Consumers are forcing retail fixtures and technology to come together as part of facilitating ease in their shopper journey. From click-and-collect to having tablet kiosks, the retailer is responsible for meeting their customer’s expectations and offering the best experience.

Buy Online, Pick Up in Store

Click-and-collect shopping has gained a lot of traction by eliminating delivery fees and wait times. CIT reports that families with children under 18 years of age are the most likely to use buy online, pick up in store services. With up-to-the-moment inventory data, it erases uncertainty for the customer about if an item is in stock or not. For the retailer, it increases the likelihood that customers will buy additional items from the sales floor when they come to the brick and mortar location, Kohl’s and Target observed this phenomena in 20% and 35% customers respectively. When customers have items ordered and shipped to their closest store for pickup, it also allows the retailer to use their own store as a delivery hub and save on shipping items out to the customer’s home.

In the Store

Even when omni-channel shoppers are in store, they are still using their mobile devices to affect their decisions before purchase.  Research has found that 50% of shoppers search for product info on their phones when in stores: 50% on your store’s site, and 30% at a competitor’s site.

To keep the shopper in your store instead of losing them to frustration or a competitor, good ideas to simplify their process involve tablet kiosks or signs with QR codes printed that take the consumer directly to your website in reference to the featured product. Another option is fitting associates with smart phones so they can answer questions instantly.

Another way to keep the customer satisfied during their journey is installing self-checkouts. For the shopper, it removes lines, and for the retailer, you can better cope with traffic fluctuations that are difficult to staff, and have 4 self-checkouts where you may have only been able to fit one POS island.

In the End

Integrating technology is the way to keep brick-and-mortar operations alive, so long as they can provide a consistent experience online and in store, and it has worked increasingly well over time.