Member Article

Technology - the key to truly seamless, frictionless shopping

Dina Townsend, Vice President, Retail Practice Leader at RMG Networks

In retail, it’s important to create a smooth shopping experience for the consumer who may well see shopping as a way to escape whatever stresses and hassles they’re experiencing in their daily life. Or, alternatively, dread the prospect of trawling around shops and appreciate anything that makes it an efficient process for them. Retailers know this, which is why one of the key goals of the industry is to ensure a frictionless customer journey, no matter how, where or what the consumer purchases. However, despite this cardinal rule, making this a reality is much easier said than done. One of the biggest inhibitors for customers when purchasing goods is the potential inconvenience, whether real or perceived, of making a purchase online or instore. From losing items in an online basket or finding out that options are no longer available because a selection took too long, to fighting high street crowds, or finding a preferred choice is unavailable - there are many steps along the way that can be frustrating and end up in unsatisfactory shopping experiences for the customer as well as the retailer. If customers are not enjoying a smooth purchasing experience it will automatically affect the profitability of a retailer as the customers will either look elsewhere or decide not to bother. The smart retailer, however, will think about how it can deliver a seamless shopping experience, that flows through both its online and instore offering. One of the key elements for delivering this offering successfully, will be affected by how the retailer uses technology to gain insight and follow the journey of its customer in both purchasing environments. Online and instore shopping should be seen as complementary options for a customer; whether they research online then go instore to see the physical option, or see a product instore then comparison research at home and purchase from what they consider to be the best deal. Gathering data along this journey is vital for ensuring that a retailer will be providing a preferable shopping experience – there no longer needs to be a disconnect between an online shopping basket and a physical sales register Data, unique to a specific customer, can be collected at various points along the shopping journey and that data can be collated to provide valuable insight into the customer’s habits, needs and preferences. This should no longer be seen as a threat to a person’s anonymity by the customer, but embraced as the retailer wanting to make sure they offer them the most relevant range of options and promotions and facilitating their shopping experience.
When used well, visual customer communication and its back-end technology, is the core factor to providing a seamless shopping experience. It is the thread that runs through the online, mobile and instore journey. It works just as effectively from whichever point the customer starts, as the data, and the insight it delivers, remains true at any point. Interestingly, statistics have revealed that on Black Friday 2017, roughly 40%[i] of sales (on what is traditionally a brick and mortar shopping day), came from a mobile device, and that online retail sales in general have increased 16%[ii] compared to last year. However, that’s not to say that these customers did not also do research instore as part of the shopping experience. More and more retailers are incorporating interactive shopping experiences as part of their instore technology. Smart mirrors where customers can try on different styles capture the choices and go away and think about or interiors stores where various paint, wallpaper and furnishing options can be tried together virtually and considered at a later date, are just a couple of ways that virtual and real environments are working alongside each other. The technology behind all of these options helps inform the customer on their choices, but also provides insight to the retailer on what promotions or further options might be of value to the customer. This insight is particularly useful for creating targeted social marketing that is specifically relevant to individual consumers. Fundamentally, to keep customers loyal to their brand, retailers need to be agile, flexible and adaptable to the role of modern digital signage technology and implement it in a holistic manner at the multiple endpoints consumers use. There should no longer be a concern over high-street versus online, but the approach should be following the customer’s complete journey. Without this approach, companies will fail to properly tap into a customer’s needs and all the data they hold that can provide them with valuable insight While digital signage, and its associated benefits, is not a stand-alone saviour for attracting and retaining customer loyalty, it does give businesses a competitive advantage. Recent research[iii] has found that over 40% of shoppers can change what they buy if relevant information is given by digital displays at the point of purchase. Consequently, embracing the role of technology and how it facilitates a complete shopping experience will help retailers survive, grow and thrive in this increasingly crowded and saturated marketplace.
[1] https://www.outerboxdesign.com/web-design-articles/mobile-ecommerce-statistics [1] http://uk.businessinsider.com/mobile-sales-drive-unexpected-uk-e-commerce-growth-2017-1 [1] https://screen.cloud/ideas/innovation/exciting-digital-signage-trends-and-statistics

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by RMG Networks .