Retailers Failing to Deliver on Speed, Convenience and In-Store 'Wow' Factor

LONDON - March 30, 2016 - PRLog -- The UK's high street retailers are failing to meet the demands of modern shoppers for convenience, speed and an in-store 'wow' factor, allowing their online-only rivals to win the battle for consumer hearts and minds, according to a new report from Miura Systems. The report, conducted by Davies Hickman Partners, shows insights from interviews of hundreds of store staff, shoppers and senior retail executives in order to better understand the world of retail and payments today.

The mobile Point of Sale (mPOS) specialist polled hundreds of shoppers, retail staff and senior retail executives to build a compelling picture of the UK payments and retail landscape in 2016.

Although 24 million UK adults say they enjoy going to the shops, retailers' current efforts to improve the in-store experience have fallen well short of their expectations.

In fact, only 45% of consumers think it's more fun to visit high street stores than shop online - much lower than the 66% of staff who feel the same way.

This disconnect between retailer and shopper was also found elsewhere.

Shop assistants are told by their bosses to cross-sell at the till, but two-thirds of customers say this annoys them.

And 52% of shoppers don't like being asked for their personal details, despite senior management prioritising this tactic.

Also, nearly half of shoppers Miura Systems polled (46%) say they get annoyed when staff don't look away when entering their PIN.

A changing landscape

This is all happening in the context of a fragmenting payments landscape.

Increasingly tech-savvy shoppers are taking advantage of new innovations in payments such as contactless and Apple Pay to meet their heightened expectations of a simple, speedy and user-friendly experience at check-out.

A third (34%) of shoppers in London use contactless two to three times a week or more, for example.

Speed is of the essence: only 43% of women and 28% of men go shopping to relax, and the second most important reason for going into stores is because shoppers don't want to wait for online deliveries. Yet only one in five rate the in-store payment process as fast and efficient.

But when shoppers do choose the high street over online, it's for the experience.

Three quarters say they go in-store to touch and feel products. And over 60% of women say they enjoy shopping.

Clearly retailers need to look at new ways to improve convenience, speed and engagement with their customers. And they already have the best resource to help them do this: 84% of staff we spoke to say they like their job.

The answer could lie in the Apple Store model. Nearly one in six Britons have shopped there and 96% find the mPOS system very easy. Four in five say other retailers should deploy a similar system, allowing payments to be taken anywhere in store by staff carrying mobile devices.

"Mobile POS is the hottest ticket in payments today, offering high street retailers the opportunity to maximise sales and transform the customer experience by empowering staff to roam the store with hand-held devices," said Peter De Souza, SVP Revenue & Proposition Development at Miura Systems. "With mPOS there's no such thing as a lost sale because it helps to cut frustrating queues at the check out and ensure staff can order any items not currently in stock for time-poor shoppers."

Miura will showcasing the latest in mPOS at Money2020 in Copenhagen, Stand B19 from 4^th-7^th April 2016.

About Miura Systems
Miura Systems is the global leading provider of innovative secure electronic payment hardware to the mPOS solution marketplace. Miura partners with Independent Software Vendors and Systems Integrators to deliver platforms, expertise and services to enable retailers and acquirers to provide rich and flexible payment solutions for retail, hospitality, financial and transportation markets globally. For more information please visit: www.Miurasystems.com