The Future of Contactless Commerce

The Covid-19 pandemic — and the social distancing it required — presented the ultimate test for many of the fundamental aspects of customer’s retail shopping experiences: no fitting rooms, no contact with retail agents, no cash payments, and no in-store testing of products. While many parts of the U.S. economy have now reopened in the wake of the pandemic, retailers have learned an important lesson: we need faster, safer, and better in-store experiences that retain and enhance the important elements of closeness and interactivity with products, agents, and the store environment. This is where next-generation digital technologies can make a massive impact, enabling new forms of “contactless commerce.”