Usage of technology for in-store sales & marketing - Part 2

January 19, 2017

Usage of technology for in-store sales & marketing - Part 2

Increase Customer engagement

A registered customer is minefield of opportunities; one needs to only know how to make the best use of it. Customers interested in the brand will always be eager to know what’s new and happening:

A notification to the user via email/ SMS or app regarding new offers and discounts; new product arrivals; etc. will help encourage potential returning customers.

Such engagements can further be customized to target high net worth customers registered with the store. One can specifically target such customers with notifications/ mails specifically about luxury brands and products.

Digital Mirror: Another way to engage customer is by using the Interactive Digital Mirror (still a technology under development). This could easily allow customers to try on products without actually a trip to the trial room. They also get to view the options that they have in terms of size and colour and how it looks on them.

Develop Brand identity & Brand affinity

Brand identity is essential when you want your customer to connect with your store or brand. Maintaining the same theme throughout the store and extending it on to your apps, websites, emails is very crucial to engage the customer and make them feel comfortable with the familiar environment.

Text, image, banners, etc. in an email or notifications carrying the same theme as in the physical store. This will allow the customer to recognize and connect.

Digital Mirror – Print/ soft copy of how the product looks on them.

Digital dashboards / Isle

• Top selling SKUs - country wise / worldwide to show the latest trending
• Rating scale for the top ten Items (Star ratings)

Build Customer Loyalty

Technology can be utilized to build customer loyalty by:

Giving out customer rewards point upon first registration, would encourage self-registration.

A continuous offline engagement using emails/ SMS reminding the customer about the reward points along with the discounts or offers they can get from this virtual currency can catch the customer’s attention.

Customized offers for redeeming the points, based on the customer’s purchase habits or previous purchase may also create better conversions.

Gift Cards are another tool to creating new customer base. Gift cards issued to existing customers (either thru direct sale of such cards or in exchange of reward points), so they can ‘Gift’ it to a new customer who has not yet visited your store guarantees addition of a new customer.

As more and more traditional retailers adapt to the reality of an Omni-channel shopping experience, the ability to bring together seemingly discreet and unrelated data is central to their marketing strategy. It provides crucial customer insights that drive performance. Technology will continue to play a key role in this endeavour.