Technology is constantly evolving with changing times and it is making a tremendous impact on people of all strata. This is more prominent in case of the consumers who are being empowered with more and more devices. Shopping habits as well as retail experience of the consumer have been revolutionized in ways unimaginable.
Evolution of The Retail Experience
The eighties was the starting point of the changes that were to come in ways of shopping and making payment. The tingling mechanical cash registers soon made way for the electronic versions taking sales and tallying of retail transactions to a new height.
The advent of smartphones saw the electronic cash registers becoming redundant. In fact, the mobile devices have enabled the consumers to transgress geographical boundaries while making their purchases and the retail stores located at unheard locations have become viable.
Gone are the days when you had to journey to the store, park your vehicle, and walk up to the store, wait in long queues for your turn even for a small purchase. Making optimum purchases has become possible with the consumer getting access to data about prices of goods at various stores for comparison without physically going up to the store.
How have Smartphones Revolutionized Shopping and Retail Experience?
Smartphone has become an integral part of every individual’s life. The major impact has been felt in the shopping experience as more and more people prefer to do their purchases through a few clicks on their smartphone from the cool comforts of their homes. Some of the tools which have facilitated the consumer are as follows:
Easy Pay App
The maximum utilization of the smartphone and tablets in the context of retailing and shopping has been made possible by Apple through the introduction of its Easy Pay app. It is most suitable for people on the go who can research, customize, and make purchases from Apple store besides other things.
To give an example, a person walking in the Apple store makes his purchase of on-the-shelf products without interacting with any of the salesmen. He does so merely by invoking his Easy Pay app, scanning the bar code, and then the credit card attached to the app pays for his purchases. iPhones are used to cash out the customers from the innumerable iPads located in the store by means of customized software. Soon there will come a time when technology does away with the sales representatives and cash registers altogether.
Mobile Point of Sales Systems
AT&T, the telecommunications giant has in fact done away with the traditional cash registers and sales counters. It has brought into their place tablets and smartphones to do their work. They have introduced the mobile point of sales system technology on to the tablet and are promoting the same for other retailers to incorporate on to their sales floors.
It is the dream of the company Chairman to make the smartphone a comprehensive device which will substitute the car keys and the wallet too. The mobile point of sales system and Remote Link Mobile App for vehicles churned out by General Motor Corp is only bringing his dream into concrete terms.
The mobile point of sales system of making purchases is going to see an enormous growth in the coming years. Many retailers have realized the importance of valuable floor space lost due to cash registers and are substituting the same with mobile point of sales technology and self-checkout. Big names such as Puma, JC Penny, and Barney’s are joining the fray of retailers that are making good use of floor space for display of their products.
Quick Response (QR) Codes
Quick Response Codes (QR) is another source which has empowered consumers through the mobile point of sales system and data access. Awareness is generated about them as they are seen on various kiosks, bus stops, retail packages, billboards, train stations, etc. Purchases as well as data on products and services can be accessed by the consumer on the go.
The online grocery store ‘Peapod’ tapped the potential of this QR codes by promoting it in rail stations and subways on East Coast. This act consequently drove traffic in huge numbers to their website. The promotion improved the visibility of their mobile app drastically and increased the number of concrete shoppers. The marketing technique revolutionized shopping for the consumer as he could order his grocery while he waited for his train at the rail station. Wal-Mart soon followed suit.
Another company ‘Target’ has empowered the consumer further as he could scan the QR code into his smartphone and get his favorite Target products shipped to any place free of cost. This combination of retail and online shopping which is known as omni-channel shopping is going to pay rich dividends to the company in terms of huge sales, and in view of the increasing sums of money spent by such omni-channel shoppers.
Smartphone has Empowered Mothers to become ‘Super Moms’
Besides, the regular male shoppers and the ‘mothers’ category of the female population are contributing towards shopping a big way through smartphones. Finding avenues to utilize their time efficiently and accomplish maximum tasks within short hours, they are turning towards the smartphone for the fulfillment of their purchase needs. The smartphones, tablets, the QR codes, and various apps have altered their shopping habits to a great extent. These devices have become convenient modes to look for sales and special discounts.
Anything that will make the smartphone more functional and increase its applicability in everyday life situations will be definitely appreciated by this segment. Digital solutions that will allow the ‘mom’ to utilize her time and money most effectively to become a ‘super-mom’ will be given priority over others. Smartphones also have data safety measures that can ensure secure data transfer. This can be done through interface cables like vcds software etc.
Smartphones have drastically altered shopping habits of the consumers. Continuous evolution in the electromagnetic technology is going to have a secure and deeper impact on retail purchasing experience. Credit cards and cash will soon be replaced with intelligent smartphone which will have multiple levels of security before it gives access to its credit card app for making payments. It is only left to the retailers to exploit these options in the most optimum manner possible.
