Category Archives: mobile

Retail is detail – customer demands increase with new technology

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The least enjoyable part of most shopping experiences is queuing to pay. Once customers have made their selections they want to get out of the store as quickly and easily as possible. Some customers will even choose not to go to stores with long queues. In fact several retailers who cut the number of staffed checkouts to reduce costs have now reinstated them because their sales loses were greater than the cost savings. One solution to reducing queue sizes is self service checkouts however Read more [...]

Amazon and showrooming

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Amazon is becoming the source of product information used before shoppers actually buy in stores. The much talked about showrooming threat that most shoppers would go into stores to look at products and then order them on their mobile from Amazon, while in the store, has not come to pass. Certainly some shoppers use Amazon in store to gain more detailed product information but most end up actually buying in from the store. It could even be that the provision of product information in stores from Read more [...]

Making mobile apps work in stores

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Mobile will be an increasingly useful tool for many shoppers and retailers are right to invest in technology that will help shoppers and increase revenues. The challenge with any new technology is that it must work as expected by the shopper or they will simply stop using it. So every aspect of using a mobile needs to work smoothly. For many mobile applications once the software has been written and tested there is a good chance that it will work as expected every time. The one area that is Read more [...]

What M&S, McDonalds and Harrods are doing in-store

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Major retailers such as M&S, McDonalds and Harrods are making significant changes in their stores.  This is what they said at the Retail Bulletin In-Store Engagement Conference in July 12. Claire Zuurbier, Workstream Lead New Channels Marks and Spencer M&S want to be: The leading Multi-channel Retailer in the world by 2014 The New Channels team started two years ago with three people. It now has 50. The first project from the new CEO was “put big screens in stores”. The team Read more [...]

Why shoppers use mobiles in stores. Is it showrooming?

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Some retailers were concerned about shoppers using mobiles in their stores for showrooming.  But, what do shoppers actually use mobiles for?  The results may surprise you. A survey by Forsee based on 21,000 responses has come up with some interesting results on the use of mobiles in stores. The top finding is that 65% of shoppers are visiting the website of the store and their main purpose is to find out more about a product. Of course if they can't get the information they want from the stores Read more [...]

Mobile at the Summit

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On 27 September I joined over 100 retailers at The Retail Bulletin Mobile Summit in London. Definitely a worthwhile trip. The presentations from Waitrose, Tesco, Halfords, New Look and almost everyone else illustrated just how fast mobile has shifted from a new technology that a few iPhone loving customers might be interested in to something that is an integral part of retailers business and marketing strategy.  For many this transition has taken just 18 months. Things are continuing to move Read more [...]

Notes from RetailWeek conference March 2011

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Here's my summary of the event and what CEO's of major retailer talked about Top 10 overall themes: Mobiles – customers will use them everywhere Multichannel – anything, anywhere, anytime, any mix Community: Be local in every respect (format, actions, sourcing, identity) and support  community actions and activities Retailers are spending money mCommerce and channel integration Customer power - recognition that they are smarter and more selective Creative new products and services Read more [...]