• Predictive analysis that helps retailers use the insights in their data to plan for the future.
• Process automation – such as inventory management, tracking stock levels and re-ordering.
• Store layouts – optimising sales by tracking shoppers and the way they navigate the store.
• Customer service – chatbots and personal assistants to enhance the customer experience.

Closely related to AI is Augmented Reality (AR), which overlays the real world with the digital world, to enhance the shopper’s experience and increase sales, with applications such as make-up, virtual dressing rooms, and room styling.

Payment options – Frictionless checkout means making the payment process as smooth as possible and giving customers a range of ways to pay. The trend continues, with contactless payment options still a driving force – whether by tap and go credit card, mobile payments such as Apple Pay and Google Pay, or wearable payment tech. 2024 will also see the increased use of blockchain technology for payments, and retailers exploring the fusion of proprietary in-store currencies with loyalty programs. This combination of payments and loyalty gives retailers the opportunity to build and manage and end-to-end brand experience.

Online/offline integration – As the lines continue to blur between online and brick and mortar shopping, it’s about more than ensuring customers have the same experience in both. In 2024, it’s about combining the two, and bringing the digital into the in-store store experience, using retail tech to implement services such as the digital personal shopper, digital in-store navigation, or scanning a QR code for product information, such as recipes, provenance or styling ideas.

Electronic shelf labelling (ESL) – ESL technology is not new, but it is has gone through a dramatic change *** and has matured to the point that it is set to be a significant trend in 2024. As part of the Internet of Things (IoT), ESLs have shifted from simply reducing the paper and staff effort required to keep prices up to date, to offering a whole range of addition retail functionality **** – such as product information, mobile payment facilitation, manufacturer advertising, out of stock alerts, tailored offers based on customer preferences, even reading a customer’ grocery list on a mobile device and lighting up the shelf labels for their items for easy picking.

Automated store concepts – Automation within the store, streamlining the shopping and checkout process, continues to be a key technology trend in 2024. The ‘checkout-less’ store concept which started with Amazon Go is being implemented by major retailers such as the UK’s Tesco, with their Tesco GetGo supermarket + in London. Scan and Go, with customers scanning their own goods, continues to grow, and as do vending machine stores, such as Mini 7-Eleven.

Technology, like retail itself, is always moving forward, always responding to the market, and always changing. As retailers navigate this dynamic landscape, those that understand the key trends and can implement the technology that keeps them ahead of the curve are poised for success in 2024.