The advent of the mobile era has changed the game for business and customer interaction. Mobile technology is facilitating new and unfounded engagement between businesses and consumers.
Perficient, who specializes in designing, building and delivering business-driven technology solutions, recently posted a series of posts about retail trends to watch in 2014. Trend #10, Amping Up the In-store Experience, caught our eye and we at Moki stand and applaud.
The gist of the post is this: retailers are being faced with the challenge of improving their in-store experience in order to compete with the onslaught of digital services that are vying for consumer wallet-share. As such, retailers and technology services are taking the offensive with unique in-store experiences, mobile technologies that tie offline and online activity and much more.
Retail Systems Research reported that 80% of retailers believe their store results will continue to erode unless they incorporate technology as part of the store experience. We believe that this trend is being realized and reacted to by more than just retail businesses.
Organizations of all shapes and sizes – retailers, service providers, entertainment venues, restaurants and even hospitals – are using various technologies to create new and engaging experiences with their patrons and customers. Here are a just a few examples:
- Forrester reported that Walgreens now generates 15% of its photo printing businesses from mobile devices.
- Pep Boys is transforming its brand by creating in-store digital experience that coincides with its direct mail and digital marketing strategies.
- Big name retail brands like Sephora and Ikea have developed mobile apps to improve in-store experiences that help customers recall past purchases, better navigate store locations, get location-specific specials and much more.
At Moki, we feel fortunate to have witnessed and taken part in businesses embracing mobile technologies to improve the experience that their customers are having in both the business-to-consumer and business-to-business space. Over the next few months we’ll be publishing a series of posts highlighting a handful of our clients who are creating new ways to deliver their products and services using mobile technology at both the device and the app level.
Stay tuned.
