Empowering Sales Associates with Mobile Retail Technology
In 2024, the world of in-store selling is going through a shift. While the global eCommerce market has been consistently on the rise for some time now, brick-and-mortar locations are starting to make a comeback, partly due to the advancements in mobile retail technology. Retail sales associates have been offered new, effective ways to engage with customers while streamlining their working days.
We’ve put together this blog to expand on the sales apps and handheld devices revolutionizing the in-store experience for staff and customers alike.
The Rise of Mobile Retail Technology
The COVID-19 pandemic seriously damaged the stability of traditional retail outlets, with some observers wondering if brick-and-mortar stores would ever recover. However, shoppers have started to return to physical sites, and with that return, the world has also seen the rise of mobile retail technology.
Retailers have integrated digital sales tools into the shopfloor, allowing retail staff to offer customers more supportive, memorable experiences. Employees have been empowered to help customers through the entirety of the shopping experience from browsing to final purchasing, without needing to defer to as many other staff members as they might have had to in the past. New in-store technology has made everything from personalizing recommendations to checking inventory a breeze.
Tools for Empowering Sales Associates
Some mobile retail technology tools stand out for their capacity to increase employee productivity and drive sales. We’ve broken down a few core categories, digging into how they enhance retail staff performance.
Mobile Applications
Mobile sales apps have become a huge part of the in-store experience, enhancing customer interactions with target support capacities. Apps like Salesfive, Square POS, and Shopify POS have combined the capacities of digital CRM systems with traditional customer support.
Benefits of Mobile Applications
Targeted Customer Guidance: Sales associates can collect information throughout a customer interaction, allowing them to provide more personalized guidance on additional purchases, accessories, or even discounts that might benefit the customer.
Shopping Carts: Digital shopping carts allow retail staff and customers to keep track of the bills they might be racking up throughout a shop, accounting for any special offers or deals. With this, staff can ensure that customers are never hit with a nasty surprise when they get to checkout.
Transaction Processing System: Mobile apps can transform phones into ATM-style card-reading devices. This allows customer service and sales staff to accept payments from the shop floor, saving customers valuable time and effort.
Buyer Behavior Data: Digital sales tools can go beyond offering some sales guidance and product suggestions. These apps can also track macro buyer behavior, such as visiting times and locational information in the store, allowing for better product placement and organization.
Inventory Management: Store staff can track inventory and check on stock levels without leaving a customer’s side. These systems allow staff to speed up customer interactions, bypassing trips to the stock room and moving onto suitable alternatives faster.
When retail sales associates embrace mobile apps, they can offer customers a comprehensive service experience, being their guide throughout a trip to the store. Customer apps linked to wider systems can also feed valuable information back to staff representatives, allowing them to offer support as and when needed.
Handheld Devices
Retail staff can use tailor-made handheld devices to streamline the operation of a shop floor. Tools like barcode scanners, RFID readers, and handheld computers are all commonly used to enhance productivity and customer support provision.
Barcode Scanners
Streamlined Checkouts: Barcode scanners empower sales staff to scan items for customers, build digital shopping carts, and facilitate faster checkouts when they finish shopping.
Inventory Management & Restocking: Staff can use barcode scanners to track stock levels and monitor product movement, allowing restocks to be completed in real time.
Price Checking: Sales teams can scan barcodes to ensure products are properly priced, preventing errors, discrepancies, and customer confusion.
Barcode scanners are perhaps the most basic handheld device for enhancing retail operations.
RFID Readers (Radio-Frequency Identification)
Inventory Management: RFID readers provide visibility into inventory levels, along with the movement of items throughout the store site, allowing for efficient restocking and product locating.
Multiple Barcode Scanning: Staff can scan multiple items at once using RFID readers, facilitating faster stock takes, price checks, and more.
Loss Prevention: By monitoring merchandise movement, RFID readers can detect and prevent theft and misplacement, helping to enhance security and loss protection.
Enhanced Product Location: These readers go above simply checking if something is in stock, locating products exactly, and allowing for more seamless customer service experiences.
RFID readers are the step up from barcode scanners, offering everything the latter does and more in a more streamlined manner.
Handheld Computers
On-the-Go Information: Handheld retail computers offer instant access to product details, prices, and stock levels, allowing for more confident, informed interactions.
Mobile Point-of-Sale (mPOS): Staff can use handheld computers to process transactions from the sales floor, cutting out checkout lines and offering convenience to customers.
Task Management: Sales associates can check through these devices to manage their tasks, whether checking inventory, processing an order, or responding to a customer query.
