The habits of shoppers are shifting as more consumers embrace smartphones. Customers are now using their smart devices in-store for a range of reasons including accessing shopping lists, looking up product reviews, getting an online price comparison or simply sending a picture to a friend about the new item they found at a bargain price. Consumers have a specific expectation of their retail experience and getting the information they want when they want it—inside or outside the store. Retailers for the most part recognise this, and recognise what needs to be done.

Motorola Solutions surveyed 250 leading retailers in the U.S earlier this year and found:

  • 83 per cent of retailers recognise that shoppers can easily find better deals elsewhere, putting increasing pressure on them and their associates to deliver higher quality service to retain customers; and
  • 74 per cent believe that developing a more engaging in-store customer experience is critical to their success.

Retailers by and large understand what they are facing and why, and recognise that developing that engaging in-store experience is the key to attracting – and more importantly, retaining – customers.

Years ago, long before the advent of the world’s first mobile phone, retail was based on building and maintaining relationships: when people walked through the front door, the retailer personally greeted them and asked how they could assist. Customers trusted the retailer to help them with what they needed and to teach them about new products on the shelves.

However, that intimate approach somehow became lost and customers no longer felt the same loyalty to the retailer. Today, retailers are fighting to get back to those roots borne out of relationships by enhancing their shoppers’ experience, knowing that at the same time customers have options to shop wherever and whenever they want, often without stepping inside a store. 

With this experience at front of mind, retailers are turning to technology to better engage with customers across constantly changing channels. That engagement can be strengthened by the right strategies, tools and devices, bridging the technological divide between consumers and enterprise.

That same survey found:

  • 56 per cent of retailers believe that all transactions will be completed via mobile point-of-sale, self-checkout or on a customer’s own mobile device; and
  • 41 per cent expect to provide personalised product details, based on previous shopping behaviour, to customers’ smartphones.

Retailers today understand they must modify the way they interact with the customer and are working harder to meet the expectations of shoppers. To succeed in this modern environment they must offer shoppers the right product mix, service and pricing, while maintaining profit margins and controlling costs.

Bricks-and-mortar retailers have significant advantages— if they can create the right experience and product mix. The ability to harness the power of technology to better understand the consumer and learn what further opportunities might exist will be the key differentiator in the future as retailers look for any advantage in the face of infinite options and a virtually endless online world.

Visit www.experienceiseverything.com.au to find out how Motorola Solutions is helping retailers connect with shoppers like never before. To view a copy of the Motorola Application Brief: Mobility in Retail, activate the QR Code.