The beginning of the roaring twenties that we (never) experienced

14 January 2021

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Let me take you back in time. The year is 2020, and the life of the consumer is about to change forever. We were ready to live through our own roaring 20’s, great years like those in the Great Gatsby. Analysts and industry leaders are making bold and positive predictions about what is next for retail.

Technology is going to change how consumers interact with brands, with social media and new technologies like virtual mirrors would bring the omnichannel experience to life for consumers across the globe. This rise in new technology was going herald the dawn of experiential retail.

The next generation of consumers want to spend on experiences, and, by golly, that is what retail in 2020 was going to give them. The ability to run in shoes before they were bought, skateboard with friends in the same place you shop or have a nap on a mattress before you buy it.

For retailers, gaining customer loyalty in an ever more competitive environment was going to be key. Moving away from the reliance of one-off sales and offering more compelling rewards through loyalty programs were key to appealing to their customer base.

Online retailers were going to continue to grow, and more consumers were going to move their retail transactions online. Retailers were going to need to be prepared to meet the increase in demand of new channels, like click and collect and home delivery.

Then we lost it. The “it” that I am talking about, is the opportunity to experience this brave new world of technology filled retail locations. The rapid change that we were anticipating didn’t happen. The rapid change, didn’t, at first, look like we expected it to. But as this is a reflection of 2020, the question is, “Didn’t it?”

As the pandemic spread across the globe, the retail experience, did in fact, change more rapidly than anyone could have imagined. One-way systems, two-metre distances in store, limited numbers of customers allowed in stores.

The pandemic has made the need for innovative in-store solutions more pressing. Consumers still overwhelmingly prefer to shop in store. Solutions like virtual mirrors are important to ensure the safety of customers. The ability to conduct contactless transactions became important. Consumers and store staff wanted to remain distances from each other. Cash automation in-store enabled these distances and customer choice, to be maintained.

Online retail did grow, faster than anyone thought it would. One UK supermarket grew twice as fast over the course of 2020 than they had since the time they began selling online, from being 9% of sales to 16% of sales in one year.

The experience in store could not have mattered more in 2020. For some, being in store and the experience that they expected, became about hygiene, Consumers wanted to be in a place where they felt safe and protected. That was the experience that consumers wanted. Retailers delivered. Glory cash automation devices provide our customers and theirs with a solution that reassures them of their safety and meets their new expectations of the instore experience.

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