Samuel Mueller, Scandit
It’s no secret that the mobile shopping revolution is here. In fact, it’s been here for quite some time, but even though consumers are rarely seen without their smartphones in hand, retailers have been slow to catch on to consumer habits and behaviors. While some retailers are making strides to engage shoppers via the mobile channel, the majority seem to be falling behind.
In today’s competitive marketplace, mobile strategies help retailers remain relevant to modern consumers. If you haven’t adopted a strong mobile effort for your business, the time is now.
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Following are five mobile strategies retailers should embrace and deploy:
Support Cross-Platform Mobile Solutions
Cross platform mobile development is one of the best practices a retailer can adopt. There are several app development frameworks available that allow companies to develop for multiple platforms. These frameworks enable retailers to create solutions that target more devices and users, while writing a minimal amount of source code. This not only makes it easier for retailers to support more consumers, but it also keeps development costs low.
From an engagement level, a native app experience is superior so retailers looking to offer cross-platform solutions should consider platforms that provide ready-to-use apps with best practices built-in for iOS and Android.
Provide An Omnichannel User Experience
To remain relevant in the fast-paced world of mobile development, retailers should provide an omnichannel user experience that includes all channels through which consumers can interact with their business — with mobile as the most engaging and the glue that connects the different channels. This goes beyond traditional channels, including retailers’ mobile web sites, to include things like mobile apps for consumers.
With an omnichannel offering that takes into account all mobile channels – with a tie back into retailers’ back-end systems like in-store, loyalty and e-Commerce, for example – retailers can drive commerce by giving consumers multiple ways to engage with their businesses and purchase goods.
Nurture Customers Over Time
By focusing on recurring customers and their needs and desires, retailers can devise and customize mobile offerings to drive sales, bolster loyalty and increase satisfaction. Providing special services via a mobile app, for example, helps to increase customer engagement.
Take a look at CVS, which recently launched its mobile app with returning customers in mind. It focuses on things they needed most: personalized prescription to-do lists and coupons based on shopping patterns. Because CVS concentrated on core customers first, the app has been downloaded over four million times and received rave reviews from customers.
Engage Customers With Interactive Apps
When designing your mobile strategy, keep interactivity in mind. Retailers that provide an engaging user experience see higher sales and customer satisfaction. These strategies include options like push notifications for in-store offers, the ability to create shopping lists, price comparison, in-store self-checkout and retail store locators, among others.
A traffic-intensive mobile web site is great for SEO and onboarding new customers, but customers can then be driven to highly engaging mobile apps. Consider pre-built apps with retail-specific business processes included, to save money on development costs and speed time to deployment.
Empower Your Salesforce With Clienteling Tools
Mobile may not be top-of-mind when thinking about the in-store experience, but it plays a key role in clienteling.
Clienteling holds many benefits for both the consumer and retailer, and any brick-and-mortar business that wants to compete with online retailers should consider salesforce empowerment to stay relevant in today’s marketplace. Clienteling has been shown to enhance customer service by providing responsive in-store support and giving customers as much, if not more, product information as an online retailer.
These innovations allow consumers to have a more personalized shopping experience, as associates can provide what customers need on the spot, whether that’s product details, inventory levels or even the customer’s history if desired, via a mobile device, and help to drive sales as a result.
The mobile channel presents a great opportunity for retailers to engage with consumers, bolster customer satisfaction and loyalty and drive sales. By employing the five strategies outlined, you will be well positioned to capitalize on the many benefits that mobile – and all of its facets – has to offer.
Samuel Mueller is Co-Founder and CEO of Scandit, the leading developer of high performance mobile solutions for smartphones, tablets and wearables, designed to transform consumer engagement and operational efficiency for today’s forward-looking enterprises. For more information on Scandit, visit www.scandit.com.
