Shopping from home using a mobile device that understands your voice? Paying for your online shopping with your usual payment method?
The retail sector has to make a move to avoid being left behind by the wave of digital technologies during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Digitalisation has arrived, and retail cannot afford to ignore it.
It is time to take matters into your own hands, knowing the main digitalisation tools for the sector and embracing the digital transformation of commerce.
At PayXpert we have what you need. Are you going to miss it? Read on!
If there is one thing that everyone on the planet agrees on, it is that 2020 was not an easy year. If we talk about the current situation in the retail sector, we cannot ignore retail in the time of COVID-19, where significant health, economic and digital challenges have emerged.
The challenges remain the same as they were a couple of years ago: using innovation to support customer engagement and enhance their brand experience, making it more authentic, more engaging, and more personalised. To address them, the key points have been the adoption of modern technology through digital payment systems, the use of APIs, the implementation of transaction control systems with business intelligence, etc.
In short, those keys are still relevant in 2021, but with a difference. Now, retailers no longer have the luxury of time; the pandemic has forced them to act swiftly. So, those who are getting the message and embracing technologies to digitise their business, such as beauty services, bars and restaurants or the construction sector, have a clear competitive advantage.
The pandemic has left a deep scar on the sector: it forced retailers to close hundreds of stores of all kinds. In October 2020, 15% of Spanish businesses closed due to coronavirus, and by the end of the year, sales plummeted by 7.1%, marking the most significant decline since 2012 (*figures reported by El País).
Food stores and large chains maintained revenue levels, but other businesses did not meet the same fate, as was the case with clothing stores, hairdressers, beauty centres, among others.
So, what happens now? The retail sector has been forced to change rapidly to change its operations and adapt to current circumstances, with customer satisfaction as the primary focus. At this point, many retail executives are contemplating new strategies and initiatives to implement over the rest of the year. And that is the starting point for any strategic plan for the sector.
To help them, we have compiled the key recommendations and will provide information on the tools we have at PayXpert for retail digitalisation.
The few happy retail stories in 2020 share one thing in common: they had already started their digital transformation process. Take the U.S. electronics company Best Buy, for example. While other retailers in the country were closing, this company responded to the new needs of the population through its online store. So much so that it significantly increased sales of household appliances, office equipment and mobile devices, among other products.
For most retailers, the situation was different. They were not well prepared, so they had to make a quick (and intelligent) decision to transition to an eCommerce platform immediately.
At PayXpert, we support the resilience of the retail sector through our solutions to help them on their way to digitalisation. We make it possible through the following tools:
The digitalisation of retail starts with a change of mindset. Are you ready to offer your customers the experience they want? Find out more about the solutions that PayXpert has for you: Contact us.