Assisted Selling – Shopi

The Impact of Mobile Technology on Retail Store Operations

admin — Mon, 12 Jul 2021 07:43:27 +0000

Every retailer envisions the ideal shopping experience to end with customer satisfaction. The picture painted is of a smiling customer entering the store, browsing and selecting products, making the payment, and checking out delighted with the purchase. However, this experience is often plagued with crowded stores, stockouts, inadequate or absent store associates, and perpetually long checkout lines.

A lot of customers change or completely abandon their purchase decision owing to these factors. Today’s customers are known to be “always online” and have access to various non-physical stores. If retailers are inept in capturing and retaining the customers throughout the purchase journey, it directly results in lost sales. Hence, the need of the hour is an immersive and innovative customer experience. Digital retailing can achieve this change wherein the gaps between customer & store associates, and the store associates & headquarters are minimized. Let’s see how mobile technologies help achieve this dual-ended objective.

Enabling Store Associates with The Latest Technology

Long waiting times, unavailable sales associates and not being able to find what they came looking for are often the reasons that deter customers from completing their purchases at outlets. However, with the store associates app, associates can rectify the lack of in-store efficiency by providing a smooth shopping experience to customers. With a mobile app for associates’ use help them to browse or scan the product to add to customers basket with a single click and complete checkout right away without making them wait in long lines. This way, sales associates can be available round-the-clock to answer queries and provide immediate product delivery and suggestions without deserting the customer.

Visualizing a mobile point-of-sale in every sales associate becomes a reality with mobile apps that have in-built technology for free-flow communication between store associates and customers, allowing multiple baskets to be handled by a single store associate to best serve in the store.

Personalized Shopping Experience

Today, 86% of buyers are prepared to pay a premium for better customer experiences. Therefore, shoppers differentiate between retailers solely based on their ability to provide immersive experiences.

Typically, mobile apps help bridge the gap between the online and offline landscape. When adopting one to the operation, retailers can add an analytics component that tracks and evaluates the customer shopping behavior with parameters such as past transactions, search history, preferences, etc. Stores can go one step further by fostering relationships with customers by providing discount notifications, asking for feedback, or even remembering them on their special occasions. Hence, connecting with customers through technology-backed methods is a full-proof way to enhance loyalty.

Bridging Employees and Headquarter Relationships

Today, it is not enough that a company achieves customer satisfaction but also aims for employee satisfaction. Communicating seamlessly with employees and creating a culture of inclusion provides employees with an insight into business objectives and helps align their personal goals. Any company that provides employees with the company’s developments & announcements, displays employee success stories, etc., is bound to achieve better employee engagement. From a retailer’s perspective, taking this communication online and providing digital access to real-time performance data, individual duties, shifts & training, etc., would work wonders. This transformation helps build a connected workforce and workspace.

Automation of In-Store Inventory Processes

How can retailers provide customers with the right product at the right time? Is it by building larger stores to accommodate additional product ranges or by better inventory management? With shoppers now accustomed to online shopping, it is pertinent to bring the digital to in-store experiences. Customers spend hours at outlets trying to locate products. While sometimes they are successful, at other times, the tiring search leaves them empty-handed due to stock issues.

For better customer impact, back of store operations is crucial as well as the storefront performance. If the inventory is received at the right time and processed automatically with the help of handheld devices, it meets the store and customer without losing any time. Mobile associates app help employees in the field track the entire process in a single place and take action for multiple tasks- inventory receiving, label printing, cycle counting, etc.

Furthermore, stores can also incorporate an option that allows customers to place orders for unavailable products and get them delivered directly from the warehouse. With real-time availability checks, notifications, and various delivery options, this saves a great deal of time in order fulfillment and delivery activities as well as any potential loss of customers.

Hence, by simply refashioning the shopping experience, retailers can influence a customer’s purchase decision. In-store mobile technologies are set to transform traditional retail shopping. With Shopi, retailers can have digital capabilities to transform customer and sales experience. By achieving dual objectives of employee motivation and customer satisfaction, Shopi’s innovative technology will ensure a twofold benefit of business efficiency and profitability. To learn more about how Shopi optimizes your entire operation, contact us!

Why In-Store Technologies Hold the Key to Survival

admin — Mon, 01 Mar 2021 07:18:40 +0000

Change is the name of the game for fast-fashion retailers as they thrive in an ever-changing world of fashion and preferences. These retailers are constantly challenged to maintain high product turnover rates and to cater to their customers in a highly saturated market.

These preferences have taken on a whole new meaning as consumers come back to retail stores post-pandemic to experience the sensual pleasure of look and feel. Besides, the physical shopping experience is often seen as a form of entertainment that provides a sense of gratification for shoppers.

