By Salil Godika, Happiest Minds
Mobile phones and devices have changed everything: the way people work, the way people play, and certainly the way people shop. Mobile can be a serious tool for retailers who want to not only capture the mobile customer, but also streamline their business and revitalize their marketing.
Meet The Mobile Consumer
Along with transforming lifestyles and work styles, mobile has changed consumer expectations: they want their retail experience to be a highly personalized one. The Big Data that’s generated from a number of fascinating resources today allows retailers to acutely understand, comprehend and target their customers to create this highly individualized shopping experience. This “me-commerce” concept will continue to evolve, and retailers wishing to maximize impact on current and future generations of shoppers must use mobility as a primary tool.
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Not only must the consumer experience be customized, it must also be consistent over multiple channels. If the brand experience is not similar with an “omnichannel approach” in tone and content — whether the consumer is window shopping, purchasing, paying or receiving a shipment — a brand can lose credibility and customer loyalty.
Speaking of loyalty, today’s consumer is wildly attuned to social media. Their links with and recommendations to friends and family are some of the strongest endorsements your business can receive. Smart retailers will take advantage and make the most of the dialogue they can have with today’s consumer via tools like Pinterest, Instagram, Quora, Craig’s List, etc.
Mobile Meets Your Store
Mobile can mean far more than simply an app that facilitates shopping. Studies have shown that companies are unable to prevent employees from bringing their own devices to work, so why not take advantage of that? Maximize productivity of store employees by allowing them to use devices for inventory check-points, sales assistance and more.
And while we’re in your showroom, why not do a little strategizing around the “showrooming” trend: Customers use your brick-and-mortar store to examine merchandise, then buy those products online using mobile. Smart retailers will empower in-store employees with mobile to provide product data and personalized assistance that closes the sale right then and there.
If your staff can’t get around to all of your customers, try hyper-targeting them as they move about in-store using tools like Wi-Fi, LTE, iBeacon, and even augmented reality (AR) techniques. Engage them with digital displays, ePubs, and multi-media presentations. Then, link that in-store experience with your customers’ mobile device to close the sale. The interplay of in-store digital and hand-held mobile can create a customer “wow” moment that your lagging competitors — who aren’t taking mobile seriously enough — can’t match.
Salil Godika is Co-Founder, Chief Strategy & Marketing Officer and Industry Group Head at Happiest Minds Technologies. Godika has 18 years of experience in the IT industry across global Product and Services companies. His breadth of experience includes P&L Ownership, Marketing, Vertical Market Development, Product Management, M&A and Alliances. He has extensive work experience in new business incubation from identification to operations.
