We need to put the growth of e-commerce in context. According to Statista.com 'in 2018 e-commerce sales are expected to reach a share of 18 percent of all retail sales in the UK'. How does this compare with the situation elsewhere? In 2017 e-retail sales accounted for 10.2 percent of all retail sales worldwide. Statista says this figure is expected to reach 17.5 percent by 2021. Meanwhile in the US e-commerce sales remain surprisingly small at 9 percent according to eMarketer, though there is sustained growth.

Across the world in-store sales still predominate though retail outlets are having to respond to the demands of tech-savvy consumers in an omnichannel market. The adoption of new technologies will change the way we shop in-store in some instances but how many of these technologies can be rolled out on a large scale?

Key challenges facing retailers with physical outlets include:

• getting customers through the doors so that they can showcase their product range
• ensuring return visits via best in class service
• minimising the need for 'returns' of unwanted products
• maximising customer spend for each visit
• making payments easier, quicker and more convenient

In each of these areas technology can be used to improve customer experience and to help achieve the company goals.

In the case of showcasing products, UK Dyson Demo Experience, opened in London in 2016, has a vacuum cleaner demo and hair salon where customers can demonstrate all its products first hand. Interior design company The Future Perfect has a different type showroom to attract potential buyers and deliver a new brand experience. Their second store, Casa Perfect, was opened at what was Elvis Presley's home and offers a private and curated space in which everything is for sale. Similarly, Starbucks Reserve Roasteries in Seattle and Shanghai are more like fine wine stores than your average coffee shop. These offer unique and unrivalled retail experiences but are unlikely to be replicated in more than these single locations.

Meanwhile Amazon Go has opened a checkout free cornershop. Customers simply present the Amazon Go app at the gate and start shopping. According to a 22 January article in The Guardian, it works via cameras and sensors. 'When an item is picked up the camera recognises it and adds it to the visitor's virtual shopping cart. Ten minutes after the shopper walks out of the door the app charges a credit card and provides a digital receipt '. It's all about speed and convenience but the cost of cameras and sensors make large scale roll out of such schemes an expensive option.

When it comes to attracting customers, in addition to interactive billboards, an app from Offermoments helps customers know about sales and promotions as they walk by stores or restaurants. Once customers are inside the store, technology can be used not only to direct (navigate) them to the products they require but also to suggest additional items they might wish to purchase.

A number of other futuristic technologies could change the way we shop. In-store improvements could include virtual changing rooms that enable customers to try out different colours etc. Customers could be allowed to make design changes in-store, live mirrors can suggest matching items and body scans could be used to make suggestions based on customer measurements.

How important is the delivery of a customized personal service in attracting and retaining customers as well as maximising customer spend? A number of solutions have evolved that identify the customer and target his or her needs. According to a 23 November 2017 report on CNBC these include a face recognition platform that is used to improve customer experience. This takes knowing your footfall to another level, though there remain privacy issues. We have also seen kinetic retail displays that identify customers as they approach as well as software that analyses selfies to offer more personal recommendations.

Other ways of improving customer service involve bringing digital knowledge into the hands of sales people in store and the use of interactive mannequins.

Leading UK department store John Lewis has used virtual reality, giving customers the ability to browse an infinite showroom in-store. Meanwhile software also delivers customer empowerment. Burberry enables in-store personalisation, for example attaching personalised name plates to products.

There are numerous ways in which technology can be used to enhance the in-store offer but what if we take this to an extreme? We earlier referred to the example of Amazon Go, whose cashier-less format eliminates queuing, albeit at the expense of human interaction. What are the consequences of removing staff from the store? This sort of experience may be more suited to retail sectors where such interaction is less important.

Deep Magic has developed a fully automated store format that allows merchants to run staffless, check out free stores, 'saving costs and eliminating shrinkage without losing the essence of experience.' Is this the future, or, more likely, a niche solution? A January 30th article in digitas.com stated that in China, Alibaba and Wahaha plan to launch 100,000 cashier-less stores in the next three years.

Some of these technologies may seem futuristic and expensive but in a fiercely competitive environment there are some things companies can do now to enhance customer service in-store.

Physical stores still account for over 80 percent of retail transactions worldwide and large numbers of those transactions are made in cash. Working with Glory, retailers can make significant savings in the way they process these payments and are able to free up staff to better meet customer needs.

There’s an old saying, “people buy from people” and, despite the rise of e-commerce, this largely remains true. At Glory we’re focussed on relieving retail staff of the burden of manual cash handling at the point of sale and in the back office, so they can focus on the experience they deliver to customers.