As consumers head back to stores, shop owners have to adapt their businesses to meet the health concerns, without compromising on the shopping experience. Given this scenario, it’s no doubt that in-store technologies and mobile solutions are the way forward as these retailers strive to maintain leverage their inventory with their customers. Below are some ways by which these technologies are powering fast-fashion retailers.

Inventory Control

Imagine a customer walks in, finds an empty shelf, and asks one of the sales associates about the availability of the desired product. How convenient and professional it would be if the sales associate could quickly check on a mobile device and give the accurate product detail and stock availability in other stores? Imagine how the customer experience and the customer loyalty would go up if that customer could still purchase the product right there and have it shipped home, even if the product she’s looking for is not available at that very store, at that very moment.

This also helps the sales associate since there is greater confidence and certainty in communication, and the business benefits as a whole with better control and flexibility over inventory with more motivated sales associates, and of course more satisfied customers. A win-win situation for everyone involved…

Such experiences and such flexibility can only be possible with the right solution that will approach the inventory from a holistic point of view. ERP approach to the inventory, displaying only limited attributes is simply not enough to provide the ultimate omnichannel experience in the store. A detailed catalog combined with deep inventory info will bring an enormous shift to the in-store experience.

Easy Checkout

One of the biggest problems of shopping is the long checkout lines. These are annoying for customers, put enormous pressure on store associates, and create an overall bad experience. In fact, research shows that long checkout lines cost retailers about $37 billion in potential sales each year.

A better option would be to use mobile checkouts and automated kiosks that would make the checkout process easy and convenient for customers so that they keep coming back to the store for more purchases. With reduced hours and the latest concern for space among shoppers, cash lines have become a more severe problem for retailers. The ability to complete check-out without lining up in front of a register is a must-have rather than a nice-to-have these days.

Predicting Customer Behavior

Another important asset to have in-store is capturing and accessing customer information. predicting customer behavior can be a game-changer as it allows retailers to stay ahead of the curve. Providing shoppers customized offers can be powered by AI and complex algorithms that leverage the power of mobile and cloud technologies that can analyze a customer’s demographics, preferences as well as past behavior and predict their expectations.

Addressing Operational Issues

Fast fashion retailers face a unique set of issues when it comes to managing operational processes manually. The complex process starts with accepting an order and after that, there are multiple phases to pass some of which are manual and inefficient until the product is received by the customer. And if in order to fulfill the order, there are returns and exchanges or product transfers involved, the process can be even more complex and manpower-consuming. Yet, efficiency and speed are a matter of extreme importance in the “new normal” environment. Unavailable stocks or delays in delivery and returns will cause problems both for the operation and customer experience. Stores should have a platform that can support and automatize their operational processes while providing real-time data to accept the order as soon as the request is in its place and balance the inventory in real-time to manage the stock availability.

Shopi’s cloud-based in-store solutions are the best fit for such conditions that cause both operational inefficiencies and dissatisfied customers. A convenient shopping experience is only possible when you are able to provide a good service from the first minute they come to your store. As the direct contact to your customers are store associates, Shopi’s Assist turns your associates into knowledgeable guides that meet any answer your customers’ need from product information to stock availability in seconds. It also provides a cashier-free checkout process anywhere in the store as long lines are always a pain in the neck that affects the brand’s presence and customer experience. For customers who’d like to experience self-shopping are allowed to search for the product that they’ll purchase and complete the checkout without needing any guidance thanks to Shopi’s self checkout solutions. In-store and warehouse operations can be handled by Shopi’s operation solutions. If you are willing to have the most accurate data regarding your operation, from product information to inventory availability and you also want to build customer loyalty by noticing your customer’s needs, contact us now and never miss a sales opportunity in your stores.

The Evolution of Store Assistance

admin — Wed, 25 Jul 2018 04:16:00 +0000

94% of all retail transactions are still taking place in brick and mortar stores. Yes, instead of replacing the brick and mortar store, the recent technological landscape changes are not leaving the high street behind. Inclusion of technology on the shop floor is more than just an aesthetic face lift – it is the technological improvement and advancement of all aspects of the physical store.

A prime example is the human element. Store associates can provide human soft skills but naturally lack the ability to recall and deploy data at the rate or volume of cloud supported retail technologies. Hence the introduction of retail store apps and devices, portable devices that are a portal to the resources of the company in the palm of the smiling sales associate. Let us think of profound ways that equipping staff with retail technology can give them this advantage:

Product knowledge

In the past the sales associate was the king or queen of the shop floor. However, with smartphones in their hands, the moment a customer is interested in a product, she now has access to potentially vast amounts of data including product specifications, pricing and even customer reviews. It is imperative that retailers empower sales associates with the necessary tools to access this data in store, fast and seamless. Empowering the sales assistant with devices and store applications means that they will now have access to accurate data from the retailer at all times regarding everything from the range of items available to the materials the product is made from.

