Are You Using Tablets While You Shop? ? iMediaConnection Blog

If you are not, then chances are your favorite retailer will be. Business News Daily predicts that by the end of this year, over 50% of retailers will use tablets in their stores. "While only 6 percent of the surveyed businesses report that tablets are fully deployed in their stores today ? being used as mobile cash registers and other ways to increase efficiency -- another 28 percent are currently testing tablets in stores, with an additional 31 percent planning to start tests sometime in 2012...Major factors driving increased tablet use among retailers include sales floor support, updating the store experience, increasing comp-store sales and connecting to enterprise apps, the research showed." I get that. To compete, retailers have to put on a hip face. That means showing how they live in the modern techy world but in a more experiential way. That is afterall, the benefit of the physical retail experience. Trying on clothes, glasses, jewelry is usually pretty rewarding versus waiting for this stuff to show up on your door step. And we know that the expectation of customer service is actually lower in the physical store than it is online. Online, people expect a lot more in terms of shipping, response to questions, problem solving, etc. So the convergence of the online and offline experience is interesting to watch and fraught with potential issues.

So, who will really want this convergent experience? As I was researching that, I hit upon this infographic

From this infographic, we see there are three primary reasons people use mobile devices in store; to call a friend to ask their opinion, compare prices, and to look up product reviews. What I found interesting was that the heaviest mobile usage in the online product review searches and price comparison searches were those that were 18-29 and 50-64 years old. (Are all the Gen X-ers online-only shoppers?) When you scan further you see that of those that were searching for price comparisons in the store, 37% decided not to purchase the product at all, 8% purchased at another store, and 19% purchased the product online while just over a third (35%) actually purchased the product in the store. So, with statistics like these, can MORE tablet usage, by the retailer, in the retail environment actually help sales? These stats might suggest otherwise but I tend to be more optimistic.

If a retailer is truly interested in using the tablets to increase customer satisfaction and to create a differentiated, updated experience in-store then you would think/hope that they would also be using this technology to price-match or to offer a better return policy so as to reduce the number of shoppers that use the information to shop elsewhere or not buy at all.

It might have made a difference for me this past holiday season. I was shopping for an electronic riding toy for my 4 year old nephew and was in Target when I saw what seemed like the perfect toy. But to be sure, I went to Amazon to check on their price, while standing in the Target aisle. The prices were about the same but my nephew lives several states away so shipping is a key consideration. When I looked at the cost to ship from Amazon versus the cost to buy there and ship myself, Amazon became a no-brainer, That is until the toy arrived at my brother's house and was opened. That great riding toy ended up being great as long as you didn't want to turn...it only went forward and backward. But the process for my brother to ship this toy back to Amazon versus what it might have taken to just bring it to his nearby Target to return it became the real issue. If there had been a tablet in store with the options listed out presented by Target and a strong customer service element assuring me, it may have changed my selection. Now I could have done this research on my own in store too but a retailer with tablets in hand giving me reasons when I am looking to maybe walk out empty handed could be a real plus. But that is dependent on it being done right and with the right training.

I have my eye out to see who does this really well and to see if it makes a difference. If you see some at work, let me know. The convergence of retail and mobile is fascinating and will become ever more powerful as the year goes on - that is for sure.

Source: http://blogs.imediaconnection.com/blog/2012/03/05/are-you-using-tablets-while-you-shop/

richard hamilton paris jackson paris jackson howard stern americas got talent china aircraft carrier barbara walters most fascinating person 2011 golden globe nominations