Rakuten Ready Offers Contactless Playbook

Predictive-arrival technology provider Rakuten Ready has debuted its “Playbook for Creating Contactless Experiences,” a resource guide for retailers, grocers and restaurants, which have seen online-order-for-pickup orders grow 201% in the two months between February and April 2020, according to the company.

Featuring proprietary research, use cases and expert insights, the playbook aims to provide guidance on specific actions for reimagining operations and creating a contactless experience that assuages consumers’ worries and protects employees.

“Consumer buying behavior has completely upended how merchants approach their business models,” said Jaron Waldman, CEO and co-founder of San Mateo, California-based Rakuten Ready. “It also brought forward a much more challenging environment where safety and transparency are critical for business sustainability and essential to protect the health of their consumers. The successful execution of a contactless order for pickup strategy throughout the customer journey is paramount. The Rakuten Ready Contactless Playbook will help guide businesses in the right direction.”

The Rakuten Ready Contactless Consumer Survey, conducted in April, found that 76% of consumers used online order for pickup for the first time as because of mobility limitations stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The playbook discusses such key insights as consumers spending where contactless delivery is prioritized; contactless payment solutions, customer-centric order prep, and contactless handoff or pickup as the three pillars expected by consumers in an order-for-pickup experience; and the centrality of technology such as predictive arrival to the contactless order experience.

The company is offering the resource free for download on its website.

Formerly known as Curbside before it joined the Rakuten family in 2018 and changed its name a year later, Rakuten Ready works with brands such as Kroger, Applebee’s, PetSmart, Petco, Nordstrom and Chick-fil-A to power their mobile-order-for-pickup programs.