Mobile Tech for
Shoppers
Cutting-edge mobile solutions are engaging shoppers inside stores. And early retail adapters of now commonplace practices, such as mobile ordering and payment, have separated themselves from the pack with enhanced technical offerings and operational efficiencies.
Mobile Checkout and Ordering
When Starbucks introduced Mobile Order & Pay, even CEO Howard Schultz didn’t expect it to blow up the way that it did. "When we introduced this, I don't think we had any idea that we would get the kind of response that we have gotten so fast," he said in 2017. He continued, "this is a great problem to have, and a problem that we know how to solve."
Mobile Order & Pay represented more than 7% of total transactions in the retailer’s first quarter of 2017 and by Q4, 2018 the tech made up 14% of company-operated transactions.
Now, Starbucks’ current CEO Kevin Johnson is putting forth a solution to the store congestion brought on by the influx of mobile orders: a cafe serving just takeout items ordered through the app.
The Manhattan, NY, store, still in development but set to open this fall, will cater to on-the-go customers and build off of the chain’s success with its Starbucks Now concept in China that lets customers order in advance on mobile phones.
STARBUCKS
It took 15 months, but Meijer has completed its rollout of its “Shop & Scan” mobile technology at all 246 of its stores across the Midwest. The technology works via the free Meijer Mobile app which allows customers to Shop & Scan bar codes on items in the store and bag their own groceries. A running total of items purchased is viewable as they shop throughout the store. Once a customer has completed their shopping, they can simply scan their phone at a self-checkout lane and pay. The app’s features include an integrated shopping list, running total, and the ability to clip any available mPerks coupons for items scanned.
Since the original pilot launch last year in Grand Rapids, MI, the Meijer Mobile app has been downloaded more than 1.5 million times. And equally importantly, more than 80% of Meijer customers have repeatedly used the Shop & Scan app as part of their shopping experience.
MEIJER
The transition from stores with fixed station
POS stations to a mix of traditional and mobile
solutions is underway.
“The majority of retailers continue to use traditional POS stations as their basic POS, adding mobile options and additional PCs or tablets as supplements,” writes BRP.
But smart retailers are taking checkout ease a step further, putting mobile checkout in the hands of the shoppers to meet increasing demands to shop anyway they want.
Source: BRP, “2019 POS/Customer Engagement Study”
Retailers accept mobile POS payments
43%
“As we've rolled the program out in six states, the response has been incredibly enthusiastic. Customers have appreciated the ability to have a choice in shopping how they want, depending on how their day is going. Many are finding the opportunity to personalize their store visit with a cell phone is a great way to save time and help avoid lines."
Stephanie Brackenridge
director of customer experience, Meijer
Kevin Johnson
CEO, Starbucks
“What we’re using Starbucks Now for, and what will be Starbucks pick-up stores in the U.S., is to blend them in where we have dense urban areas where we have a lot of Starbucks cafes, Think of it as a Starbucks pick-up.”
Excerpt from Bloomberg’s Chicago bureau interview
Engrossing Mobile Shopping in Store
Retailers are getting savvier when it comes to building mobile apps that offer value to shoppers and engage them in the ways they crave.
“The resistance we once saw to downloading retail apps seems to have subsided as retailers better integrated them with the brick-and-mortar shopping experience,” says Andrew Lipsman, principal analyst at eMarketer. “Even recently, shoppers rarely downloaded retail apps beyond Amazon and eBay, but as multichannel merchants incorporated features like digital coupons, click-and-collect options and in-store wayfinding, apps have become central to physical shopping.”
Source: BRP, “2019 Special report: In-Store Mobility”
The Sam’s Club Now test lab store is powered by the Sam’s Club Now mobile app, in which voice search capabilities combined with wayfinding and navigation features trigger a map to pop-up and take customers to what they are looking for in the store. Eventually, beacon technology and a member’s smart shopping list will help map the best route through the club. Sam’s club is also working on augmented reality (AR) technology to bring products to life in the club store, sharing information on new ways to use the items and integrate stories that highlight interesting features, including how items are sourced.
“Retailers are turning to AR and VR to offer customers a unified retail experience inside and outside retail stores,” Hanna Karki, principal research analyst at Gartner explains. “Retailers can use AR as an extension of the brand experience to engage customers in immersive environments and drive revenue. For example, IKEA’s Place app enables customers to virtually ‘place’ IKEA products in their space. Additionally, AR can be used outside the store after a sale to increase customer satisfaction and improve loyalty.”
While RIS found the most popular reason shoppers use apps and websites in stores is to check for sales and promotions (41%), shoppers are becoming more proficient with mobile technology. As mobile adeptness grows and as Gen Zers enter the retail economy, retailers will need to explore how to expand their customer-facing mobile features to enhance in-store shopping.
