Trending: The Future of Retail
Customer Experience Meets Omnichannel Shopping
Online vs the in-store experience is battling harder than every for your custom. From online sales around the holidays, ensuring your business no matter the weather, to unlimited free returns. It appears to some, that online retailers are battling with their in-store experience, not just their competitors.
Instead of retailers seeing their online store as a separate entity to their high street counterpart, they need to focus on the customer journey. Take for example gift vouchers, if a gift voucher for a clothing store is brought online, why should it only be available to use online and not instore as well? If the clothing doesn’t fit, the cost of returns and redelivery is on the retailer when purchased online, as opposed to the customer who is able to try on instore.
Why should the retailer appear to have two separate brands, one for online and one for bricks and mortar?
The customer journey needs to be cohesive with the expectations of customers. An omnichannel journey removes online vs in-store thinking, creating instead, a cohesive strategy across all platforms, from loyalty schemes to social media recommendations.
RFID and the Store of the Future
Radio-Frequency, RFID, has had a relatively slow start in terms of retails adoption to the technology. When it comes to barcode vs RFID there hasn’t been much competition. But when the potential of the technology is looked at, it seems surprising that 2018 is the year for things to finally change.
RFID provides a higher level of visibility to stock, unlike barcodes, RFID tags don’t need to be within sight to be read, this allows for speedy inventory checks, without having to manually scan products.
This barrier for RFID adoption stems from the requirement of the full product journey. It’s not just retailers who would be adopting RFID< but all of their suppliers too. The RFID tag needs to be in place from the very start, to ensure a complete product journey, but with increased investment, the technology is becoming more accessible for different companies.
RFID is the perfect partner for omnichannel marketing, providing real-time information for stock and providing this direct to consumers, via mobile apps or self-service tablet kiosks.
Self-Service Tablet Kiosks
Invest in the customer by enabling them to control the pace of their journey. From flicking through digital brochures to ordering another size of an item using a wall mounted tablet enclosure in a changing room, it’s important to give control to the customer, whilst ensuring they feel invested in.
RBTE saw several exhibitors showcasing an instore model designed with the self-service customer journey in mind. Self-service kiosks are available 24/7, giving real-time information on everything from stock to offers, promoting an online experience whilst instore.
The overall consensus from RBTE is the importance of providing a joined-up customer journey, one which benefits both the customer and the retailer.
Browse our range of iPad and tablet kiosks online and discover ways you can change the dynamics of your business with our innovative solutions today. For more information, get in touch with the imageHOLDERS team by calling +44 (0)1202 892863 (UK) or +1 877 450 2172 (US) or email [email protected].