Story: Matt Abercromby
Matt has spent over ten years advising Australia’s leading brands in Media, Retail Technology, Property and Law. He is the Marketing Manager of Engagis, Australia’s leading digital solutions company, which provides digital solutions to over 4000 retailers, and creates connections for the likes of Telstra, Bupa, Target and Flight Centre. As a writer and keynote speaker, he regularly presents on the digital future of retail in Australia, and also manages the popular Engagis blog and events roadshow, ‘Connect’.
With the rapid growth of digital adoption, the way our customers communicate with each other, is vastly different to how retailers communicate with their customers. This massive disconnect is costing bricks and mortar retailers, and it’s time to catch up. So, as shoppers become more connected, how can retailers engage the ‘hyper-digital’ consumer?
At one time, the answer to this would have been a striking in-store promotional display, well-trained sales staff, and a well-conceived planogram. Ah, the good ol’ days. Unfortunately, today we must go above and beyond.
The customer appetite has taken a dramatic turn, and thanks to the power of online, they now expect a shopping experience that is faster, easier, better value, and more personal. So what are the 7 Digital Solutions that are delivering this, and giving bricks and mortar retailers the upper hand?
Through-Window Touchscreen: The first challenge for retailers along the pathway to purchase is to attract customers. External facing digital signage and video walls offer an obvious solution, showcasing dynamic content to attract and entertain passers-by. But through-window touchscreens go one step further, offering your customers the ability to browse, order and even pay for products 24/7. This ‘digitally connected storefront’ offers the unprecedented ability to fulfil an entire transaction, and is becoming more and more essential for retailers.
Intelligent Digital Signage: For years, retailers have struggled to measure ROI on digital signage. Intelligent digital signage makes it easy, and can now measure Opportunity To See (OTS), engagement, demographics, emotion, and a whole lot more. But what if your signage content could change, depending on those factors? It’s happening right now. Intelligent digital signage delivers relevant, contextual and targeted promotions based on real time customer data. Other data, such as weather, time of day, events and traffic are also being combined, delivering hyper-targeted messaging direct to customers.
Tablets: Thanks to tablet technology, retailers are now able to equip employees to better interact with customers. In an age when customers are often more informed than staff, the ability to have access to real-time product information on the spot is essential. Tablets are even alleviating merchandise clutter for larger retail establishments. Bunnings, Rebel and General Pants are just a few of the many Aussie brands using tablets in-store to showcase more SKUs than they can fit in store. Thanks to this ‘endless aisle’, retailers are freeing up valuable floor space, and offering a far wider range, all at the same time.
Enterprise Tablet Pro: It’s true that tablets have been trialled in many retailers, with varying degrees of success. Issues such as battery life, security and connectivity have led to the introduction of products like the Enterprise Tablet Pro. Secure mounts such as this are negating these issues, enabling the tablet to be used as a customer self-service kiosk, or to be released by staff (using a RFID swipe card) for handheld service on the floor. What’s more, the Enterprise Tablet Pro ensures the product is safe, internet connected, and always fully charged.
Self-Order Kiosks: We’re seeing it everywhere in our everyday lives: airport self-check in, vending machines, parking metres, supermarket self-checkout, even ATMs. Self-Order Kiosks are designed to make the customer experience faster and easier; they’re also slashing the cost of service for simple transactions by as much as 600%. Self-Order Kiosks are no longer the expensive, cumbersome solutions they once were. Combined with tablets, and inexpensive touchscreen technology, we’re seeing them pop up in banks, retailers and restaurants across Australia.
Secure Merchandising: With the rising demand for consumer electronics, the loss prevention/asset protection industry is growing as quickly as the digital signage business. Loss prevention has a bad rap in retail, often referred to as ‘Sales Prevention’. If it’s in a locked cabinet, it simply won’t sell, is the feedback from many shopper marketers. So how can you protect your products when customers expect to touch and feel them in-store? Modern loss prevention has come a long way from traditional security cables. Clever secure merchandising solutions, such as the Freedom Micro, display, secure, charge and update consumer electronics, as well as activating digital signage content, and recording lift data. This information is helping retailers to better understand promotions, product displays and sales conversions. Clever security, indeed.
The Smartphone: The biggest threat to retailers, the smartphone, also offers the greatest opportunity. Loyalty and Rewards Programs have gone mobile. Retailers are using Loyalty Apps on their customer’s smartphones to deliver individual offers, en masse. Using data collected from the above digital touch points – OTS, demographics, message recall, product searches, product interactions, and transactions – retailers are delivering targeted and personalised offers for customers. It’s promotions like this that drive loyalty, increase retention, and ensure your customers keep coming back.