You are not alone if you have found yourself shifting towards online shopping at an extremely fast rate in the last few years. According to a study by Zebra Technologies in the Asia Pacific region, including India, nine out of every ten millennials prefer mobile ordering over physical shopping. Moreover, tech enhancements like faster checkouts and UPI payment options are being preferred.“Shoppers don’t necessarily evaluate retail channels. Rather, they view it as one shopping experience however they shop,” said George Pepes, APAC Vertical Solutions Lead for Retail and Healthcare, Zebra Technologies.The study further added that overall, shoppers are ready for technological advancements, with about eight-in-ten expecting retailers to give a good browsing and checkout experience.Also Read | Indians spend more on OTT and Travel this festive season than in 2021: ReportBetter tech, better shoppingAccording to the report, in the Indian and APAC markets, 79 percent of retailers view staffed checkouts as less necessary while more than half have converted store space to self-serve areas and are offering contactless options.“With e-commerce as today’s normal, channels have since converged and it is essential for retailers to ensure a seamless experience across their offline and online platforms. More importantly, they need to empower retail associates with the right technology to better perform their tasks, as the retail sector heads into the future of fulfilment,” said Pepes.Customers in India and the APAC markets also prefer self-checkouts and cashless payments. Payments using the UPI interface are commonplace and almost a habit now. The recently concluded festive season saw UPI transactions rise 133 percent as a report by PayU.Also Read | Card tokenization for safe online shopping from January 1Shopping continues despite inflationWhat is surprising is that, according to the report, nearly 75 percent of shoppers globally and 68 percent in the APAC region mentioned that inflation has caused them to delay big purchases but hasn’t trimmed down their regular shopping.In fact, as per the PayU report, India saw expenditures increase by 124 percent compared to the 2021 festive season.Also Read | Shoppers back this festive season but Chennai retailers say sales subdued