“The good news is that retailers are increasingly implementing customer-facing mobile services such as product information, shopping list capabilities, and personalized recommendations via mobile devices,” writes BRP. However, “having a mobile device and engaging with the customer anywhere at any time during their shopping journey will deliver an experience that is as good as the data shared with the customer. This area is clearly transforming retailers’ customer engagement model, operational budgets, in-store procedures and layouts. Mobile capabilities and expectations continue to evolve rapidly and need to be a significant part of a retailer’s customer engagement strategy.”
Mobile Tech for
Associates
Source: RIS, “Store Execution Versus Chaos Battle Plan”
In the face of e-commerce competition, retailers must enable store employees to provide knowledgeable service in order to set the physical experience apart from the convenience of online ordering. This means providing associates the tools for real-time decision making. With mobile tools in hand, frontline associates are enabled to perform operations at the edge and execute frictionless transactions. Retailers with infrastructure, mobile technology, and support for end-user adoption will have a significant advantages as the modern retail landscape unfolds.
Mobile Plans and Challenges
After many years of testing and learning, mobile devices for managers and associates is on the cusp of becoming a core in-store technology. RIS found that this year mobile devices for associates/managers was the top in-store technology for investment (40%), while the number dropped to 23% for 2021 plans of deployment, seemingly because retailers are executing mobile plans now.
Retailers that are falling behind in their mobile plans may want to consider a managed mobility services (MMS) partner to help navigate and simplify the ever-evolving scale and scope of technologies that may be difficult to manage internally.
RIS also found that just 23% of retailers have mobile workforce and/or HR applications in place, while 56% plan to finish or begin and upgrade in the next two years. These applications should not be put on the backburner.
Retailers lack the staff to install, roll out and manage mobile devices and setup users
With more than half of e-commerce sales expected to come from mobile devices by 2021, it’s not shocking that 87% of consumers are interested in a personalized and consistent experience across all shopping channels. The customer journey is evolving as shoppers expect to seamlessly glide across channels to research, purchase and review products, with access to merchandise in the palm of their hands.
82%
BROWSE ONLINE
BUY
IN-STORE
WEBROOMING
SHOWROOMING
Consumers have shopped online or via mobile and then purchased in the store
BROWSE IN-STORE
BUY
ONLINE
56%
Consumers have shopped a store and then purchased online or via mobile
Human resources is one place where retailers will redouble their energies to improve the in-store associate experience, especially offering self-service functions to employees on a feature-rich mobile app, RIS finds. The top two self-service HR functions retailers currently deliver to store associates are punch in/punch out (87%) and checking schedules (63%), but adding mobile-friendly access to HR functions has become increasingly important and 20% of retailers say they offer it today.
Putting the power of HR in the hands of employees may help improve employee satisfaction, but to offer a well-rounded employee experience retailers must enable tools to help employees be insightful and deliver top-notch customer experiences.
Earlier this year Modell’s Sporting Goods empowered its associates, managers, and field leaders with a unified workforce management and task management experience. The real-time, mobile solution delivers Modell associates self-service employee features to help them be more productive and insightful to deliver an improved customer experience.
“It’s critical to our business that associates feel engaged and inspired at work,” says Jim Argerakis, SVP of operations, Modell’s Sporting Goods. “Modell’s has built an incredible workforce comprised of people who connect with our brand’s customers and understand their needs, so retention is key. We are confident that the employee-first environment we’re creating will empower associates in ways that help them be more engaged, more productive, and ultimately provide better service to customers.”
Around the same time as Modell’s mobile move, Sam’s Club deployed its “Ask Sam” associate assistant application across its chain. The voice responsive mobile app acts as a digital assistant for in-store associates. Since its initial launch in March, the platform has answered more than 1.5 million associate questions, such as asking about work schedules or item location and availability. Additionally, the mobile-first retailer deployed the “Sam’s Garage” employee app, to cut the time it takes Sam’s Club customers to purchase a set of tires and bolster associate’s selling power. Store associates scan a customer’s Sam’s Club membership card, which brings up their profile, including vehicles they own. Associates select the correct vehicle, and, based on a conversation with the customer, select specific tire needs from a menu. The app generates a list of tires for the associate to recommend, including special promotional offers, and allows for the associate to place an order, using the customer’s stored payment information.
“What used to be a half-hour ordeal to buy tires will now take less than five minutes,” says Doug McMillon, president and CEO of Walmart. “We’re going from multiple systems, paper catalogs and a large desk to a user-friendly, member-grade app on a mobile tablet.”
