Retail Apps and Social Showrooming

The retail landscape is rapidly changing particularly with the introduction and boom of online shopping and other technological advances in in-store shopping experiences. Two significant and interesting developments in shopping tech include phone shopping apps and social showrooming.

Retail Apps:

Nowadays, there are lots of advantages to using a retailer’s app that goes past the ability to have a snoop of the latest products like awesome fluffy shoes and sleek rose gold heels. For starters, customers can monitor inventory in their favourite stores using a click of a button. If a shop is out of stock in your shoe size, then it is easy to search a nearby place to find out if the shoes are available working with the merchant’s app. One other advantage of owning a merchant’s program is having the ability to leave your wallet in your home. Nowadays apps are very advanced, retail apps often include loyalty card and points monitoring, credit card information for fast checkout, shopping history, catalogues and personalised offers and data tracking. An app is both beneficial for the customer allowing a seamless shopping experience and providing valuable insights to the retailer.

Clients at chains such as Starbucks and Subway can utilize their apps to make purchases and get exceptional discounts and promotions. National retailers like Walmart let customers ditch paper inserts and rather check weekly bargains and pricing from directly inside the shop’s app. Clients may also see just how much they saved by purchasing items that are specific in Walmart compared with all the shop’s competitors.

Since smart phones are a necessity today and it is impossible to leave home without your device, apps are a great way to reach customers and deliver tailored services. No need for stacks of loyalty cards and endless paper receipts and catalogues everything can be contained within an app and be clicks away. Jump the queue by ordering food via the app and get access to exclusive discounts. A great example is Boost Juice who have an app that allows customers to order and pay on the app and simply pick up their fresh juice at their preferred location. Simple!

Social Showrooming:

A current trend with popular retailers is social showrooming. Shops like Nordstrom have discovered a fantastic way to incorporate social networking into their traditional brick-and-mortar shopping locations. The department shop motivates followers on social media to pin their beloved Nordstrom items on Pinterest, the merchant subsequently highlights the most well-known selections in an interactive and fun display inside the shop. Creating a link between social media and a real0life experience closes the loop and creates an engaging intimate relationship with the customer from product awareness to purchase and satisfaction.

Clients can discover popular pinned stylish handbags and fashionable womens shoes at hot prices throughout the shop with a notable Pinterest tag attached. Additionally, Nordstrom established an in-store program which helps sales partners see the most well-known things on Pinterest instantly so that they could swap out stock according to demand. This is a great way to lure customers from online to make a visit and purchase instore as they are reminded by the Pinterest tags. Pinterest acts almost as a ‘wish list’ for the customer and gives retailers information on what items are popular on the internet.

Bringing it all together:

Retailers can expect technology to form the in-store customer experience for many years to come, particularly concerning social networking and mobile. As per a Synchrony Financial research, 30 percent of people surveyed have purchased something after

viewing it on social networking. A powerful social networking presence helps make sure that brands remain connected to their customers and, consequently, drive sales both offline and online. And as cellular plays a bigger role in customers’ lives, retailers that adopt mobile obligations and funding help guarantee a more straightforward in-store shopping experience for their clients.

Mobile tools, such as retail and loyalty software, can also help to inform retailers of the clients’ tastes and requirements. This information makes it possible for retailers to make a personalized online shopping experience whilst at the same time catering to the requirements of an increasingly electronic age. By way of instance, a cell program could allow users to label a product that they see in a shop and have it instantly put into their online shopping cart. In cases like this, the customer benefits from onsite customer assistance, in addition to the ease of buying at home.

In-store shopping Isn’t going away, but it’s getting an update. Traditional means of shopping are becoming more relevant and facilitating more pleasurable in-store experiences for todays’ tech-savvy customers. So head in-store with your Pinterest wish list and store app to grab those party shoes you’ve had your eye on.