In the next year, 44% of retailers will offer contactless payment technologies in-store and 35% will invest in new mobile and e-commerce technology, according to a report by Mastercard.
The payment provider asked 306 European retailers about their plans for technology in the coming months, and interviewed senior retailers including Kingfisher group chief executive Ian Cheshire, and Shop Direct chief executive Mark Newton Jones.
The report, written by the Economist Intelligence Unit for Mastercard, said 38% of retailers across Europe currently use contactless payment, which allows customers to swipe a phone or credit card to pay for goods without inputting a PIN number. This is set to rise to 44% next year.
26% of retailers also plan to equip staff with mobile point of sale devices by next year, and 27% plan to use location based technology.
Mobile technology will also become more important in communicating with customers. Today 32% of retailers say they use mobile to communication with shoppers – by 2020, this is expected to rise to 43%, overtaking stores, PCs, call centres and direct mail.
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