Data-Driven Personalization & Analysis: These computers can access customer data, like profiles, sales trends, and purchase histories to inform personalization and decision-making.
Handheld computers offer staff and customers an experience closer to what they might experience using a smartphone application, with more infrastructure built in.
While mobile sales apps seem to be the development making the biggest impact on in-store retail, there’s still a lot that can be done with handheld devices by sales staff and beyond.
Digital Tools
It’s also worth noting that many retailers have started to incorporate more digital sales tools and customer support devices throughout stores, which in turn supplement the performance of staff members. Retail staff can leverage Augmented & Virtual Reality and Digital Catalogues to offer customers more engaged, memorable experiences.
Augmented Reality & Virtual Reality (AR & VR) Applications
AR technology can be used in retail to superimpose digital content over a real-world environment, allowing customers to experience alternative outcomes within a store setting. VR is more engrossing, transporting a customer’s point of view to a different setting.
AR Mirrors & Apps: Stores like Tommy Hilfiger, Calvin Klein, UGG, JD Sports, and Disney have installed AR mirrors in certain locations, allowing customers to ‘virtually try on’ apparel. This means customers can see how something might look on them
VR Headsets: Furniture and decor brands have utilized VR headsets like the Oculus Rift to offer customers an immersive homeware planning experience. Customers using these tools can envision their homes adorned with available products, allowing for more informed decisions.
Sales associates can guide customers through using AR and VR tools to offer an enhanced shopping experience, likely to inspire conversion or at least increase purchase consideration. Offering a unique in-store experience also enables retailers to encourage customers to revisit even if they don’t purchase that trip.
Digital Catalogs
Digital catalogs are just electronic alternatives to traditional print catalogs, accessible via mobile apps, computers, or integrated touch-screen tablet systems. They can be used to show basic lists of products, along with more detailed descriptions, multiple images, pricing information, and even videos. Much like other mobile applications and handheld devices, digital catalogs can store customer information and stock data, offering personalized recommendations.
Sales associates can guide customers through digital catalogs, also showing them how to download any mobile versions to increase customer autonomy and satisfaction.
Challenges and Future Trends of Mobile Retail Technology
While mobile retail technology is an exciting space in 2024, the developments come with unique challenges – the most encompassing of which is keeping up with all the industry’s upcoming trends. We’ve collated some of the challenges retailers might face when adapting to technological developments, also listing some trends and predictions to indicate where the industry is going.
Challenges
Integration Complexity: Mobile retail technology might need to be integrated into existing technological infrastructure, which can be tough depending on the severity of the shift.
Security Concerns: Mobile apps and devices can be at risk of data breaches, malware attacks, and hacks – meaning the same goes for customer and business data.
Training & Adoption: Retail staff members will likely need training to adopt new mobile technology, which can take some time if the change is significant from existing systems.
Technology Limitations: In older, lower-budget settings, network infrastructure or connectivity can be ill-equipped to handle new mobile technologies.
Emerging Trends
AI Assistant Apps: AI-powered assistants able to personalize recommendations, answer simple queries, and facilitate transactions have started to appear, lightening the load for physical reps.
Virtual Clienteling: Platforms have started to arise, allowing real sales associates to continually build relationships with clients digitally, offering guidance and support beyond the physical store.
Integration with IoT: The Internet of Things (IoT) has already been mentioned in AR mirrors and digital catalogs, now retailers are starting to integrate all IoT with mobile systems across the board.
Big Data Analytics: Retailers integrating mobile, IoT, and AI-based applications can now draw data from many sources, leading to hyper-focused marketing strategies.
Some challenges come with adopting the newest retail settings, but by keeping your ear to the ground and your strategies open to new integrations, you should be able to keep up. As a retail business owner, staying on top of industry developments will allow you to continuously empower your sales associates to drive conversion and enhance customer service.
Conclusion
Businesses that want to effectively bounce back from the in-store slump triggered by COVID need to embrace modern mobile retail technology, with everything from smartphone applications to IoT integrations. With the right tools, sales associates on the shop floor will be empowered to provide exceptional customer service, ultimately driving sales.
If you’re interested in staying ahead of the curve with this lane and beyond, you must attend Smart Retail Tech Expo. This trade conference is set to be a momentous gathering of countless retailers, technological exhibitors, and industry-leading experts offering insights into the direction of the business. By attending, you’ll put yourself in the best possible position to adapt to the changing tides of technology in retail, so make sure to register for tickets today.
