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Mobile and social messages can help consumers navigate the store,
feel connected, and receive deals and rewards when they are most
receptive. Marketers can empower consumers to share all facets of
the purchase experience with their online communities on utilities
like ShopSavvy, and send questions or complaints to store
management while shopping. This provides the store with the
real-time feedback it needs for amplifying the positives and
quickly turning around the negatives. Customer-care programs will
quickly move from e-mails and phone calls after the fact to
smartphones and tablets in-store and in the moment. Best Buy is an
example of a brand elevating customer service by making tech
advisers available through Twelpforce, Best Buy's customer-service
Twitter handle. Still, it concentrates on the post-shopping -- as
opposed to the in-store -- experience. Shopkick, a vendor that
works with retailers like
Macy's and Crate & Barrel, drives
traffic and heightens loyalty by rewarding visits and purchases,
but it doesn't focus on the in-store experience, either. Google is
working with retailers like Ikea to map store layouts with Google
Maps, to help visitors navigate the physical space more easily.
Employees are a retail store's best advocates. Having them walk the
floor with tablets is critical for optimized customer service. This
empowers them to work with Google Maps or Aisle 411, which gives
aisle-by -aisle product information by store location and assist
customers. Mobile and social also send messages on which registers
have shortest lines, the best deals of the day and confirming what
is in stock. In do-it-yourself stores, mobile and social can help
staff provide added inspiration as customers move from dreaming to
planning to doing. In generalist stores, marketers can facilitate
stronger cross- and up-selling as they guide consumers in-store.
So, it's not just that the consumer bought a couch; she bought THIS
couch. So, she might like or need THIS side table or THESE drapes.
In a digital world where consumers expect to have a brand
conversation on their terms, retailers can no longer afford to rely
solely on in-store television and radio for point-of -purchase
needs. Navigating a big-box site is tough on consumers. Loyalty
remains low, in part because retailers aren't personalizing and
customizing the experience via the shopper's most trusted
mobile/social device. If brands and retailers use mobile and social
to stay connected to the consumer, giving advice, showing them
around the store and getting them the immediate help they need,
then they are truly taking the consumer shopping and winning all
the way through checkout.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Rick Acampora is managing partner, account
director,
MEC.