Untuckit adds mobile checkout to its in-store experience

Dive Brief:

Untuckit, a fast-growing casual men's apparel retailer, is using technology from Studio Proper to streamline point-of-sale transactions in its 40 brick-and-mortar stores, according to a press release emailed to Retail Dive.
Proper Business Solutions, from retail solutions hardware provider Studio Proper, allows Untuckit store associates to provide customers with mobile transactions using iPads on the sales floor, and thus avoid lines at checkout.
Among the hardware solutions Untuckit uses: a Proper Business iPad mPOS Adapter with an X-Lock secure quick release system that connects iPads to Verifone e355 terminals; an iPad Connect Shell Case, which uses an X-Lock system to connect and align with the mPOS Adapter; and an iPad Connect Pro Bumper + Glass Guard, noted the press release.

Dive Insight:

As it expands from an online retailer into multi-store operator, Untuckit is using the latest mobile transaction devices that have started to crop up elsewhere in retail. The Studio Proper point-of-sale equipment for associates is based on iPads with the goal of extending "the ease and simplicity of online shopping" into its stores, which will number 54 by the end of the year, the press release said. Translating an omnichannel environment into a frictionless customer experience when it comes time to checkout is becoming crucial for all retailers.

Among other pure-play e-commerce retailers that have recently moved aggressively into brick and mortar are Warby Parker, Casper Mattress and Bonobos. Examples of retailers that have retrenched from their struggling physical stores to an online-only presence are Bebe, The Limited and Delia's. Unlike some older players, the new brick-and-mortar players bring enhanced technological concepts to in-store shopping and a more pronounced integration of online and offline experiences.

Smart checkout technology systems are expected to process more than $45 billion in transactions by 2023, according to a study from Juniper Research. Smart checkout transactions are currently estimated to total $253 million, so they might attain a 182.2% compound annual growth rate by 2023.

In its relatively short time in the offline retail world, Untuckit already has a history of in-store technology advances. The chain is piloting radio-frequency identification (RFID) at its flagship store on Fifth Avenue in New York. The retailer uses data collected by RFID chips on men's shirts, traffic counters and other in-store data points to identify the optimal merchandising mix. Working with Sato Global Solutions, Untuckit's goal is to give managers better visibility into the movement of merchandise so as to determine customer demand. Beacon-based overhead traffic counters from RetailNext paired with point-of-sale software resulted in an implementation of Internet of Things (IoT) technology, according to RFID Journal.

"The Proper Business Solutions were a natural fit to make our mobile POS systems come to life and equip us with the necessary hardware to match our software and take the pain and inefficiencies out of the point of sale process," said Jason Lerman, Untuckit's director of operations, in the press release.

Untuckit started in 2011 as an e-commerce startup, and opened its first physical store in New York City in 2015. The company plans to have 100 brick-and-mortar stores by 2022. It added apparel for boys and men's pants to its merchandise mix last year and just added women's blazers.