How Mobile Engagement Can Improve In-Store Customer Shopping Experiences

As more mobile app users are diverting their shopping behaviour to online, the retail store owners will have to think mobile to add something unique to their offline purchasing experience. Despite this, the in store retail still accounts for a major chunk of the overall retail marketplace. With so many new technologies evolving the scope of mobile app development, the retail industry is in a dire need of innovation.

About 90% of all retail revenue in 2016 accounted for brick and mortar retail, so in-store shopping isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. – Applause.

The impact of customer engagement is beyond the confines of the store in which a brand’s products are sold. Moreover, the online experience doesn’t have to be restricted to the home; stores can easily bring the online experience to their customers in-store. But how can the retailers do this? The answer is simple: Mobile Engagement.

The inception of implementing mobile

ImpactBND expressed that frequent smartphone users spend almost 25% more money than standard shoppers.

The one question that the retail businesses have in their mind is How can we make the in store shopping experience more engaging and memorable?’. The one thing that the store owners are worried about is the improvement of the in-store shopping experience for their potential and existing clients.It is not uncommon these days to see almost everyone during a big ticket retail purchase, to be conversing with a friend or family member, sharing pictures,and then deciding..Utilizing Mobile Engagement is a surefire way to improve the experience customers have in stores.

Deloitte estimates that in 2016, digital had influence over $1.8 trillion in retail purchases. Moreover, it is observed that 83% of shoppers use their mobile while shopping in-store.

Mobile engagement will not only enhance the customer’s shopping experience, but it will also increase their loyalty towards your brand.

Use cases of Mobile Engagement Solution

Online retail giant, Amazon, implemented mobile engagement for their physical stores, Amazon Go. It requires shoppers to scan their smartphones upon entering the store, and the company’s “just walk out” technology will detect when products are taken off shelves (or returned to shelves) and keeps track of what is in your virtual cart through these smartphones. When a shopper is done shopping, he or she leaves the the store, and the company will charge the Amazon.com account. This eliminates the hassle of waiting in a queue for paying for your purchase.

Heineken, one of the biggest beer brands in the world, has recently implemented a very engaging in store mobile experience. Heineken improved their in-store shopping experiences with their incentive-driven Heineken Spectre campaign.

Heineken used LogoGrab’s image recognition technology to create an end-to-end, customizable brand experience using the company website. By capturing the logo on limited edition Heineken Spectre bottles, customers were able to access exclusive behind-the-scenes footage of the upcoming James Bond Spectre movie. During the campaign, Heineken sold over 500 million limited edition Spectre bottles across the globe. This mobile engagement solution improved the in-store shopping experience by incentivizing and encouraging customers to engage with the brand, not just digitally, but by physically picking up the product itself.

Being a mobile application development firm, we would comprehend that these brilliant examples showcase just how much mobile engagement solutions can improve the overall in-store shopping experience for customers. By incentivizing consumers to go to a store and physically engage with a brand’s product, loyalty is established, resulting in a unique offline-to-online in-store experience.

Mobile Engagement solution to enhance the future of the retail

Your customers expect more personalized brand experiences. A prominent way to appeal to this mindset is by implementing mobile engagement solution. Considering the fact by Retaildive, that 80% of the customers use mobile in store, implementing a Mobile Engagement strategy will ultimately entice to the personalized brand experience shoppers are evidently looking for.

63% of consumers believe a coupon to be the most valuable form of mobile marketing.

It is recommended for a customer to be made aware that a coupon will only work in-store along with their mobile. The shoppers can be incentivized to engage with the brand’s product, and ultimately the brand itself by physically visiting a store. It is also important to make sure that the customers know of these deals and coupons that are powered by mobile.

An eminent future of the retail industry

If the brands want to connect their offline products with the online space, mobile engagement is the key. It will improve the overall purchasing experience for customers. Hence, not only will the in-store experience enhance, but both the brand and the retailer may even see an increase in sales.

If you opt for mobile app development for your mobile engagement strategy, the assurance of ROI is high. Image recognition, is a great way to make use of Mobile Engagement. With image recognition and logo detection, brands can easily increase engagement among their customers and simultaneously improve their offline shopping experience.

Did you ever come across a good mobile engagement strategy that hooked you up? Are you a brand that wants to implement mobile engagement solutions into their in-store operations? Share your thoughts on the same by writing to us at [email protected].