Payment technology

There’s a lot of hype around Apple Pay and contactless payment at the moment, especially as reports reveal that cash payments have fallen by more than 20% since 2002. Now some of the major retailers in the US have gone up against Apple and set up their own mobile payment app called CurrentC.

Whichever route retailers choose to go down in 2015, adoption will be one of the greatest barriers to success. Retailers and shoppers need to be on the same page, with an easy to understand and simple to use interface. This is why Apple Pay seems like a good option – it doesn’t require users to download any additional software, especially significant given its 32% share of the market.

Given that contactless payments in the UK exceeded £150m for the first time earlier this year, equalling a year-on-year increase of 238 per cent, it will be interesting to see how things move on in 2015.

Social commerce

Social commerce is growing at an incredible speed, with many retailers realising the mass reach that social platforms can offer. For example, this year Amazon enabled shoppers to add products to their basket through Twitter hashtags. Brands are now able to measure the true value of social activity and demonstrate a clear ROI for investing in it. This is changing the face of business and disrupting the retail landscape and I expect this to continue in 2015.

Retailers need to keep shoppers at the forefront of their mind, providing relevant content and targeted marketing. For example, earlier this year we activated our Share A Coke campaign through Facebook, overlaying data from Dunnhumby with insight from Facebook to create a fully integrated campaign, enabling shoppers to purchase a personalised bottle of Coca-Cola from their local store. This kind of micro-targeting and personalisation is key to generating one-to-one conversations that have real relevance to shoppers.

Mobile voucher redemption

This is something we’ve been talking about for a while but from recent discussions it sounds like a few of the major grocery retailers will roll out this capability in 2015. If this is the case, it could be a tipping point for shoppers and other retailers to use this capability. We’ve already done a couple of successful trials to make sure that we’re ready to go as soon as retailer adoption allows.

Explosion of click and collect

All of the major grocery retailers are now looking at this as it plays well to the convenience trends consumers are demanding. The business model for retailers will be improved as they don’t have to factor in delivery costs, giving click and collect the perfect platform to expand, not just in-store but also in remote locations like train stations, as well as through partnerships with eBay, Argos and even Café Nero.

 

By Simon Miles, digital director at Coca-Cola Enterprises. 

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