In April 2019, Synchrony conducted a study to track and better understand adoption and interest in new retail technology and gain insights on emerging technology. Overall, we surveyed 1,013 consumers. All participants were 18 years of age or older, a financial decision maker for their household and had shopped with a major U.S. retailer in the 6 months leading up to the survey.

We surveyed key new elements of retail technology that have emerged over the past several years. These included:

• Personalization
• Augmented Reality
• Bio-Authentication
• Simplification

Important stats to consider:

• 53% of people surveyed think personalization is useful when it reminds them of their rewards balance or lets them know a product is in stock at a local store.
• 58% of people said they are aware of augmented reality but only 28% have used augmented reality apps for shopping.
• Only 25% have used bio-authentication to make a payment in the past year, but 69% say they would consider it in the future. Retailers should be preparing for bio-authentication to take off when consumers become more comfortable with the technology.
• While cashless and cardless payments simplify the shopping experience, 77% said they don’t want to be forced to use a digital wallet. So, retailers should ensure their payment methods are flexible.

For more stats and insights from Synchrony’s 2019 Digital Study, watch the full video here.