According to the 2011 Customer Experience Impact Report from RightNow, “86% will pay more for a better customer experience,” while “89 percent of consumers begin doing business with a competitor following a poor customer experience.” It’s plain to see that customer experience is paramount in satisfying consumers and retaining long-term customers, but what can retailers do to improve it?
Before you start give out free backrubs and/or ice cream cones, consider the customer experience-boosting value of mobile point-of-sale. Mobile POS is not just a great tool to streamline your productivity and get more organized — it’s actually a fantastic way to improve customer experience. Walking up to a customer in-store with a tablet in hand is a great ice-breaker and really gets the conversation – and the sales – rolling.
Used creatively, mobile POS can transcend the traditional customer experience and make your customers go “Wow, this brand really gets me!” Here are six creative ways to improve customer experience with mobile point-of-sale in your store:
1. Implement a Sweet Loyalty Program
Seriously, what’s better than stopping by your favorite store and finding out you’re one purchase away from a free sub/$50 discount/complimentary tube of facial scrub?
Loyalty programs are one of the best ways to reward repeat customers and identify you as a brand that cares, and they’re even better when implemented via mobile POS. Instead of having your customers fill out some long bulky form or carry around a card they’ll likely lose between the seat cushions, everything is right there in the mobile POS system.
Offering rewards and making them super simple to redeem? Now that’s what I call an excellent customer experience.
2. Use Real-Time Analytics to Highlight Hot Products
When you walk into a retail store, what would you rather buy: the dusty stuff in the corner or the cool new product everyone is clamoring for? Call it the iPhone phenomenon or consumer fever or whatever you will, but people like to buy stuff that’s popular. And what better way to excite your customers than to highlight the hottest selling products in your store?
Using real-time analytics data you gather from your mobile POS, you can know instantly what products are selling like hotcakes and use this info to alert your customers to the coolest items in your store. They’ll appreciate the tip and you’ll appreciate all the new sales.
3. Provide Info and Make the Sale in One Go
Don’t you just hate it when you walk into a store, have a really good experience with a representative on the floor, and have to go wait in line for 20 minutes? So do your customers.
Using mobile POS, you can streamline the shopping experience for your customer. Say a customer comes up to you asking about your product. With your mobile POS on hand, you can offer info on the product then immediately switch over and make the sale right on the spot.
To be able to not only avoid a long line but buy a product from a trusted sales rep is the essence of a good customer experience.
4. Offer Personalized Promotions
Have you ever walked into a store and felt like you were just another insignificant shopper? Who hasn’t? With mobile POS, you can tailor the shopping experience to your customers and make them feel special.
Using purchase info on your mobile POS, you can easily provide customers with customized coupons and offers. For example, you might offer a special blue blouse discount to a customer who buys a lot of, you guessed it, blue blouses.
5. Refer Customers to Other Stores Where Items are in Stock
This one works when you’ve got more than one locations within a relatively small radius.
Say you work in a chain bookstore and a customer asks if you have any Harry Potter books in stock. Accessing your inventory through your mobile POS, you notice that you don’t have any Harry Potter books in stock (really? what kind of bookstore are you?) but that another one of your local stores has some in stock. With this info, you can then refer the customer to your other store and leave them walking away satisfied. It’s the kind of interaction where being right there for them on the shop floor is vital.
6. Push Out a Newsletter
Want to know the best part about using mobile POS? You can improve the customer experience even when your customers are long out of the store. With consent from your customer at checkout, you can easily send out an email newsletter that fills them in on new sales, discounts, and other relevant info.
So long as you don’t send out daily newsletters or offer boring content, your customers will appreciate the heads-up on your store and will be way more likely to stay tuned.
Mobile POS: Customer Engagement Made Easy
Mobile POS has way more potential for your business than you may think. It’s not only a drastic improvement on the cash register; it’s a customer experience-boosting machine.
Get creative with your mobile POS — provide your customers with a customized, streamlined shopping experience — and you’ll keep customers coming back for more.