Retail Mobility – Improve shopping experience & Customer satisfaction

iVend Mobility

With the explosive competition growth that almost defines the retail sector, a multi-faceted approach such as that provided by integrating your retail systems is no longer a luxury, but an imperative. This is especially true in light of the fact that even successful retail companies miss out on a substantial amount of conversions at their mobile POS, due to their inability to identify their most loyal conversions. Indeed; the number of missed opportunities can be staggering, given that these consumers are quite frequently repeat buyers.

Integrated retail systems have been shown to play a huge part in driving more people into your network, from which they continue on to your mobile POS, or other platform of lead conversion. Today’s software has grown ever more powerful to meet the demand, highlighting convenience for the user with such novel and time-saving improvements as touch-screen interfaces to match the speedier processors on the market now. Statistics show that the importance of mobile marketing is skyrocketing, and is expected to surpass all other forms in the coming years. This means that everything you do with your company, from the human resources angle of ensuring customer loyalty, to the establishment of retail innovations, will all need to converge on a mobile POS for maximum effect.

It isn’t possible to overestimate the importance of customer engagement directly at your mobile POS. In the past, it was all about traffic, because traffic led to an acceptable percentage of conversions given the right long-tail keywords. Today, however, this isn’t enough; since retail keywords are so competitive, you now have to treat every visitor as a valued consumer, which is done mostly through the offering of deals tailored to any previous purchases they might have made; contests and prizes to keep their interest and interaction with your brand piqued, and metrics that gauge their satisfaction with each product.

With the rise of social media in the past few years, it is clear that customer loyalty is synonymous with customer engagement. Besides the things your retail outfit should keep in mind for the mobile POS, well before they get there, people like to be informed about products and services in a way that doesn’t seem like advertising. After all, consumers are always looking for the product you and your competitors are pitching; the key is getting them to yours first and keeping them there. Constructing informative posts that do nothing but update offers extensively, encouraging a comments section to help foster ideas for amendments for your future posts – it’s the best way to engage with the potential consumer and enter into a dialogue.

Integrated Retail software can help your business with keeping track of the multi-channel retailing that will ensure your company’s competitiveness on all Retail touchpoints. Business Intelligence dashboards that lay everything out at your fingertips will facilitate Analytics, which aren’t just a tracking method, but also an improvement mechanism, allowing you to identify and hone in on especially lucrative areas. Retail management software frees up time to pursue retail innovations, since you will no longer be bogged down with the minutiae that often accompanies manual tracking. What better way to present yourself as an attractive and loyal enterprise than new solutions that benefit your growing customer base? Your integrated systems will be a beacon in the sea of similar enterprises, driving up your mobile POS numbers without sacrificing customer satisfaction.

Innovate or Face Extinction

A business needs to innovate or they risk becoming irrelevant.

The typical sales model no longer applies for retailers. There’s no doubt that there will always be a need for brick and mortar stores; people need to touch and feel a product before purchasing it. In fact, over a third of online consumers cite this as the top reason they don’t prefer to buy online.

Innovate or Face Extinction in RetailToday, however, it’s really all about convenience: consumers want to buy whenever they want to, wherever they are, and as easily and hassle-free as possible. They may love shopping at your store most of the time; but they also want to be able to purchase from you when they are stuck at the office late or at midnight when they are shopping for holiday gifts. Retailers big and small must integrate multi-channel retailing into their repertoire or they will experience attrition in sales and their customer base consistently.

The latest innovations in retailing tend to be adopted early by large retailers. Consider these interesting new innovations:

  • Nordstrom’s just announced that they are testing a mobile application that will allow customers to order custom made men’s suits whenever they desire. Can you imagine sitting in your hotel room at midnight, while away on business in Asia, ordering several thousand dollars worth of custom, high end suits?
  • Neiman Marcus has a mobile app that allows you to work with your favorite sales associate.

Are you embracing innovation in your business? If not, imagine the impact of the following scenarios on the success of your business.

A frequent client stops by your shop, looking for a dress for an upcoming special occasion.  After trying on several dresses, she leaves, saying she’d like to think it over more. Later that week, she decides on one of the dresses at your shop, but she’s at a mall twenty minutes away and your store is closing.

She looks up your store on her mobile phone’s browser so she can purchase it and then pick it up tomorrow. Alas, your webpage doesn’t have mobile capability. She gets frustrated when it’s cumbersome to navigate your site, and ends up ordering the same dress from another store at a nearby mall.

Loss of convenience = Dollars flying out the window.

Your children’s retail boutique recently started carrying a decorative accessory that is aimed toward the preteen girl’s demographic. It’s predicted to be the new hot trend. While in-store sales are fairly flat for this item, they seem to be selling well online. However, you don’t have the time or the tools to assess who’s buying these items. You soon run out of stock and the item is backordered.

If you had a retail management solution that integrated with your multi-channel retailing, you’d have quick access to important customer data, such as detailed demographics of purchasers as well as anyone who clicks on your site. What if a young teen in Texas wore this to her school and started a huge trend, which quickly spread in the area?

By having quick access to this data and integrating it with your social media platforms and customer loyalty programs, you could have marketed to a targeted demographic. Instead, some other retailer has capitalized on the trend. 

No management tools = Lost sales.

You own a chain of electronic and consumer goods stores. They become crowded during weekends, especially when you are running popular promotions, and it often seems like your sales staff isn’t able to keep up with all the questions.  A male shopper who is well-versed in IT equipment stops by to purchase a computer and other accessories, all of which are on sale. However, he can’t get anyone to help him and the checkout lines are long. Because he’s in a hurry, he leaves and plans to come back later. But he doesn’t get a chance to stop back before the sale ends, and takes advantage of a competitor’s sale on the same item the following weekend.

If your store had been equipped with mobile solutions, such as in-store tablets, your customers could order their purchases throughout the store and speed up the process.

Imagine making your customer’s shopping experiences a simple and easy task. Whether at home, on the road, or in your store, your innovative systems are providing them with ideas, information, and convenience. This translates into more sales and revenue for your business.

Can you afford not to innovate?