Retailoring Retail for a Mobile-First World

A big part of being a knowledgeable sales associate is to know more about your customers, and what they’re looking for. Before mobile tech really took off, being in the dark about customers was more excusable, as it was much harder for sales associates to recognize loyal customers when they came through the door. If two people walked into a retail location, for instance, the only way to know which of them was a more valued customer (and should take priority) was if the store clerks had interacted with each of them in the past and took note of it. Now, technology makes it possible to recognize customers by logging, and accessing, their history.

Because of this, a number of retailers are investing in technologies that give store clerks better insights as to who the customers are—their preferences, their purchase histories, and other information.

iBeacons also play a crucial role in this process, as they can interact with a customer’s mobile device to engage him as he moves through the store, and also alert store associates while providing them with relevant information. Customers who have downloaded Target’s mobile app, for instance, can be alerted by iBeacon when they are near certain items, as well as any promotional deals associated with them.

When mobile app users are in an Alex and Ani jewelry store, the display case holding items that are most relevant to a customer lights up in a color that matches each customer’s profile, and is based on the preferences each one has communicated to the system.

The fashion retailer True Religion is another such retailer implementing these methods in its stores to provide a standout experience. The retailer uses a black-booking application built by Formula 3 that gives the company insight into each customer, showing purchase history and potential lifetime value. It’s “a really gorgeous, AirBnB-esque version of a ‘clienteling’ tool,” says John Hazen, senior vice president of direct to consumer and omnichannel at True Religion. The company has combined this technology with CRM and clienteling capabilities from Aptos (formerly Epicor) to give store associates a better handle on the customers coming in. Store associates are armed with Apple Watch devices and tablets and can engage with loyalty members who enter the store with a phone that activates iBeacon technologies, which, in turn, notify store reps.

“For us, that’s the holy grail of personalization,” Hazen says. “If the store associate knows when [people] walk into the store, and knows everything that they’ve purchased, we can deliver better service and a better experience to them.”

“We’re trying to avoid the creepy side of this,” Hazen adds. Thus, the company will be opening this primarily to their best customers—those who opt in and are enrolled in a loyalty program.

CHECK THEM OUT BEFORE THEY CHECK OUT

While it’s certainly true that getting customers into the store and engaging them there is a fantastic goal, getting them out at their convenience is also optimal. In recent years, companies have realized that self-checkout options are a highly worthy investment, and that mobile devices can be instrumental in the checkout process.

Accordingly, mobile payment technologies are becoming more sophisticated to enable timely in-store checkouts. A number of companies are investing in point-of-sale technologies that interact with mobile wallets to allow customers to check out as quickly as possible. (As a testament to the need for quick checkouts, Google recently announced that it was testing capabilities that would enable customers to purchase items on their phones without even having to pull them out of their pockets.)

Jessica Langdorf, vice president of the Digital Interaction Lab at TouchCommerce, points out that Nordstrom arranges it so that customers aren’t forced to wait in line for any longer than is necessary by having associates who are equipped to facilitate the checkout process. “That’s such an amazing convenience, because everybody hates lines,” Langdorf says.

Borrowing from this idea, TouchCommerce provides technologies that enable this experience with its TouchStore solution. If “everybody’s standing in line, waiting to check out—we’ll give them an express lane, a fast pass where your signage communicates that if they SMS text a certain code, or scan a QR code, or if they go to a vanity [or specified] URL, they can sort of preorder.”

And its solution serves to offer an express lane for those who are performing simple transactions, many of which have already been completed via mobile device. “If [the transaction] requires something like the person going in the back to grab the product, or accepting cash, and you still need a live human being in the retail store,” the solution is built to notify associates to that effect. Customers can then proceed to the checkout counter to pick up the product and finalize the transaction.

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Associate Editor Oren Smilansky can be reached at osmilansky@infotoday.com.

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