Bolstering Frontline Associates
Source: BRP, “2019 POS/Customer Engagement Study”
of consumers are likely to
shop at a store offering an augmented reality experience
32%
Source: Gartner, “Gartner Says 100 Million Consumers Will Shop in Augmented Reality Online and In-Store by 2020”
of retailers plan to deploy either AR or VR solutions to meet customer service experience requirements
46%
By 2020,
34%
28%
20%
18%
16%
Compare prices
Look for offers/coupons
Mobile Activities Performed by Customers In-Store
Check consumer
reviews/ratings
Check local inventory/
product availability
Look up product information
Retail Stores Equipped With Mobile Devices
For regional/field managers
For managers
For associates
77%
57%
33%
Enterprise mobility decision makers looking to third-party solution providers to manage operating system migration
60%
Source: IHL, “Retail’s Top 5 Challenges when Deploying Mobile”
55%
Source: VDC Research, “Modernizing Legacy Mobile Applications
Twenty-nine percent of top retailers reported an increase in employee turnover since the beginning of 2018 and part-time hourly store employees demonstrated the highest turnover rate, with 81% the average rate in 2018, according to Korn Ferry.
Quickly onboarding and training retail employees, as well as keeping them engaged and up-to-date with real-time communications once they are onboard, can help with retention. For example, mobile micro-learning platforms which deliver knowledge to employees in bite-sized educational sessions throughout their workday, can reduce the time to train associates on launches and promotions and deliver real-time updates from the business. Well trained associates not only deliver better customer experiences, they have a better experience themselves in their day-to-day environment.
Source: BRP, 2019 POS/Customer Engagement Survey
of retailers can’t identify their customers prior to checkout, which is too late to empower the associate to influence the current purchase decision.
Customer identification is critical, however,
46%
LOWE'S
Lowe’s is yet another example of retailers going all-in on mobile solutions for associates. The home improvement retailer rolled out approximately 88,000 “smart” mobile devices to store associates earlier this year so they never have to leave the sales floor to log into a terminal to determine price, availability or order status. The devices also boast functionality to process buy online pickup in-store (BOPIS) orders, which takes Lowe’s from a 12-step, paper-based process to an average of two digital scans. In addition, Lowe’s added its standardized performance scorecard to the phones and deployed a store walk application to allow for a more efficient, strategic store review process.
“Our new smartphones are designed to reduce tasking hours by providing real-time data without ever stepping off the sales floor. Putting the new mobile devices in the hands of our managers and supervisors is a significant step towards revolutionizing how we deliver sales and operational productivity in our stores.”
— Joseph McFarland, EVP, stores
Conclusion
Associates
Consumers want a personalized, seamless, omnichannel shopping experience in real-time. Employees want tools to both keep them informed in real-time and give them the opportunity to provide personalized service.
Mobile is becoming a core investment for retailers for both
shoppers and associates. Creating a plan and seeking outside
experts to quickly launch that plan will help separate winning
retailers from laggards as digital transformation in the store rolls on.
“Nirvana is the customer able to create their own personalized experience, with associates similarly empowered to engage customers with the desired level of service. The key is retailers adopting the right technology platform, especially around mobile capabilities to support this nirvana.”
Source: BRP, 2019 POS/Customer Engagement Survey
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
1.
Use mobile to deliver a personalized and consistent experience across all shopping channels.
Implement a lab store to test cutting-edge mobile features, such as AR and wayfinding, before rolling out in a wider capacity.
Mobile checkout via associate is becoming a core technology, start developing a solution now to put mobile checkout in the hands of the shopper.
It’s not enough to offer BOPIS solutions and mobile order and pickup; you must also perfect the service shoppers receive once inside stores.
Make mobile capabilities a significant part of your customer engagement strategy and provide employees the tools to identify shoppers before checkout.
Mobile tech for retail associates is becoming a core technology. Consider a managed mobility services (MMS) partner if you’re falling behind in your own implementation plans.
Solutions such as mobile micro-learning platforms keep employees engaged and informed, which may help with retention in a tough labor market.
RIS Pro Tips
7.
Axonify is the microlearning platform trusted by global leaders to make sure their frontline employees remember to do the things that matter most to the business. It delivers focused, bite-sized bursts of information in the way humans learn best, wrapped in an adaptive, engaging experience that fits right into the workflow—for just 3-5 minutes a day.
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As the largest pure-play enterprise mobility specialist, Stratix is dedicated to nonstop mobility. The company leverages over 35 years of expertise to accelerate business mobility transformation for some of the world’s most iconic retailers. Stratix’ SmartMobile programs ensure clients have the right technology, tools and support programs in place to stay ahead.
Source: BRP, “2019 Consumer Shopping Habits – The Generation Gap”
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