Mobile payments are on the move. Presumably, it’s only a matter of time before Apple Pay leaps across the ‘pond’ from the US to begin the effort to create a global market. With contactless card use and technology deployment on the up in Europe, the foundation is in place for NFC/mobile wallet-based initiatives from all providers.

A survey commissioned recently by Verifone indicates that while consumers are catching on more quickly to the newest payment technologies, their expectations are rising and retailers need to urgently re-examine their approach to technology in-store and e-commerce in general, in order to keep them happy. 

Consumers increasingly believe technology can play a more prominent role in meeting their needs and encouraging commitment to retailers — and they expect to be able to choose how they will pay. In fact, 72 percent of the 1,085 UK adults polled last month by Censuswide say they have shopped online over the last 3 months, just slightly less than the 75 percent who say they shopped on the High Street during the same period.

Looking at in-store innovations, automated checkouts were seen as very or fairly important to half of all shoppers, although just 14 percent viewed in-store display technology such as tablets for product browsing or digital signage as important and 73 percent who said in-store tablets for browsing made no difference to them whatsoever. 

Beyond the transaction-based aspects of shopping, consumers believe technology can play a more prominent role in meeting their needs and encouraging their onoging commitment to retail brands through a more joined-up approach to commerce, in particular where payments and the point-of-sale experience could be more integrated with marketing and promotion in advance of purchase, and sustained loyalty efforts between purchases.

In line with that, progress and the onset of technology in daily lives has raised the bar on expectations: 35 percent of consumers said they now expected better sales promotions or discounts in exchange for their loyalty and 32 percent expected to be treated as one customer across all payment methods, marketing channels and whether shopping online or in-store.

It’s clear that the face of retail in the UK has changed faster in the past two decades than at any other point in its history. Technology has been the main disruptor, both through the possibility of e-commerce and changes in the shopping experience in-store. The options now available to consumers and the myriad of choices that retailers want to offer in order to secure their custom are broad, but require a joined-up approach in order to ensure that the shopping experience is seamless, desirable and is delivered in ways that suits the needs and desires of shoppers.

Retailers must pay attention to these trends by offering promotions and incentives consistently across all channels to maintain brand loyalty and provide positive experiences to their customers.