With payment by fingerprint and interactive shopping carts a reality in some cutting-edge retail stores, you should start thinking about how your customers will pay you in the future. According to this study on MediaPost.com, 19% of U.S. customers surveyed expect to check out via fingerprint recognition by 2015. They also look forward to shopping carts that “locate products in the store, check prices and promotions, upload recipes and complete the checkout process.”

Even if you’re store doesn’t offer shopping carts, it’s worth looking at the study results to see what a cross section of consumers expect in the future. Shopping by mobile phone and social networking shopping websites aren’t too difficult to get involved with, although holographic sales assistance sounds more like a something for the Jetsons at this stage.

You owe it to yourself and your clientele to keep up with the latest technologies at the cash wrap, on the sales floor and in the dressing room. If you’ve been to an Apple or Old Navy store, you know that many sales associates are in constant communication with each other via wireless headset, and some can ring up sales on the spot via wireless checkout devices that even print receipts. I certainly appreciate checking out fast even when there’s a line at the POS, and I think consumers will come to expect such convenience the more they’re exposed to it.

Read the survey results and see what I’m talking about. The more you learn about what consumers really want, the more likely you’ll be ready to satisfy their needs in the not-so-distant future.