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Education

Checkout experience This in-and-out mentality is also reflected in the attitudes

toward sales associates with mobile handheld devices.
can make or break a Almost half (45.2 percent) of respondents said they want
store associates to have handheld mobile devices for
payment processing. This is a jump of 14 percent over last
business year's results.

Shoppers increasingly don't want to wait in line and
want to see self-service options to expedite checkouts.
A surprising 59.6 percent of shoppers said that a self-
checkout to purchase items without the assistance of a
cashier was a motivating factor for choosing a place to
shop.
Contactless payments, mobile wallets

Nearly a quarter of those surveyed in the United States
(24 percent) said contactless payment or mobile wallet
technologies had motivated them to shop with a retailer.
This will likely pick up momentum as consumers become
By Mia Farber more familiar with the technologies and as adoption
CitiXsys/iVend Retail increases among U.S. retailers.

ever before has the checkout and payment Positioned for growth
processing portion of a retail experience been It's not an exaggeration to say the research indicates
so important, according to the latest research
N in a report released by iVend Retail. The 2019 retailers need to be hyper-focused on ensuring their in-
store and online systems are providing the best possible
Shopper Trend Report includes insights from over 2,700
shoppers and the findings revealed vital changes in shop- experience for their customers. A large part of that
experience is the checkout and payment process.
per attitudes and behaviors compared to previous reports.
The most monumental theme from this fourth annual Investing in the right technologies to assemble a beautifully
report? The retail shopping experience needs to be fast executed system will be dependent upon choosing the
best payment processor combined with the right retail
and it needs to be convenient – especially when it comes to
the checkout process. management software. This strategy is going to position
U.S. retailers for growth in the current consumer climate.
Quick, easy checkout With an integrated system, merchants can reap the
rewards of added functionality like ability to upsell and
One of the most notable statistics that emerged regarding cross-sell without slowing down the checkout process.
consumer attitudes relates to the checkout experience. U.S.
shoppers were asked which aspects of a retail shopping With 84.8 percent of consumers valuing a quick-and-easy
experience they most valued; the definitive answer, at 84.8 checkout process above all else, consider dropping this
percent, was an easy, quick checkout process. statistic in your value statement to show the importance
of investing in technology that can meet customer
This finding exceeded the second most valued aspect, expectations regarding the checkout experience. A slow
free and easy returns, by a margin of nearly 20 percent, or clunky payment process is going to cost merchants
showing not only that shoppers think the checkout at the POS and leave a distasteful, lasting impression on
process is important, but also that everything else is customers.
secondary. Merchants need to take note and invest
resources to ensure the process is as efficient and painless
as possible for customers whether they are shopping As vice president of global marketing for CitiXsys/iVend Retail, Mia
online or in a store. Downtime and processing lags can Farber is responsible for providing leadership and executing on market-
hurt the customer experience faster than any other area ing strategy for CitiXsys and its integrated retail management solution,
and decrease customer retention rates. iVend Retail, on a global level. She brings 10 years of marketing experi-
ence for B2B and B2C technology companies in the retail, supply chain,
Self-checkout and mobile checkout and food and beverage sectors. iVend Retail enables retailers to accept
every payment method available whether the customer is paying in-
Shoppers want to be able to grab and go when they are in store, online or on-the go and also integrates with leading payment
a physical store, making options like buy online/pickup providers worldwide. Contact her by phone at 212-745-1365 or via email
in-store (BOPIS) increasingly popular. The 2019 shopper
report revealed an impressive increase of 30 percent in at newyork@citixsys.com.
BOPIS usage over last year.

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