Last week I had the chance to travel to Dusseldorf for EuroCIS. With around 500 exhibitors and more than 12,000 delegates from over 90 countries, EuroCIS is one of the leading retail trade fairs for in the world. So, what did I learn?

Retail is going hi-tech. EuroCIS 2019 was complete with an array of stands competing for attention with their head turning products, from customer profiling and footfall analysis, to holographic advertisements. One thing is for certain – retail is evolving, and it’s exciting. The obvious hot topics sprung up, and there were plenty of start-ups pitching their revolutionary AI or IoT product that will help retailers secure more customers and profit.

So where exactly is retail heading?
There were several growing trends around real-time data analytics, footfall analysis and customer profiling. Other main trends included omni-channel, self-checkout and frictionless transactions. Retailers are understanding that now more than ever, understanding the customer can help establish strategies, deliver meaningful content and relate to them on a personal basis to provide a curated and valuable experience.

With the most important technology developments over the next three years falling under Artificial Intelligence, Cloud, and Omni-Channel solutions (EHI, IT Trends in Trade 2019), retailers are rethinking retail. At the heart of the retail trends, is the shift towards becoming experience-centric.

What are the main focus areas for retailers?
- IT solutions
- Merchandise Information System Optimisation
- Omni-channel solutions

How can retailers deliver a better experience?
- Frictionless transactions - equip stores and employees with the right tools to enable smooth, fast
 and attentive transactions.
- Cash automation and being mobile-ready are two key factors in establishing a frictionless
 experience.
- Automate administrative tasks so staff can focus on the customer needs.
- Understand customer habits to deliver a curated experience to target audiences.
- Shift to data-driven solutions to equip staff with accurate and meaningful information.

What GLORY can do to help retailers deliver better experience
At GLORY, we are focused on providing solutions that will enable staff to confidently focus their energy and time on delivering the best customer service. By automating cash processes, our solutions eliminate shrinkage, speed up transactions, and eradicate errors. Leaving both customer and retailer at peace of mind. Our CASHINFINITY^TM range of solutions equips retailers with the most advantageous cash management system with flexibility to fit any size of store, allowing retailers to optimise their cash chain. To learn more about how our CASHINFINITY^TM solutions can help you go from Pocket to Profit, access our white paper here.

What’s next for retail?
During my flight back to London I started to wonder about how retailers are defining priorities in this vast landscape of options. As retailer IT budgets continue to rise, investments into cloud-based solutions, machine learning and AI are to be expected. Retailers have a big challenge in front of them in order to invest their budgets in the right technology. Europe’s leading retail tradeshow highlighted the trends – retailers need to automate and mitigate errors in their day to day operations, and deliver in-store and online experiences that will keep customers returning. Cash automation has a proven record of delivering increased profit, reducing costs up to 80% and simplifying the cash handling process.

See how one of our customers made $400k in savings and increased their cash flow with CASHINFINITY here.