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The COVID-19 pandemic, which led 2020 by a storm, has pushed every business towards immediate transformation. Beginning March, the widespread lockdowns and social distancing led to a new normal. Companies are forced to align with the latest customer requirements and customer behaviors to stay relevant in the market or stay in business altogether.

As a matter of fact, retail giants like Amazon could quickly provide new and enhanced contactless customer services and customer experience. It is the smaller companies and the brick-and-mortar brands that had to face the repercussions.

Today, digital commerce is panicked in a state of compulsory transformation. With the stay-at-home orders, customers are only opting for brands that offer contactless services, contactless, pick-up, and contactless everything. There is no way of looking at the customer’s journeys, new requirements to provide a customer experience. These new customer demands are here to stay, and it is completely transforming sectors to opt for complete digitization if they have not already implemented.

There has been a shift- Digitally.

Many users have turned to mobile shopping or completely turned to online services for their everyday needs. The pandemic caused a sudden shift towards complete digitization in the e-commerce sector. The overall rate of mobile conversions is growing faster than ever. Online shopping is the greater focus. People are refraining themselves from in-store experiences.

From purchasing groceries and pharmaceutical drugs online to retail shopping, food delivery, etc. everything has transitioned to online services. Small businesses can stay relevant if they infuse the in-store experience with the online contactless experience. Through this COVID-19 era, the best way for the customers and business to keep moving ahead is to equip themselves with the best solution helpful for the duo.

A safe, contactless customer experience

Today, businesses need to provide the best of the two worlds; physical and online shopping experience—a seamless, no-touch, and safe option for the customers to shop.

  • Retailers need to focus on customer behavior and think of ways to improve engagements in the present scenario. It helps if they use relevant data to understand the buyer’s persona and enhance user experience with what the customer desires.
  • Aside from contactless deliveries and pick-ups. Customers are relying on paying contactless(ly). Digital wallets, apps, tap-to-pay, contactless credit cards, etc. It has become imperative for businesses to have a mobile application with an online payment option.
  • One-hour delivery, same-day-delivery, online-order-curbside pick-ups, etc. It is essential to adapt to new consumer needs and get innovative in providing contactless capabilities.
  • Businesses with outdated ERP systems are hit hard. Large retailers with monolithic commerce systems made quick shifts to the new normal, and their agile frameworks helped them navigate through the pandemic a little less harshly than the rest.

The contactless everything is here to stay; it does not look likely to change anytime soon. Customers will, regardless, like to keep a few elements of the new contactless shopping post-pandemic. In the foreseeable future, consumers will prefer mobile apps for almost everything. From grocery shopping, banking, healthcare, services like buying insurance, etc. There will be a rise of facial recognition apps, biometrics, no-touch authentications, etc. Human interactions and customer engagements will transition to a digital model.

In these trying times, all businesses need to have a broader spectrum to make changes when and if required. Retailers remain disabled to acquire digitization and to stay on top of things. The contactless scenario requires businesses to address the customers’ needs and acknowledge the new customer journey heading towards an omnichannel, contactless, and almost complete digital journey.

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