Today In Data: When Consumers Want Tomorrow’s Retail Innovation Today

Sometimes the future shows up ahead of schedule, particularly where consumer desires are concerned. Voice activation went from the realm of science fiction to product fact in less than half a decade – and consumers are now wondering why their cars aren’t quite as well-connected as their speakers and washer-dryers. Patients are wondering why they can pay any bill they want with their phone, unless it’s a medical bill, in which case they can’t even figure out what they owe. And the pace is only getting faster, as the competition gets more intense in the U.S. and around the world. Retailers aren’t waiting patiently to keep up with consumer demand – they are searching out providers who can speed them along toward their meeting with the future.

Data:

$4.3 trillion: The value of China’s mobile payment market in 2018.

272 million: The number of cars on the road in the U.S.

$40.5 million: The amount OODA has recently raised in Series A to remake healthcare payments.

20 percent: Share of retailers that leave their merchant service provider every year.

4: The number of years it took before 25 percent of Americans owned a voice-activated device.