As we enter the era of internet of things, we can surely say that we are more connected than ever. Devices and things around us communicate through cloud internet and are synced for an integrated experience. When we think of retail market we have seen a trend emerging where stores behave like websites and websites like stores. Surrounded by internet this entails blurring the lines between online and offline. Internationally, technology has been mushrooming for the past decade but in India we can easily say that the past two years have been paving the way for the digital era of retail in India wherein technology has been enabling commerce like never before.

Mobile wallets: When the Indian government decided to go in for the infamous demonetisation, right off the bat we all felt the need for a mobile wallet like never before. What we did not know however was that we were already passively dependent on mobile wallets. In this way, consumer behaviour and their faith on virtual payments were going to going to change forever. This historical event paved the way for many technology companies to change the retail landscape in India. Offline integration of these mobile wallets from modern retail giants to general retail shopkeepers has sprouted up swiftly.

Retail e-commerce: Retail e-commerce with prompt grocery and food delivery services has mushroomed in the market. These services help people get products at the comfort of their home. As these companies face consumers and stores at an N segment it also solves a very big problem by automating sales orders and the hassle of managing delivery staff. A win-win for both but a great time for consumers as prices online are quite economical compared to a retail outlet. Further Online Subscription based grocery products delivery allows you to schedule daily staples like bread, eggs and milk.

Supply chain: RFID tags in warehouses are quickly becoming a norm. Not only helping in inventory management and stock keeping this technology has gone a step further by helping supply chain managers to keep track of a lot of perishable products along with their date of manufacturing and expiry. This ensures that the end consumer always gets fresh stock by maintaining a proper FIFO (First in First Out) system.

Accessibility: Mobile barcode scanning apps allow shopping assistance to buyers by allowing them to gain more information on the product they are buying.

Food processing technologies: They say you are what you eat, and the retail consumer nowadays is more aware and conscious of what he/she consumes. Food processing technologies have made possible for large scale hygienic food production. For example, a newly launched egg sorting and sanitising machine, a first of its kind in India, helps us deliver over 5 lakh sanitised (this is extremely important as an egg shell houses a lot of bacteria, even more an a toilet seat) eggs a day. This allows our consumers to keep themselves and their families safe and healthy.

Auto checkouts: A game changer in the retail landscape and a technology that has existed internationally for many years has finally found its way in India. Auto checkout stores allow consumers to avoid billing queues by billing and paying at automatic checkout kiosks. Future group’s Hypercity as one of the first movers with this technology.

The usual suspect — social media: Social media is a trending way to engage with consumers in the B2C domain. The bond between social media and shopping retail only becomes stronger with Instagram’s most recent roll out of the new shopping tab feature which allows retailers to tag products in their Instagram grid and users to explore products.

(The writer is Co-Founder, Henfruit)