Technology is paving the way for retailers to automate much of the routine work that is carried out in retail outlets. At the same time technology is raising shoppers’ expectations of convenience and personalization. Customers are used to eCommerce, car services and food on demand–especially through their smart¬phones–and they are bringing those ex¬pectations with them when they shop in person. These technologies, chiefly smart¬phones, analytics and cloud computing, are creating an opportunity in the retail market by helping merchants carry out in-store activities in an easier and quicker fashion, while delivering the con¬venient and personalized shopping experience millenial con-sumers expect. Despite this many merchants still display a great deal of reluctance to embrace the changes, owing to their lack of knowledge and expertise. Further, legacy retail technology companies have had difficultly transitioning to mobile, limiting merchants’ ability to take advantage of consumer mobile POS. With its headquarters in New York, FutureProof Retail develops the mobile technology that allows merchants to benefit from the smartphone age. “Our technology replaces expensive POS soft¬ware and hardware with the customers’ own smartphones,” says William Hogben, CEO, FutureProof Retail. “It streamlines the whole front end, but what it really does is build loyalty. It’s the mix of in-person experience with digital convenience — you get the best of online and offline in one experience.”

Keeping in mind the fact that many customers are drifting to¬wards e-commerce for a hassle-free shopping experience, Future¬Proof Retail endeavors to make in-store shopping activity quicker. The company enables shop¬pers to enjoy the brick and mortar retail ex¬perience by eliminating the long queues in peak shopping hours through its Express Checkout smartphone app. The company delivers the app alongside the retailer’s point-of-sale system, whitelabeled with the merchant’s brand or integrated into a merchant’s existing application.

Shoppers scan and pay for the items and groceries that they buy through the mo¬bile application on their own phone, which pro¬vides methods to securely check the shopper out both with or without staff assistance.