Inside Outdoor Winter 2018

with a mobile app, 86 percent are still unsatisfied with how things work. Similar figures show up for those that have invested in visibility across channels, social media analytics, and personalized market- ing and customer service. Nearly all retailers that have implemented location-based technology, aug- mented or virtually reality, wireless beacons or self-checkout admit things are still a work in progress. The good news for independent and specialty retail IT leaders: it may not take a lot of flash and whiz-bang, at least in the near term, to impress shoppers with IT capabilities. Research suggests shoppers don’t necessarily associ- ate in-store just yet to a digital, video-loaded, robotics-driven experience. What they do expect, at the very least, is employees having access to the same con- nectivity, capabilities and visibility that they know they have on their own phones and in their homes, possibly even a bit more. According to analysts at BRP, shoppers are looking for in-store technology that streamlines the shopping and buying process. Basi- cally, research suggests, if a con- sumer is going to take the time and energy to forego the convenience of shopping online, they want to know they’ll find what they’re look- ing for, find it rather easily, get their questions answered if any, and get on their way. If a store doesn’t have something in-stock, that store better help the shopper locate it, and hopefully help with delivery. Few things upset shoppers more than when they make a trip for that sensory experience and immediate gratification and the store is out of what they want. Meanwhile, consumers are fully aware technology is available to make shopping “seamless and frictionless,” and unified. This is perhaps the greatest impact e- commerce and mobile commerce have had across all retail IT. (Of course, that doesn’t necessarily include the core enthusiast who is willing to browse and comes in-store largely for the sense of community and camaraderie, but we’re not sure tech is the tactic to keep this customer anyway). Successfully delivering on a seamless customer experience re- quires leveraging real-time inven- tory and customer data, from the sales floor to the backroom back up to the supplier, and a platform that moves toward one common, centralized place for all customer engagement points. That information, of course, also must be “at the fingertips” of all customer-facing associates. Make no mistake, this already is of huge importance to larger retailers, as more than 81 percent or retail IT executives surveyed by BRP, for ex- ample, indicate they have or plan to have a mobile/tablet application for associates, while 84 percent have or plan to have a mobile application for customers within three years. Nearly six in 10 retailers surveyed by BRP report to having associate mobile apps in place. “This is ground zero of the future of brick and mortar retail- ing and where the greatest impact around the convergence of the digital and physical experience will be felt,” say BRP researchers. At the same time, less than a quarter of retailers have developed or deployed a product locator app, and a bit less have in-store real- time order status visibility, show BRP figures. Likewise, the more every employee, anywhere in the store, can take payments the better, both to streamline the process and be- cause waiting in line is almost as annoying as out-of-stock inventory, say shoppers. Several studies also suggest an increasing desire for some of the personalization consumers receive online and in the digital realm to be brought into the in-store trip. About half of shoppers are still pretty freaked out about big data crunching their personal details, but they do understand the ben- efits of a frequented store having some customer intelligence at its disposal. They want interaction history to be “omni-channel” and Which of the following technologies have you heard of? And which, if any, have you tried while shopping in a store or online? Source: National Retail Foundation 68% 65% 52% 45% 35% 31% 30% 27% 21% 20% 18% 13% Have tried Haven’t tried Mobile payment Buy online, pick up in store 3D printing Tablet-/mobile-empowered associates In-app store navigation Messaging apps/chat In-Store digital display Visual search Voice search Augmented reality Virtual reality Smart dressing rooms Total Aware still emerging, and consumers traditionally have trouble envisioning benefits they haven’t person- ally gained from yet. Fortunately, retail IT teams seem fully aware of the current shortcomings. Of the 23 percent of retail IT departments sur- veyed by retail management consulting firm BRP that have implemented a customer-facing product locator app, for instance, 78 percent admit the implementation needs improvement. Among the 59 percent or retailers that have armed associates Inside Outdoor | Winter 2018 32