DISCUSSION
Retail Customer Experience: Eight Ways the Smartphone Can Help Your Customers Love You
Written by Guest contributor
Through a special arrangement, presented here for discussion is a summary of a current article from Retail Customer Experience, a daily news portal devoted to helping retailers differentiate the shopping experience.
At GlobalShop held in Las Vegas, Molly Garris, director of digital strategy at Arc Worldwide, outlined eight examples of how retailers can use mobile technologies to increase sales.
- Help shoppers prepare: Shoppers are creating and storing lists on their phones, but some retailers are giving customers even more options. Kroger's app not only allows a customer to create lists, but it also locates deals and coupons and then allows her to load them on her Kroger loyalty card. Target's app tells shoppers if the product they want is in stock and where to find it.
- Invite them into the store: Shopkick not only shows customers all the stores around them, but gives them incentives for entering. For example, when a user opens the American Eagle app (a ShopKick partner) and walks into American Eagle, she earns points which lead to deals and coupons. Customers at American Eagle also gain extra points for trying on clothes.
- Show them around: One superstore's "Find It" app allows shoppers to type in what they are looking for and will then direct them to the location. Aisle411 is another app that helps customers find products, but a retailer must partner with the company to get its maps into the system. Shoppers can also use the app to scan barcodes to read product reviews and find out about in-store discounts and promotions.
- Help them decide: Customers often seek advice about purchases, so the smartphone can be a tool to help them compare products in the store instead of simply looking them up on competing sites. For example, Best Buy, which provides QR codes on all its product tags, has an app that allows shoppers to hold their phones over the codes to get more info. The app can compare up to four products side by side, so customers can see the differences.
- Encourage them to share: Converse has an app that lets shoppers take a photo of shoes, see it in a variety of colors and styles and then instantly text it or send it to Facebook. Macy's created an augmented reality experience through an app that allowed shoppers to point their phones at a specific place on the floor triggering characters to pop up.
- Make the transaction easier: Employees equipped with iPod Touches in C Wonder, a new store in New York, can handle transactions from anywhere in the store. Customers no longer have to wait in line and can purchase a product whenever they're ready.
- Make sure they're satisfied: Home Depot's app gives customers tips on do-it-yourself projects, including "how to" videos. Kroger has an app that gives its customers grilling tips and recipes when they buy a specific brand of charcoal.
- Invite them back: Walgreens sends text alerts to customers when it's time for them to refill their prescriptions.
