DIGITIZING MARKETPLACE

The Covid-19 situation has seen to a growing demand and need for click-andcollect orders and contactless payments. Here, Deep Agarwal, Regional Sales Director, Indian SubContinent, Zebra Technologies, Asia Pacific, discusses some aspects of digital logistics

- Aanchal Ghatak

How will there be a boost for contactless payments?

According to Capgemini, over 82% of Indian consumers prefer touchless interaction during the pandemic, while approximately 90% of them are comfortable using their mobile phones for payments, especially for in-store purchases. Brick-and-mortar retailers are already seeing a large uptake in the use of card and contactless payments, which reduces interpersonal contact.

Many retailers are deploying mobile point of sale (mPOS) solutions that comprises a handheld mobile device with various payment processing tools, which enables retailers to scan items, process payments and print receipts anywhere.

Here are some ways, whereby, mPOS solutions can be deployed:

• As click-and-collect orders increase, more retailers may introduce curbside pickup for online grocery orders to cope with the rising demand. Once received, they can quickly pick orders using data-rich images and pass up items that they know are out-of-stock. Subsequently, they can pack merchandise and print receipts prior to the customers’ arrival to expedite order fulfilment.

Store associates will be notified of customer arrivals by sending real-time alerts to their mobile devices, and they can scan customer coupons or take additional payment and print receipts while the customer remains in the safety of their vehicle. The coronavirus pandemic is making curbside pickup much more valuable to customers, in US alone the number of orders placed online and picked up at bricks-and-mortar stores by customers surged 208% between April 1 and April 20 compared with a year ago, according to data pulled from Adobe Analytics.