Jones Lang LaSalle today published part six of its Retail 2020 study; Easy Shopping Retail 2020, which examines the rapidly changing global retail landscape over the next ten years.
The latest part of the report highlights that the act of shopping – receiving and paying for goods – will continue to get easier over the next ten years.
The pace of technological change will lead consumer demands for improvements in the retail sector. The arrival of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) and Near Field Communication (NFC) devices look set to revolutionise payment systems to the point where European high streets may even see unmanned 24-hour stores appearing by the end of the decade.
Jones Lang LaSalle’s Retail 2020 also outlines that shopping will also be made easier through advances in logistics. Fulfilment of online purchases will need to be extraordinary going forward. Home delivery will become cheaper and more rapid, especially in urban areas, often being fulfilled only two hours after the order is placed.
Deliveries will become more flexible too – taking place when consumers are at home or at work and at their convenience. Meanwhile there will be an explosion of alternative delivery mechanisms from drive-thrus to local centralised pick-up points, for example petrol stations, dry cleaners and purpose built facilities.
James Dolphin, head of pan-said: “Making life easy for consumers does not go hand in hand with a simple life for retailers. Whilst automising checkout payments reduces cost and management headaches, other advances come with a price attached for retailers.”
Source: Jones Lang LaSalle
