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CoverStory

retailers evolve and tailor their retail quire. "We are still pretty bullish on the SMB pharmacists in these underserved
outlets and their shopping experienc- smaller population markets," Helgeson said. "We're also seeing exceptional
es to how consumers want to shop," growth in hardware and do-it-yourself stores, as well as in stadiums and ven-
he said, adding that unified com- ues."
merce, the ability to buy online and
return in-store, or buy in-aisle for Transformation in retail is nothing new. To put it into perspective, in 1990, there
home delivery are paying dividends were four Walmart Supercenters. By 2000, more than 1,500 Walmart Supercent-
in the short-term. ers had opened, and over the same period 2 million small businesses folded.

For payments industry contenders, "We're actually seeing the exact opposite happening now," Buzek said. "The
technology investment is a long-term Amazon ecosystem is allowing small businesses to grow and grow locations,
endeavor. "How this impacts our in- because they can tap into a market they never had access to, and they're impact-
dustry is the companies that have not ing the larger guys accustomed to people having to shop."
spent the last five years investing in
technology are going to fall flat," Hel- Today's consumers need a reason to shop when and where they do. "The suc-
geson said. "They're going to be the cessful merchants are the ones that are investing in technology, which opens
legacy providers that are working a great door for the payment players that have the right technology and have
with these legacy merchants. invested alongside these retailers," Helgeson said.

"We're one of the companies that have The ultimate winners will be the retail and payment partners who can col-
made a substantial investment in the laboratively deliver connected payment shopping experiences that match the
future of commerce, and we're six personal lifestyle demands and demographic preferences of generations con-
years into the investment right now. verging on retail technology in a 24/7 world.
The old way of doing things in our in-
dustry was to build features, not full
products, and those features could be
a six-month development time and
generally 12 months to market."

The new way of doing things is much
more complex. "It's not features; it's
platforms you've got to build, and
that's a multiyear investment," Helge-
son noted. "Our focus is on the prod-
ucts that we're going to release at the
end of 2018." Technology requires vi-
sion, and building teams to execute
on products that support that vision
takes time.

Future market makers
According to Helgeson, growth in
up-market fashion and other retail
segments, as well as down-market
merchant segments, presents new
opportunities. "When we look at the
compression of the middle class and
going from dining out to QSR, they
still want the same type of food, al-
though now it comes in a different
format," he said. "Consumers are
looking beyond McDonald's for a
QSR that has more flavor, more of a
touch to it."

Also worth consideration are smaller
towns that cannot support large-scale
stores in the formats these stores re-

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