With December takings for online retailers set to top £10 billion for the first time ever according to industry group IMRG and consultants Capgemini, the High Street is having to find new, innovative ways to fight back and protect its market share. Black Friday was formerly perceived to be the high street retailer’s day of salvation, with Cyber Monday its online counterpart.
With online purchases predicted to rise sharply compared to the same period last year however and those buying online after browsing reaching a five-year high of 5% in the run-up to this Christmas, many retailers are trying a new multi-channel approach to track customers through their smartphones in and around stores and learn more about their preferences from their shopping behaviour.
Over recent years many of the High Street’s most illustrious names have fallen by the wayside and this Christmas period represents a make or break for many that have gone the distance so far. The shopping days from ‘Black Friday’ up to the 24th December are the most important of the year for retailers, and one thing is clear, they need to use every available method at their disposal to increase revenue. And the key tool they have to hand – and to the hand of their consumers – is mobile.
So what can retailers do with mobile to boost in-store sales?
Track consumers in the high street and offer them stuff
Stores are using mobile tracking technologies to increase their level of consumer engagement and improve the customer shopping experience. But the ability to track customers on their smartphones in and around stores could help bricks and mortar retailers tackle the online threat in other ways too, says retail technology entrepreneur and CEO of mobile payment specialist Powa Technologies Dan Wagner.
“It’s all about offering the consumer something extra. Geolocation is clearly part of that picture and something that a physical retailer can leverage that an online retailer can’t. If a customer transmits their location to a retailer, the retailer could let them know that they have a shop 300 yards away for example. The store could then send a message telling the customer to drop by in half an hour when their goods will be ready to collect. Amazon can’t do that.”
Tailor the shopping experience
Alongside geolocation, techniques like tailoring shopping to the individual preferences of the consumer with bespoke recommendations that mimic the online experience can help to attract and retain their custom.
Improve store layout
Developments in the design and layout of the premises themselves are providing another method to tempt the browsers and buyers back. Forward-thinking retailers like the Apple Store have already pioneered a more informal, less linear format that allows for browsing and purchasing to be interlinked. This kind of approach combined with the use of mobile payment methods, where payment can be taken anywhere on the retail premises, make the whole process of shopping easier and ultimately more pleasurable.
Give them wifi
Everyone who is out and about shopping is also online via mobile and, given the woefully slow mobile networks (4G is a long way off for most of us) getting some free, solid wifi is a distinct bonus. One way to pull consumers into your store – not to mention how to deliver and develop all these other offerings – is to offer wifi to your consumers. Ping them and tell them you have it as they approach. Put a hand written sign in your window. Either way, having wifi will increase foot fall.
Think outside the box
Wagner adds: “It is now up to the shops themselves to seek out and create innovative ways through which they can engage with their customers. Geolocation, mobile payment and tailoring the experience to the consumer represent some of the ways retail is changing for the better. The number of ways that retailers can engage with their customers is increasing and mobile payment is playing a big part in this. Making payment more convenient and taking the transaction to the customer wherever they are really improves customer engagement and ensures that long queues at the cash tills don’t put frustrated customers off shopping in the busy Christmas period.”
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