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 At JCPenney, customers will be able to take a snapshot of, for
example, boots worn by a person passing by and quickly find out if
the store has similar ones in stock. And Staples is testing an app
that will allow sales clerks to let customers know how the store’s
prices match up against Amazon and other rivals.
Hoping to claw back market share from online rivals - and tired of
watching customers use their phones to find better deals than those
offered in stores - brick and mortar retailers are trying to give
shoppers different reasons to use their phones while doing holiday
shopping.
The new apps will allow customers to easily order out-of-stock items
for home delivery, to check store prices and even to summon a clerk.
But the retailers’ efforts will face two significant challenges in
the looming holiday season: getting customers to embrace the new
technology, which is still sometimes glitchy and dependent on
in-store systems, and getting them to trust that stores can match
the Web’s prices and convenience.
Retail purchases by mobile phone have increased by 34 percent in the
last year, according to IBM, which estimates that more than 40
percent of the online traffic and about 20 percent of sales this
Thanksgiving weekend will come from smart phones.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll of more than 3,000 respondents this month found
that about half of those surveyed said they would use their mobile
phones while shopping in stores this holiday season, for such things
as making price comparisons, taking photos or researching products.
Last year, only about 42% of respondents said they would use their
phones while shopping.
Companies that don’t make mobile work are playing a "very dangerous"
game, said Jay Henderson, head of IBM’s cloud-based marketing
platform. "Retailers that can’t deliver a more personalized
experience on mobile devices will start losing customers to
businesses that can," he said.
In addition to its pilot program guiding customers to products
within stores, and a photo program similar to JCPenney's, Macy's has
taken inspiration from dating app Tinder, recommending products to
customers online who swipe one way to like an item and the other to
reject it.
JCPenney's app can be used to scan barcodes to pull up product
information or order out of stock items, and it saves digital
coupons - two increasingly common offerings in retailer apps.
“We look at using phones in stores as an enhancement to shopping,”
said Kate Coultas, a representative with JCPenney which is heavily
focused on mobile this year.
SERVICE WITH A TAP
Stores are trying to make customer service easier, too.
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Best Buy's app now lets shoppers call, text or email a
representative while in stores.
Target Corp is testing an in-store "digital service ambassador" in
25 Los Angeles stores to help customers use Target apps.
Ulta Beauty is testing an app that will allow clerks to access
customer information and point them to products they might like.
Faisal Masud, executive vice president of global e-commerce at
Staples, said his company knows that it must satisfy the desires of
its customers to find low prices. The company, like many others,
will match online and in-store prices of competitors, including
Amazon, Best Buy and Office Depot.
Customers “have a phone that is basically a super computer, and they
will find it somewhere else” for less if they can, he said.
Companies offering web apps and in-store technologies will also have
to grapple with keeping the new apps and systems working and up to
date. That means ensuring that WiFi in stores works, and that
terminals function.
Recent visits to a Staples store in New York City found that a kiosk
set up to allow people to order online wasn’t functioning, and at a
JCPenney store in the city, the Wifi didn’t work. Both companies
said the problems encountered were unusual and that they have backup
systems in place.
"Poorly executed plans can be worse than no mobile strategy at all,"
said Perry Kramer, vice president at Boston Retail Partners. "The
dangers are losing those customers for the rest of the year or for a
long time."
(Reporting by Kylie Gumpert; Editing by Peter Henderson and Sue
Horton)
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