EXCLUSIVE Q&A: Mobile innovation transforms customer experience
As the holidays approach, retailers can leverage innovative mobile solutions to better serve and reach customers across all touchpoints.
Chain Store Age recently spoke with Katie Riddle, global retail strategist at Verizon Business, about how retailers can leverage leading-edge mobile solutions to enhance both online and in-store shopping while understanding their customers better and targeting them more effectively.
How can retailers use technology to navigate the holiday rush?
Anything that smooths the customer journey or offers increased efficiency to associates will repay the investment during the holiday rush. Using electronic shelf labels will save associate labor and allow for quicker sale pricing.
Integrating wayfinding into the brand app will help customers find items more quickly, enable location-based couponing/messaging, and can also be used to make associate pick and pack for in-store fulfillment quicker. Both of these technologies require a strong foundational network with low latency and high bandwidth.
How can retailers optimize the customer experience with in-store tech?
Technology can make the entire customer journey more engaging and seamless. Stores can entice customers to visit with unique experiences, like virtual trunk shows or sneaker drops using holograms.
Larger footprint stores can use wayfinding to help the customer fulfill their lists and offer relevant content at the point of decision. Frictionless checkout can enable the customer to pay for their purchases anywhere in the store and void lines at the till.
How can retailers streamline and enhance operations with customer data?
The more we know about the customer, the better we can plan our operations. AI-powered inventory management and predictive analytics will use customer data to drive operational efficiency, ensuring the right products in the right amounts are available at the right time, and reducing costs and waste significantly.
Using video analytics in store can help determine customer behavior patterns, enabling them to create optimal layouts and understand why some items are selling and others aren't.
How is mobile technology changing retail, both in-store and digitally?
The industry is moving away from "omnichannel retail" and toward "adaptive retail," which truly has mobility at its heart. It’s providing seamless experiences wherever and whenever the customer chooses and understanding that customer mobile devices are a persistent second screen in their lives.
Associates can now check people out anywhere in the store with mobile devices and cloud POS. Customers can check themselves out with the same technologies or use their devices to comparison shop or understand item specs and assembly. Mobile tech is everywhere in retail and will only continue to proliferate.
What are the biggest retail tech trends you see for 2025?
I see 2025 as a year of transformation for the retail industry, with emerging technologies poised to change the landscape. The Internet of Things (IoT) will enable retailers to create smart stores that offer interactive displays, hyper-personalized content and couponing, wayfinding, digital shelf labels, and real-time inventory tracking.
[READ MORE: How retailers will meet challenges with technology in 2024]
IoT will reshape the in-store experience, making it more efficient and creating seamless customer journeys. Augmented reality and virtual reality can bridge the gap between online and in-store shopping, creating immersive experiences.
Customers can visualize products at home using AR or explore virtual showrooms with VR, enhancing brand engagement and reducing returns. Brands can also use AR to create interactive experiences that drive people into stores.
In addition, artificial intelligence and machine learning will be the driving forces behind retail's transformation. AI will enable real-time hyper-personalization, offering customers tailored recommendations in the right place at the right time.
Imagine a world where your online store is deeply customized to your preferences or your physical store greets you with personalized promotions as you walk past relevant items. AI-powered inventory management and predictive analytics will optimize operations, ensuring the right products in the right amounts are available at the right time, which can reduce costs significantly.
