All’s fair in love and war, and modern retail is nothing short of a battlefield. This is why you need to use all the strategic help you can get and add some of the latest tech-enhancements to your sales arsenal. You can never underestimate the psychology of your buyers and there are several ways in which you can use the aforementioned tech pieces to sway them one way or another. Here are some tips on how to strategically use in-store technology to boost customer experience and, in this way, improve your profits, as well.
Customer Support
Let’s start this list with heavy artillery. Everyone can notice that mobile devices the next big thing in the world of technology. Seeing how, according to Statista, almost 4.77 billion people will have mobile phones by the next year, customer support over these devices suddenly turns into a number one priority. Every call you miss is a missed opportunity and this is where you can turn to software for help. Apps for call forwarding, sequential ring and simultaneous ring are but a few things you can use to lift your customer support service to a whole new level.
Illumination is the Key
Another thing you need to pay attention to is the issue of in-store lighting. Namely, according to one research, brighter lighting in stores made shoppers examine and handle more merchandise, than in areas with dimmer illumination. Reading small print with bad light makes it difficult for the eyes to focus, which can cause short-term eye fatigue. This makes a potential customer subconsciously less interested in the product. Because of this, you should never underestimate the way your lighting system is organized.
Also, it might be a good idea to go with LED lighting instead of incandescent ones, since in this way, your store will also be much more energy efficient. Still, according to experts from Industralight (who deal with commercial spaces), you should be very careful when doing this, since in case of LED bulbs, watts to lumens ratio is quite different than most people are used to. For example, 60W incandescent bulb gives as much light as 6-8W LED one.
Price Scan
One of the greatest difficulties while shopping is keeping track of the total cost of items in your cart. This is why introducing a price scanning and totaling system can make the shoppers’ lives much easier. It will allow your customers to scan an item as soon as they take it from the shelf. This way, those awkward situations, where customers realize they don’t have enough money at the register, can be completely averted. Finally, kids will just love using this technology, by keeping them occupied, this scanner also improves the overall shopping experience for their parents.
3D Body Scanners
Speaking of scanners, general goods stores are not the only ones that can benefit from such tech. Clothing stores could save a lot of their client’s time and therefore also improve their overall shopping experience, by introducing 3D full-body scanners to their stores. These kinds of precise measurements can also get metrics that will be later used to make superb custom clothing for one’s customers.
Faster Checkout
Finally, according to study conducted by Harris Poll and Digimarc, over 88% of adult customers want faster checkout. From the retailer’s standpoint, this makes sense. First of all, waiting in line at the checkout is such a drag that it gives customers a lot of time to think whether they really need one particular item they were in doubt of buying in the first place. Additionally, waiting in line causes frustration your buyers are bound to remember next time they think about revisiting your store. All in all, a faster checkout can be easily made possible through mobile and contactless payments, in combination with the aforementioned price scanning technology.
Conclusion:
In the past, those with the best tools usually made the best results, regardless of the trade. The same is true today, even though these tools have become much more complex and sophisticated. In conclusion, the most important thing about strategically using this technology is to organize utilize it in such a manner that your average customer barely notices it. That way, their customer experience will improve significantly. Furthermore, by failing to link this positive sensation to any particular aspect of your work, they will automatically associate it with your store in general.
Image sources: Coolcaesar at English Wikipedia (featured) & pixabay.com
Derek had worked with his wife in several Australian based startups. At one point, Derek decided to stop putting on a tie as the business world and it's hectic nature did not suit his idealism. Once he quit the corporate world, he started blogging and collaborating with notable entrepreneurs.