Mobile Devices: Revolutionizing Retailer-Customer Relation

By CIOReview | Friday, December 8, 2017

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Industries today have moved on from an era where they were solely dependent on PCs for their day-to-day operations. Mobility has impacted multiple industries and the retail is no different. According to a report from Retail Drive, 51 percent of the consumers prefer using the retailer’s in-app payment feature for the sake of faster transaction and convenience. Easy access to internet and penetration of smartphones has massively influenced the way customers prefer to shop.

It is estimated that an average smartphone user in the US spends more than 87 percent of the time on mobile applications. A seller coming up with dedicated mobile applications isn’t a new strategy when it comes to winning customers. Nonetheless, their importance in the retail spectrum continues to rise higher than ever as they turn more customer-friendly. Despite the growing dependence on mobile phones, the tendency among customers to physically view the product before purchasing still prevails. Hence, trends such as showrooming blend both mobile device and brick and mortar approach to bring out the best of both worlds.

Retailers’ have already begun to utilize AI to monitor the customers’ shopping pattern from the data accumulated from the store’s application. On the other hand, stores are leveraging AR to enhance customer shopping experience. Additionally, chatbots are used in both online and in-store experience for real-time response, which also lowers the chance of customers resorting to a competitor. In a more sophisticated approach, retail leaders like Amazon and Dominos have successfully tried and tested drone delivery to ensure faster delivery of their products. The retail industry has been witnessing a paradigm shift over the past decade— seeing it move away from the traditional brick and mortar approach— and mobile technology is majorly responsible for overseeing the shift.