Retailers to ramp up cashierless stores push, Juniper Research

Retail spend at frictionless payment stores like Amazon Go will grow from an estimated $253 million in 2018 to over $45 billion by 2023, according to Juniper Research. Most of these transactions will be in convenience and general stores, with an average transaction value around $30 per visit throughout the forecast period.

Also of interest: Amazon keeping schtum about ambitious Amazon Go plans

Self-scanning apps, an alternative to ‘Just Walk Out’ technologies, will, meanwhile, be used by over 32 million shoppers by 2023. While Wi-Fi will continue to be the biggest engagement point for customers, Juniper expects smart checkout apps to act as gateways to technologies like Bluetooth beacons and augmented reality.

The development of virtualised beacons, where an antenna array simulates the presence of multiple beacons, will increase revenues for manufacturers. These revenues will grow at an average annual growth of 49%, reaching over $1.5 billion by 2023; beacon shipments will only grow at 21.5% per annum.

Juniper Research is also flagging up customer service as a key area for in-store innovation, with retailers experimenting with automated handling of customer queries. Voice assistants and in-store robots will support this in 2023, with robots generating over $20 million in revenue for their manufacturers. Early leaders here include Softbank’s Pepper, Bossa Nova Robotics’ shelf-scanning and Lowe’s customer service robots.

“Many of these technologies can bring multiple benefits to retailers,” says Juniper Research’s James Moar. “For example, robots and RFID can be used in both customer service and inventory management; making both elements of in-store retail more efficient.”

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