While store reopenings are set for June 15, retailers are aware that it will not be business as usual. In order to prepare retail spaces to be both safe and efficient, here are some new technologies retailers could use to bolster their reopening plans.

Smart security

To ensure a socially distanced store, a key concern for many retailers is controlling the flow of customers entering and keeping the numbers permitted to a minimum.

Philips PDS people count 2

AI sensors will be able to detect the number of shoppers in a store and display the information on a digital sign outside

Customer counting is a job traditionally carried out by security staff, but with stores set to be reconfigured to adhere to social distancing rules, could technology be used instead?

Tech firms such as Philips, xplace and Alphabird have developed AI sensors that detect the number of customers walking through a shop’s doors and display that information on a digital sign outside.

Using a traffic light system, queuing customers will be able to see how many people are currently inside and make an informed decision about whether they would like to enter or if they are permitted to.

Asda has also begun trialling a “virtual queuing” system where the customer joins a queue using their phone and remains in their car until it is their turn to shop.

Inventory trackers

As stores begin to reopen, stock levels are likely to be high and some retailers may be forced to offer large discounts in order to shift out-of-season products.

Knowing where inventory is in order to keep on top of demand, as well as ensure sales and customer satisfaction, will be crucial to persuading shoppers back to physical stores.

Inventory-tracking systems, such as IBM’s Sterling inventory visibility, can help track stock, balance it across channels where demand lies and give an accurate view of what items may need bigger discounts to be shifted.

Staff headsets

While keeping customers socially distanced is a priority, retailers must also apply the same logic to its store associates.

shutterstock_1190010538-WEB

Headsets will help to keep staff connected while also observing social distancing guidelines

Busy stores require a minimal, more reactive workforce in order to allow more customers in and operate in the safest way possible. The easiest way to do this is by keeping them in communication at all times. 

In a time of uncertainty, where stock levels may fluctuate and customers may have different requirements, it’s important to keep staff connected while remaining socially distant.

Headsets, like those used by Asda colleagues created by VoCoVo, are a simple way to ensure a connected and efficient workforce. Using this equipment staff members will be able to ask others for help, request shelf restocking or discuss other tasks without needing face-to-face interactions. 

Vehicle tracking

While most retailers have thought about how to keep staff safe in stores and warehouses, retailers should also give a thought to their journeys to work and what can be done to minimise outside contact.

With more restrictions being lifted, public transport is likely to be busier, meaning workers will be more exposed to others.

Retailers may wish to consider using shared transport services with vehicle-tracking technology so they can trace contact between workers and ensure that all colleagues maintain the two-metre social distancing rules.

Services like Kura, which operates shuttle buses for key workers to and from retail warehouses, keep track of everyone who uses the service, meaning the retailer can trace contact between any colleague who contracts the virus and those they have travelled with. This way they can ask those people to self-isolate and keep the rest of the workforce safe.

In-store apps

unnamed

Apps such as Ubamarket allow for a new type of contactless grocery shopping

Apparel retailers such as H&M and Nike have had “in-store mode” features in their apps since 2018, but this could become commonplace in every post-lockdown shopping experience as consumers continue to avoid personal interactions.

Apps such as Ubamarket – which allows users to create shopping lists, be guided around store with an aisle sat-nav, and scan and pay for their products without needing to interact with staff at checkouts – could pave the way for a new type of grocery shopping.

Other payment apps could also be a useful extension of the contactless options currently available in stores. Most shops are limiting shoppers to or encouraging them to make payments using a contactless card as much as possible.

Minfo, for example, allows users to make payments from seven feet away. It can also be used to control lift buttons without the need to touch them, limiting exposure to germs.

Temperature screening

Temperature testing has become commonplace in many airports, cafes, shops and offices in some Asian countries, to ensure that customers and staff alike are healthy enough to enter.

Temperature-screening solutions can be placed at store entrances to check a person’s body temperature and make sure they are not a risk to other colleagues and customers.

Technology such as that created by CoreTech Solutions and IndigoVisions then passes on any information to a “front desk”, meaning store associates can swiftly and discreetly take action against virus threats.

Biometric contactless delivery

Nuggets 2

Nuggets’ app uses biometric security to allow consumers to provide contactless proof of ID upon delivery

Contactless delivery is now a given across the UK for everything from takeaway food to parcels. However, leaving something on someone’s doorstep, especially if the package would ordinarily require a signature, leaves much room for human error.

Where delivery drivers are currently foregoing the “signed for” process in favour of taking a picture of the parcel in the recipients’ hands or on their doorstep, a biometric mobile system could help diminish the number of incorrectly delivered parcels.

Nuggets, for example, is an identity verification app that uses biometric security protected by blockchain to provide proof of identity. A delivery driver could ping the customer’s digital ID to them and get them to confirm who they are using the app – a process that is both contactless and protected against fraud.