It is difficult to compete with any type of developing tech in the retail world. There are ecommerce businesses that are outselling their physical equivalent, and this is due to how we purchase items in the 21st century. It is far easier to do it from the comfort of your own home and make a few clicks and wait for your item to be delivered to your doorstep. It is just a much more convenient way of buying items over traveling to a store and queuing up to buy for your items, not to mention the personal frustrations we all carry with us when we go shopping! So what is the answer for the retail store? Is there any type of business tech that we can take with us to make our customers shop with a bit more ease?
Start An App
Apps are an integral part of any business, store or otherwise. The interactivity of apps is used to the nth degree on TV shows, live events, and advertisements. This is one way to give your customers’ shopping experience a jolt. Having an app which gives customers the idea of what they can purchase before they physically purchase it eases the usual shopping frustrations, and if they can pay for it before heading into the store, it makes the employees’ lives easier and reduces waiting times which increases productivity. It makes so much logical sense.
Have “Floating” Members Of Staff
There are many members of staff that are stationary at the checkout, and there is nobody on hand to help the customer when they need some. Having staff “circle the perimeter” for advice but also for payment can make life easier for people. Carrying mobile credit card terminals for easy payment is a great way to reduce queues and to highlight the interactivity between customer and shop assistant. This, of course, depends on the type of store you run. It wouldn’t work in a massive department store where there are hundreds of customers, but in a homelier store where numbers are smaller, such as a furniture or bathroom store, this can help to ease congestion.
Let The Customers Scan Their Items En Route
This is one approach that is really working in bigger department stores, where customers have a scanner attached to their shopping cart and scan the items as they go. Then they go to a specialized payment area and pack their shopping and go. This works in many ways for a business. The first way it really helps is the reduction of customer queries on price, which could be mislabeled due to human error, helping the staff to get on with other duties. The second way this helps is that customers are less reliant on these staff members, which means you could potentially use less staff, saving you money in the long-term.
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