How to get an A+ on your mobile retail report card
Retail brands are personalizing mobile experiences and engaging with users at a C- level. Use these omnichannel strategies to ace next year’s test.
If you’ve ever had an all-star sibling who gets straight A’s, you know it doesn’t feel good bringing home your report card to mom to be compared to.
NewStore, a mobile retail platform, released its annual mobile retail report last week, sharing that retail brands are at an average “C” grade when it comes to their omnichannel strategies. The report assessed 140 brands’ use of native apps, mobile-friendly websites and in-store mobile technology across the 4 sections of the user journey: methodology, search and discover, personalization and engagement, and the path to purchase and fulfilment.
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Retail brands consistently underperform in mobile personalization and engagement.
The facts are scary:
- 3% of apps use push notifications to send personalized promotions
- 11% of brands allow users to book in-store appointments
- 4% of brands talk to customers in their apps with a chat function
The C- grade, which did not improve from last year, is likely shocking to high achieving brands who have worked hard to have a mobile presence.
The problem? Mobile is still just a box to check off.
Most retail brands cut corners to get omnichannel status by covering the bare minimum: Develop an app? Check. If you want your retail store to not only pass but excel in this digital-first world, you need to bridge the gap between online and offline in a compelling, interactive manner.
Make your mobile mark with an omnichannel strategy
With information from NewStore’s report and some retail omnichannel insights of our own, we’ve created the ultimate study guide to help you engage users from the first point of contact all the way through to their purchase.
Send personalized messages
Send notifications triggered by a user’s location when they are in your store, or inform them of sale items that would interest them based on their shopping history. Users should feel like every message from you was handcrafted and personally delivered to their screen.
Did you know that 4:30 pm is the most popular time for retailers to send a push notification? Check out our Labs test to learn how leading retail apps are using push notifications.
Talk to customers throughout their entire life cycle
Another push notification strategy is to onboard and nurture users properly with tailored messages. While they ultimately serve the same goal of driving purchases, the messages you send a user dangerously close to churning should be very different from what you send to a brand new user.
Turn your associates into personal shoppers
Help your associates sell (and upsell) by giving them access to customer data in-store on a portable device. If they can pull up a shopper’s past purchases, wishlist and shopping cart, they’re much more likely to make educated recommendations that shoppers appreciate.
Build face to face relationships with mobile users
Allowing customers to book an in-store appointment through your website or pick up something they’ve ordered online appeals to busy modern consumers who are always on the go. Booking appointments for a selected date, branch and associate pencils you into their calendar as a date they look forward to. Promoting click and collect not only saves the time and expense of shipping, it encourages customers to build a stronger connection with your store (and maybe even make more purchases once they are there to pick up).
Strike up a conversation
Chatbots have become insanely popular in the last two years and rightfully so: a bot is a personal customer service representative that is available 24/7. In fact, according to SmartMessage, 1 in 3 Americans would be willing to make a purchase through a chatbot. Chatbots aren’t only there to boost sales but provide quick, helpful support that engages with your customers when they aren’t in your store. This automated yet intelligent tool can make online shopping personal on your website and in your app.
Omnichannel is the best channel
NewStore says it best:
“a true omnichannel experience [is] one in which your consumer can buy anywhere, at anytime, through any channel, and still feel the same wonderful personalized experience throughout”
Turn your personalization and engagement grade into an A next year by:
- Sending personalized, contextual push notifications frequently to keep the lights on.
- Equipping associates with the data they need to facilitate personal shopping experiences.
- Send mobile traffic to your store with appointment booking and in-store pickups.
- Using a chatbot to engage with your customers as they shop in your app or mobile website.
Download NewStore’s full 2017 mobile retail report to learn more about how your retail store may be missing the mark on mobile.
Taplytics is an end-to-end A/B testing, push notification and analytics platform helping brands confidently build engaging digital products.
