In west London in 2021, Amazon launched their own grocery store with a revolutionary twist. Using cutting edge technology, facial recognition cameras and sensors on store shelves, there was no need to physically pay for your items. By seamlessly linking customers to their Amazon accounts, shoppers could simply leave the store without ever coming in contact with a cashier or a payment gateway. When it was initially launched, it was praised as an innovation that would soon become the standard. I remember walking past the Amazon Fresh in my city and peering inside, but to my surprise, not only were there no employees there were almost never any shoppers either. About a year ago I noticed my Amazon Fresh store has ceased operations and I’ve learned that they have abandoned their “just walk out” technology as well. So what went wrong? It turns out that their human-less approach to omnichannel eCommerce grocery shopping actually did end up involving quite a few human laborers. It came to light that Amazon’s cutting edge eCommerce integration was actually just a team of remote employees surveilling shoppers throughout their entire time in the store.
Though Amazon’s strategy wasn’t as effective as they may have anticipated, it does encourage me to ask: to what extent has paying for things changed and to what extent will it change? I further wonder we are approaching a territory of innovating payment methods simply for marketing purposes, while it doesn’t necessarily make shopping any more efficient for consumers or anyone else involved either.
Everyone loves to have a flexible shopping experience with as many choices as possible. I love having control over the way I live and the way I shop and I’m likely not an isolated case in that respect. As the industry becomes more and more competitive, consumers have more and more power over the choices they make. That includes how they pay for things!
When I worked in a food service job not too long ago, I would often have customers approach me and ask if we supported Apple or Google pay. It always surprised me as I have come to assume this is something most brick and mortar stores offer, it’s an imperative part of shopping for anything these days. You’re probably very well familiar with these forms of payment, as well as buy now pay later options like Klarna and Afterpay. We’ve discussed these types of payment methods in previous posts, today we’re looking forward to what’s next.
Biometric Technology
Biometric systems are capable of recognizing an individual based on their fingerprints, eyes, and their faces, just like Amazon’s “just walk out” technology. You likely experience biometric technology many times a day when you unlock your mobile device using facial recognition. Marketers are even using this technology to analyze consumer behavior, but this has posed new concerns around privacy as biometric data is highly sensitive.
Voice-Based/Smart Speakers
You may have seen advertisements for Amazon’s smart speaker, Alexa, you may even have your own at home. This technology allows consumers to simply tell their smart speaker to place an order on Amazon thus making the shopping experience more efficient with no screens involved. Voice based payment market is expected to reach 14.66 billion by 2030.
A2A and Cryptocurrency
Account to account payments are becoming more popular as this allows for more efficient transfer of funds directly from one bank account to another without excessive processing fees. Cryptocurrency has become popular again for the same reasons, also as it can be anonymous and thus safer for your data.
mPOS
This is something I’ve experienced quite a few times that always makes me feel a little bit guilty, as I feel like I’m leaving the restaurant without permission. Just like scanning a QR code to view a restaurant’s menu, some restaurants have you do the same to pay for your meal through a payment gateway on your mobile device. This technology allows customers to pay without any intervention from an employee.
Payment methods are always changing, the eCommerce industry is always changing too. Keeping up with innovations is hard work, hopefully your eCommerce platform can handle the whiplash. If you need help with complex eCommerce integrations or want to create an omnichannel eCommerce inventory system, our platform marketAgility 7.0 could be the solution to these commerce challenges and so much more. Contact us today to get started!
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