Why mobile in-store winners zero
in on more than sales
Although mobile has cemented its
status as an important sales tool, retailers including Sephora, Home Depot and
Walgreens are leveraging smartphones to enhance in-store shopping experiences
with features such as product reviews, item recommendations and in-store layout
maps.
DMI’s Mobile In-Store Experience
Rankings assess the quality of mobile offerings from 100 top United States
retailers, with a focus on the in-store experience. While mobile is undoubtedly
a powerful sales driver, the channel is best used to provide a hassle-free and
streamlined shopping experience for customers in bricks-and-mortar stores, as
evidenced by Walgreens’ and Home Depot’s top rankings.
“Brands that stood out did two
things: understood their target audience and built in seamless functionality
that catered to the needs of that audience,” said Jeremy Gilman, vice president
of strategy for DMI’s brand marketing and customer experience group. “For
example, Walmart informed its shoppers how to save the most – simply and
easily.
“Giving them the ability to view
prices, discounts, competitors’ prices, and gives them the power to be
reimbursed if the shopper finds a lower price elsewhere,” he said. “On a deeper
feature level, most retailers who scored well provide shoppers a
barcode-scanning feature.
“This may be the simplest way for
retailers to instantly connect in-store shoppers to product information housed
on ecommerce Web sites. This helps shoppers look up pricing, inventory,
recommendations, reviews and other content about an item.”
