The next development leap of the retail trade – the future belongs to cashierless stores

Datanor helps companies revolutionize self-shopping

Datanor has been at the forefront of developing self-shopping solutions for more than a decade. The company’s experience extends to Estonia’s first virtual wallet, mTask, which was once created on the order of Telia. To date, Datanor has developed a technical platform for both Partnercard and Coop Eesti applications, both of which are well-known and popular solutions on the domestic market.

“In the past, such apps were only for large retail chains, but now this technology is more easily accessible to smaller retail companies as well. Today, we offer solutions that only 5 years ago involved very large investments, but today their development is significantly cheaper,” explains Datanor CEO Indrek Ott.

Datanor defines a platform called Scan&Go that enables a self-shopping solution where the customer can fill the shopping cart and pay for the goods entirely through their phone. Such a system saves time, allows customers to manage their own shopping carts and reduces queues, while also offering merchants new opportunities to make services more efficient.

“While it is already a common solution for large chains, smaller merchants have now also begun to pay more attention to it,” explains Ott. “If it used to be a luxury, today the technology has become more affordable and easier to implement. Our solutions offer the opportunity to further digitize our services without involving large investments.”

The future belongs to checkout-free stores

While today customers can walk out of a store paying directly with their phone at smart checkouts, the next big step is for physical checkouts to disappear entirely. “In five years, it is entirely possible that many companies will allow customers to leave the store without using the checkout system,” predicts Ott.

One of the possible development trends is the integration of augmented reality (AR), which takes shopping to the next level. Augmented reality brings life to every product – from displaying additional product information to offering additional discounts.

“Augmented reality makes shopping more interactive by providing consumers with more information, which makes the shopping process not only easier, but also more interesting,” explains Ott. In the future, augmented reality is likely to become an integral part of everyday shopping, giving shoppers more awareness of their choices.

The biggest challenge is theft

One thing that hasn’t been well addressed in mobile shopping yet is how to prevent theft, be it unintentional or intentional. According to a UK study, one in four Britons have accidentally forgotten to pay for a product and 13% of respondents have knowingly scanned for a cheaper product than they actually put in their basket. According to Worldmetrics, retailers lose more than 4 billion euros a year due to self-service checkouts, and this number tends to increase over time, as the number of self-service purchases is on the rise.

It’s a big problem, but solutions already exist. “Self-shopping mobile apps provide a certain advantage here, as they allow analyzing how the customer uses the app and then using algorithms, AI and machine learning to identify potential mistakes and direct them to the purchase control,” explains Ott.

In fact, the history of self-shopping goes back surprisingly far, Ott shares the background. In 1986 – almost 40 years ago – the first self-service cash registers were introduced in the USA, at the beginning of the 2000s, self-shopping remote controls were introduced in European stores, and phone apps have been in use since the beginning of 2020.

“It can be seen from this time line that innovation does not happen too quickly. Any technological change is undoubtedly costly, and there are some security risks and general human reluctance to change that must be taken into account. While the innovation has finally taken place, as time goes on, more people are happy to use self-shopping options,” he states encouragingly.

Reward the customer for loyalty

Shopping apps also help increase customer loyalty and get rid of physical customer cards, which is a very welcome phenomenon in today’s green world. The journey of mTask once began from this principle. When it comes to creating a loyalty app, digitizing the customer card is one of the easiest and cheapest steps. In addition, companies can also create special offers that are easy to deliver to the customer through the mobile app.

“Loyalty programs today are not just about sharing benefits, they also provide valuable information about customer preferences and buying habits that help make smart business decisions,” adds Ott. Datanor focuses on making the solutions created using them not only functional, but also user-friendly.

Easier, safer and faster shopping

Datanor is not a company that just develops technological solutions – they are strategic partners that help retail companies grow and develop sustainably.

“Our goal is more than just providing technology solutions – we want our solutions to help merchants streamline their services, empowering them to make smarter business decisions and provide better customer service,” says Ott. “Every detail we develop is focused on how to make shopping and service easier and more convenient – for both merchants and consumers.”

As mobile shopping and the implementation of digital solutions have become everyday and even necessary for commercial companies, Datanor has a strong position in the market to offer flexible and customized solutions that meet the specific needs of companies. Therefore, commercial companies that have not yet been able or knew how to create their own app, the time has come for it to become a hygiene factor.

Technology has advanced enough and has become more affordable than ever before. You don’t need to reinvent the wheel, you just have to find the uniqueness of your company and you can offer your customers a more convenient purchase process.

It’s time to take the digitalization of your business to the next level!