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Mobile Analytics Bring Consumers Into The Shopping Zone

VP IBM head shotWe’re only a few weeks into 2015 and retailers are once again looking for an edge, one that lets them more efficiently connect customers with the products they seek. Over the last few years, we have witnessed the rise of the mobile shopper and the continued “coming of age” of online commerce.

Mobile and online commerce have soared because they tap analytics to personalize the experience for each individual, linking them with offers that are catered to just them. On the other side, the classic in-store experience has been missing the mark, most notably in their ability to bring the same personalized experience to their shoppers.

You may enter the store with a wish list and a plan but once you get swallowed in the crowd you will most likely end up wandering through aisle after aisle to find what you need at the price you are looking for.  

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Some seem to have given up on those more traditional shoppers.  According to IBM’s 2014 Holiday Readiness Report, in-store sales are declining and one reason behind this is that they don’t know their customers as well as they should when they walk through their doors.  

But there is hope and it’s your mobile device. While many see mobile devices as a threat to the in-store shopping experience, the reality is far different. Retailers have an opportunity to equip employees and systems to deliver a personalized shopping experience within the brick-and-mortar arena.

Intelligent, in-store location-based technologies allow customers to share their shopping preferences with the retailer, just as you would online. Using powerful analytics, businesses then have deeper customer insights to gain an overview of an on-site customer’s behavior and their level of engagement. With this information, the retailer can better engage each person via real time, contextual interactions as they move around the store.

Just imagine, you walk into a retailer and instantly receive a push notification to your phone. What does it say? Well if you opt in, the retailer creates a profile based on previous purchases (both on and offline), items included on your wish lists and what’s on sale that might fall into these buckets. Now back to you, the shoppers. You are in the store with your cart but you are not flying blind. In just minutes the retailer already has a sense of what you like and how to guide you on your journey.

As you head for the aisles, the services monitors the Wi-Fi signals from your mobile device, gains visibility into shopper traffic patterns within each store by department, creates heat maps to compare these patterns and more. That’s right, the retailer can track what areas of the store are most popular to you as well as all shoppers. Now by combing this information into a single profile, they can better understand what each individual might be looking for, present timely, personalized and contextually relevant promotions instantly on their phone and then direct them to where these items are located in the store.

The death of the in-store shopping experience has been grossly exaggerated. In fact, there are still quite a few of us out there who like to check under the hood before we make our purchases. But it’s hard to deny the fact that these retailers could use a few new tricks to keep their customers coming back. At a time when loyal customers are gold, delivering them unified shopping experiences that combine online, mobile, analytics and in-store is just what your customers need.


Richard Esposito is the IBM General Manager, GTS Mobility Services. In his current position, he leads IBM Global Technology Services’ Mobility business line to help clients drive improved performance and capture value through mobile enterprise solutions. He has worldwide responsibility for client satisfaction, financial growth, strategy, sales, delivery, mobile innovation labs, offering development and operations. Esposito has more than 29 years of experience in the technology industry. He has worked with business executives and CIOs across various industries including utilities, government, insurance, retail and telecommunications.

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