their shopping experience.

The SOTI survey also shows some surprising data on self-service trends in retail, and consumer attitudes towards new delivery solutions such as drones, robots and in-home delivery.

“Shopper-centric” retailers are on top of this trend. They have moved beyond traditional retail KPIs such as margin, footfalls and average order value (AOV), and are focusing on customer lifetime value (CLV) and brand loyalty. These retailers are deploying exciting new technologies to streamline operations and improve the customer shopping experience.

• Amazon is so committed to warehouse robotics that they purchased, Kiva Systems, the company that had designed and developed the robots deployed in over 20% of their fulfillment centers.
• Over 70% of retailers are currently implementing or piloting RFID technology to improve supply chain visibility and increase inventory accuracy.
• Consumer demand and the US’s EMV mandate are driving mobile POS adoption, which will quadruple to 54 million units by 2019.

Security and management of all this new technology in more important than ever. Retailers need to maintain PCI compliance on their POS solutions and keep their customer data private and confidential. They need to manage the uptime of their remote, headless systems such as warehouse bots and in-store kiosks. And they must manage large numbers of new mobile POS devices and tablets in the hands of Connected Associates. SOTI makes it easier for retailers to give shoppers the tools and technology they want to improve their shopping experience.

SOTI has been the industry leader for managing retail mobility deployments for over two decades. From rugged, special purpose devices in the warehouse to tablets and mobile POS in the store, SOTI secures and manages all devices, form-factors and operating systems including Linux-based IoT devices and intelligent endpoints. Recently, the company launched the SOTI ONE platform, an integrated suite of mobility and IoT solutions. SOTI ONE keeps your workers working, builds your apps faster and manages your business critical mobile devices, IoT endpoints.