Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, digital payments stand as one of the most noticeable changes in the retail industry. Statista.com predicts that by the end of 2020 there will be 760 million users of mobile contactless payments worldwide. The prospect of handing your credit card to a store employee, who has been in contact with many other customers, to run through a POS machine, should be cause for concern. In fact, 52% of customers will only shop at retailers that provide contactless, tap to pay, options (Visa Study).
A similar trend is happening in large apartment complexes where residents want to avoid contact with delivery personnel or facility management, fearing COVID-19 exposure. They prefer a contactless experience when retrieving packages that have been delivered. This same fear is echoed in retail prompting the need for contactless Buy Online Pick up In Store (BOPIS) solutions. So much so that customers will choose not to shop at a retailer that does not offer contactless pickup.
The need and demand for contactless in-store item pickup and large residential or office building package retrieval is stimulating new BOPIS and Smart Package Management innovations respectively. People want to limit their person-to-person contact as much as possible but still, need to acquire items for every-day living or work. These innovations are answering the “contactless” call with new levels of security and assistance, using lasers and computer vision to aid people when acquiring their items and packages.
The contactless desire is not a fad that will dissipate with the arrival of a new vaccine, it’s a process that will remain a part of our lives. For example, brick-and-mortar chains such as Walmart, Target, Best Buy, Urban Outfitters, and Dick’s Sporting Goods have all cited BOPIS as a game-changer on recent earnings calls. This new retail trend drove Thanksgiving Day 2020 online sales up 21.5% to a new record $5.1 billion, according to Adobe Analytics. Secure package management is extremely important when you consider that by 2022, Amazon’s U.S. package delivery volume could more than double, to 6.5 billion. That would beat UPS’s 5 billion and FedEx’s 3.4 billion package volume by that time, according to Morgan Stanley.
Position Imaging is helping retailers and REITs (Real Estate Investment Trusts) address their contactless needs. For retail locations, the iPickup solution gives merchants the opportunity to easily offer contactless item pickup and eliminate virtually all employee-to-consumer contact. The iPickup process is elegant and simple: a consumer is notified via email or text that their online order is ready for pickup at the store. The consumer enters the store and scans a QR code included in the notification, at the iPickup kiosk. A laser and audio prompt then indicate which specific package is theirs on a shelving unit. The entire process typically takes less than 15 seconds and is more efficient than waiting in line at the customer service counter.
For REITs (owners of multi-unit residential properties, office complexes, university campuses, and mail centers), couriers deliver packages to the Smart Package Room by entering their unique pin and scanning package labels which automatically assign the package to residents. Then packages are placed on a shelf inside the room where Position Imaging’s unique computer vision technology locates and tracks every package, enabling simple and secure delivery. Upon package retrieval, residents scan their QR code and are guided by laser and audio prompts to obtain their packages—with zero personal contact.
Computer Vision technology enables truly contactless BOPIS and smart package management solutions. To find out how quickly you can set up iPickup or a Smart Package Room at your location, contact us today.