Touchless technology aids the pandemic-ravaged retail industry

With global pandemic uncertainty causing plummeting statistics for all sectors of the retail industry, more and more companies are switching to digital platforms. Businesses and tech companies are scrambling to come up with innovative new solutions to the challenges presented by Covid-19.

So what is one of the biggest challenges facing retail these days?

It's a touching issue, if you'll pardon the pun.

Retailers are facing serious economic backlash over customers' reticence to touch any hard surfaces that may have inadvertently been infected with Coronavirus. Now tech companies are presenting revolutionary new touchless options that may just save the day for the struggling retail industry.

In this article, we will take a look at the effects the pandemic is having on the retail industry and how new touchless tech innovations can change the tide (for better and for worse).

Corona's retail consequences

With consumers around the world confined to their homes and businesses, and with restaurants and shops shutting the doors during lockdowns, retail is taking a serious hit. According to the UK's national statistician Jonathan Athow, the effects of the pandemic have led to record numbers, with monthly retail sales falling by almost one fifth. Demand for retail products has fallen in conjunction with restricted access to in-person shopping.

With no new events to attend or friends to see, the clothing industry has seen plummeting demands for new products. In March, total clothing sales in the UK decreased by 34 per cent and by April, fashion industry experts were citing an ‘existential crisis' to the continuation of the fashion industry as we know it.

In August of this year, UK mattress and bed retailer Feather & Black was purchased by bed company Dreams, but still was forced to close its doors permanently. DW Sports Company, which operated over 75 retail locations across the UK, has retracted into administration-only mode, closing all of its in-person locations and putting hundreds of jobs at risk.

With expendable income at low points reminiscent of the Second World War and customers spending most of their time at home, indoors, and not out shopping on the streets, retail locations across the globe have struggled to find their footing amidst this crisis. Many retail outlets face uncertain futures with only shaky prospects.

How touchless tech can help save retail

While the industry outlook may seem bleak at the moment, new technology might be able to provide solutions for the industry to move forward at this critical juncture. Touchless innovations are being rolled out that utilise the latest tech developments to address a host of issues facing retail today.

The first among them are facial recognition and biometrics technologies that provide security and identifying solutions, allowing customers to refrain from using their fingerprints as a form of proof of identity. Cyberlink, a facial recognition technology firm, has recently developed the FaceMe Health system, which uses cutting edge AI tech to determine whether customers in shops are wearing face masks and practising safe social distancing, thus ensuring a secure healthy retail environment.

Emotion analysis company Entropik Tech has developed real-time customer feedback tech based on facial analysis, eye tracking, and brainwave data that shares insights into potential customer's desires and responses to products on display- useful for retailers looking to expand or shift their products towards a particular demographic. Entropik's original operating system, affectlab.io, has already been used to track over 50 million people at more than 80 enterprises, including Accenture, Target, and P&G. To date, Affectlab.io has operated in 110 countries across the globe.

While the use of AI, facial recognition, emotion analysis, and biometrics collection may aid in maintaining the security of the retail environment- a draw for most potential customers - there may be some who are uncomfortable with how much data is collected without consent.

As evidenced by an entire industry that has arisen in response to global consumer awareness about the importance of securing their private data, retailers embracing these new touchless identification initiatives will also need to address privacy concerns in order to win back in-person customers who may not want corporations to collect data on their feelings.

Kabn Systems North America, meanwhile, has teamed up with Loop Insights to address the issue of contact tracing. Using Kabn's Liquid Avatars technology and blockchain tech to collect biometrics from visitors to large venues, the Kabn tools will help reinforce and magnify Loop's secure contact tracing AI platform. Now visitors to large venues will be able to check in before entering, creating digital icons that represent their online personas and sharing private data based on each interaction.

Standard practice for the future

It appears increasingly likely that current and near-future innovations in tech and security will pave the way for permanent new additions to the retail industry landscape for the post-pandemic future. In a recent survey, 84 per cent of US consumers noted that they expected their interactions with touchless technologies to increase - and over half surveyed said that they thought this trend would continue well beyond the current Covid situation.

So, if retailers want to succeed after the virus-related restrictions lift, they need to focus now on building product/brand attractiveness, emphasising in-store safety measures and precautions, and generating trust with their customers