Keeping constant track of the stock

The words “Let me go check on that” can be described as the last dying words of the sale. This crucial break in dialogue and contact leaves the customer killing time in the store and many cases kills their interest. The solution is to avoid this break in dialogue and contact by ensuring that all stock data is available to the sales associate at all times, everywhere. The sales person who knows the store stock, can access warehouse stock and can even check stock in other stores without breaking conversation is given far greater chance of completing sales and retaining customers.

Large stock ranges require sales associates to be constantly re-educated regarding not only stock availability but also the connection between stock items. It is likely incalculable how many sales opportunities are lost due to sales assistant’s lack of awareness of items that are closely connected to the purchased item that consumers would snap up if informed of them. The level of training and education required to give sales associates this edge would be inutile even in the context of a retailer with a small range. Assisted sales technology provides this data instantly and can even suggest, basic on customer data, which up or cross-sale items should be introduced to the consumer based on availability information.

Personalized Offers

One thing that is more than valuable than anything for the retailer is the customer data. Store associates who have access to customer data such as previous purchases, preferences and loyalty info can also provide personalized offers to those customers who are willing to get that kind of service. Being able to get personalized offers is one of the top things that the customers nowadays are expecting from their favorite brands.

The true benefit of empowering sales associates lies in their instant access to this vast information.

Reports indicate that the equipping of sales associates with mobile tools is seen as amongst the three most necessary innovations by retailers in 2018 with 51% stating its vitality.

Let not be deceived, this is not a slow movement to staff-less stores. Technology is not replacing the store associates, but empowering them. Instant messaging empowers them to remain in the store interfacing with consumers without the need to physically consult other sources, stock data means they do not have to physically check a stock room, product knowledge means that they can confidentially relate all details of the purchase item as if they own it themselves. All without interrupting their friendly conversation.

Here at Shopi we are the designer and supplier of such retail solutions for retail touch points including point of sale. You may wish to take time to look at Shopiassist that is empowering sales associates with its easy to use interface and many modular functions.

Reference:

(1) https://www.nchannel.com/blog/retail-data-ecommerce-statistics/

(2) https://www.retailtouchpoints.com/topics/omnichannel-cross-channel-strategies/survey-81-of-retailers-will-deploy-unified-commerce-platforms-by-2020

1200 Seconds: Use them wisely

admin — Mon, 02 Jul 2018 04:09:32 +0000

Twelve-hundred seconds. The estimated face to face window of opportunity available for store assistants to assist consumers. From the moment a customer arrives, the grains of sand in the hourglass begin to fall. Enter Troy, our eager shop assistant: Every second Troy uses well will mean that the customer will feel cared for, appreciate product suggestions and return. Every second Troy spends in unsurety over whether an item is in stock or fumbling for a shoebox decreases it.

According to studies, the average customer spends about 20 minutes, or 1200 seconds, in a store providing a return of $75. How can Troy maximize his sales time or even generate more? Whilst conventional wisdom may indicate that lengthening the time that the customer spends in the store may be the solution, likely it is not. Customer satisfaction is generally based on the quality of the time they choose to spend in a store rather than the quantity of time they are forced to spend in a store. Retailers are in a de-facto state of needing to count and evaluate how each of those 1200 seconds are spent.

Statistics tell us that it is five times more expensive to locate a new customer than to retain an existing one. Therefore, the key to Troy maximizing these seconds is in clientelling, in using his time to build a continuing relationship with the client, in his retaining customers with the long-term in view. But how can Troy be empowered to manage this?

Assisted selling
Consider a client who wanders in the store looking for an appealing additional purchase. Troy has in his hand-held device real-time data including appealing alternative items in HD quality, the stock level of every item in store, its location in the store, the stock level of this item in each neighbouring store. If the customer has shopped there before then this data from the CRM is available and Troy can suggest items complementary to their previous purchases. Empowered with this, Troy can provide smart, bespoke recommendations to the individual customer. Every second he saves he can spent in up or cross-sales. And this is only the beginning…

This customer is retained. Their visits to the store engender familiarity between customer and retailer. The retained customer provides further data, improving store assistance and accuracy of recommendations. During further visits all this data is in the hands of Troy when he approaches the customer. More seconds are saved, and further sales are generated.

Assisted selling programs and applications make relevant data available that mean that shop assistants, such as Troy, does not lose the attention of the customer for even a second. They complete the shop assistance role.

Shopiassist provides all assisted selling data and put it into the hand of the sales assistant. With minimum training it can provide end-to-end personalized assistance to shop-assistants, instant communication between staff and branch locations and ensure that like Troy they also do not waste any of their 1200 seconds.

Reference:

(1) https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/20140807162720-258558574-time-is-money-the-impact-of-customer-dwell-time-on-retail-sales