The tech helping retailers to thrive in a Covid world

Since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, we’ve been more reliant on tech than ever before. Whether it’s working from home, taking part in Zoom meetings or ordering online food deliveries, tech has been central to how society has coped.

For retailers, 2020 has been a tricky year. While some businesses were forced to suspend trading, others saw unprecedented demand for goods and services.

Now that all businesses are allowed to re-open, however, retailers are using tech to make their premises safe for customers and staff. To learn more, take a look at the technology that’s helping retailers to thrive in Covid world:

Increased e-commerce

Businesses that only offered offline sales prior to Covid-19 are quickly introducing e-commerce to their customers. By generating a second revenue stream and enabling customers to shop even when retail units are closed, increased e-commerce has enabled many firms to stay afloat in these challenging times.

Contactless payments

Although contactless payments were widely used before the pandemic, they’re now becoming compulsory in many retail environments. When customers pay via a contactless card, there doesn’t need to be any direct transactions between staff members and clientele. This limits the potential spread of the virus and helps people to feel more confident when shopping offline.

Product diversification

As companies were faced with logistical challenges, they relied on technological ingenuity to create innovative solutions. By finding numerous uses for equipment, for example, businesses were able to adapt to restrictive lockdown measures and operate safely. 

Industrial platform scales are routinely used in the logistics and travel industry, for example, but they can also be used by the medical community. As clinics, hospitals and doctor’s surgeries were forced to adapt their working procedures, increasing numbers turned to industrial equipment to enable them to provide the care that patients needed.

Payment points

Traditionally, customers were served by a member of staff when shopping offline. As tech has evolved, however, an increasing number of businesses have chosen to introduce self-checkouts and payment points.

In response to Covid-19, companies are relying on these payment methods even more. Easy to clean and simple to operate, they allow customers to shop without coming into close contact with anyone.

On-site alerts

As well as relying on tech to facilitate sales, retailers are also using tech to help staff and customers stay safe at all times. With on-site alert systems, for example, people can be warned when too many customers are congregating in one area.

Similarly, digital CCTV and entry monitoring systems can quickly determine how many people are on site. This allows retailers to limit the flow of people and implement achievable social distancing measures that adhere to the relevant guidelines.

Shopping in a post-Covid era

There’s no doubt that coronavirus will have far-reaching and long-lasting consequences on the retail industry, as well as society as a whole. Many of the changes companies are making in response to Covid-19 are increasing convenience and flexibility for customers, while providing increased revenue for businesses.

With the potential for scalability and growth, we’ll see the tech solutions that are being used today become a critical part of the future retail infrastructure.