The retail industry continues to be a hotbed of innovation, with activity driven by environmental sustainability, regulatory reforms, risk mitigation, and the growing importance of technologies such as customer service robotics, robotic inventory management, voice commerce, and smart checkout. In the last three years alone, there have been over 133,000 patents filed and granted in the retail industry, according to GlobalData’s report on Online Payments in Retail: E-wallet payments.
According to GlobalData’s Technology Foresights, which uses over 128,000 patents to analyse innovation intensity for the retail industry, there are 70+ innovation areas that will shape the future of the industry.
E-wallet payments is a key innovation area in online payments
E-wallet refers to an electronic card which has a utility similar to a credit or debit card. It can be used for online transactions, provided that the individual’s bank account is linked with the e-wallet.
GlobalData’s analysis also uncovers the companies at the forefront of each innovation area and assesses the potential reach and impact of their patenting activity across different applications and geographies. According to GlobalData, there are 110+ companies, spanning technology vendors, established retail companies, and up-and-coming start-ups engaged in the development and application of E-wallet payments.
Key players in E-wallet payments – a disruptive innovation in the retail industry
‘Application diversity’ measures the number of different applications identified for each relevant patent and broadly splits companies into either ‘niche’ or ‘diversified’ innovators.
‘Geographic reach’ refers to the number of different countries each relevant patent is registered in and reflects the breadth of geographic application intended, ranging from ‘global’ to ‘local’.
Patent volumes related to E-wallet payments
Source: GlobalData Patent Analytics
SoftBank Group is one of the leading patent filers in e-wallet payments. Some other key patent filers in this space include nChain Holdings, Capital One Financial, and Visa. Recently, JusPay, a SoftBank-backed digital payments infrastructure provider, launched a new software stack called OpenPPI. The software would help digital wallets to be compatible with the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) pre-paid payment instruments (PPI) interoperability rules.
In terms of application diversity, DeviceFidelity leads the pack, while Nippon Telegraph and Telephone and Sony Group stand in the second and third positions, respectively. By means of geographic reach, Licentia Group holds the top position, followed by nChain Holdings and Intertrust Technologies.
E-wallet payments will potentially become an important aspect in the retail industry, with retail companies increasingly focusing on ways to enhance consumers’ shopping experience.
To further understand the key themes and technologies disrupting the retail industry, access GlobalData’s latest thematic research report on Online Payments in Retail.
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GlobalData, the leading provider of industry intelligence, provided the underlying data, research, and analysis used to produce this article.
GlobalData’s Patent Analytics tracks patent filings and grants from official offices around the world. Textual analysis and official patent classifications are used to group patents into key thematic areas and link them to specific companies across the world’s largest industries.
