Here are just some of the ways in which the introduction of tablets is making an impact in the retail world.

(i) POP Marketing

The bricks and mortar retail environment provides an opportunity to engage consumers at the point at which they are making purchasing decisions. We’re talking about POP (Point-of-Purchase) marketing.

Tablets secured in Bouncepad iPad Kiosks can be used by retailers to present special offers or promotions that will boost sales.

Tablets also provide an effective data capture tool for marketing initiatives such loyalty schemes, competitions or surveys. And with a host of apps (such as Stamp.It for loyalty) lowering the barrier to entry for this kind of activity, independents can have access to the same tools as multinationals.

Brand storytelling is growing in popularity in retail, with tablets being used to deliver customer story videos or product origin exploration tools.

Social media marketers can use digital touchpoints in the store environment to encourage people to check into or tweet about a destination store.

(ii) Enhance the Customer Experience

Enhancing the shopping experience is an indirect way of influencing purchasing. For example, providing gaming or web browsing devices in ‘time-out’ areas increases dwell time and entertains bored shopping companions who might otherwise encourage an early exit.

Digital content is also being used to address common shopper frustrations. Product selector tools, quick reference price, colour, size and stock availability checks and online ordering all help to ‘save the sale’.

Similarly, with the ability to buy an infinite array of products online, today’s demanding consumers expect a wide range of product and customisation options in traditional retail settings. However, too much choice and too little time can make for an overwhelming experience which ends with them leaving empty handed.

Help customers to choose by offering tools that speed up the selection process and enable them to find the product that suits their individual needs. Nude Skincare helps shoppers identify the right products with a tablet based skin healthcare check presented on the Bouncepad Flex, and German cosmetics retailer Douglas helps shoppers to find their perfect nail polish shade with the help of Bouncepad’s iPad kiosk.

(iii) Combat Showrooming

Showrooming, when consumers visit a store to experience a product hands-on then buy it cheaper online, has become common practice, with 20% of consumers admitting to engaging in this practice regularly (Source: L2 Intelligence Report 2013). And price isn’t the sole reason in-store shoppers reach for their handsets; a desire for product information, reviews or stock availability drives them to augment the physical shopping experience with their phones.

Forward thinking retailers are starting to combat the showrooming problem by giving consumers access to the information they were previously missing in-store. For example, install tablet kiosks in store to drive customers to your own product information, review platforms or price matching initiatives.

(iv) Ditch The Dumb Signage

Digital displays have grown in prominence over the past decade, but with growing constraints on retail floor space and increasingly sophisticated consumer expectations, they need to do more do earn their keep than one-way broadcasting.

Consumers expect to be able to explore digital content. Once their curiosity is piqued, they expect to be able to easily take the next step to keep learning. You only need to look at the way a child taps at a television screen to see how our expectations have evolved.

Tablet-based signage executions are allowing retailers to deliver these kind of interactive experiences and promote in-store purchase by addressing common purchaser questions, cross selling products, and inspiring emotional buy-in with editorial style content.

(v) Take Payments

The tablet kiosk is taking over from the traditional cash register. It frees up space, is cost-effective and allows your staff to multi-task, altogether making for a streamlined, intuitive system. To see Bouncepad clients successfully using tablets as tills, read our article Bouncepads as Cash Registers.

iPads and Android tablets make great retail tools. And in a small town, high-tech touches can make a big impression on customers. Photo by Becky McCray.

I run a retail store in a small town, and I love technology. That’s why I came up with these ten ways you can put an Android tablet or iPad to work in your rural retail business.

1. Take payments at the Point of Sale
Throw away your old cash register. A tablet makes a smart Point of Sale system, in place of your old register. Depending on the app and system you choose, you can track sales, take payments, weigh products, print receipts, and maybe even track inventory. I use ShopKeep and recommend it for stores large enough to justify $49 per month. (Still way cheaper than old-school POS systems.)

2. Let me Google that for you
No matter how much you know, customers manage to ask questions you can’t answer off the top of your head. Put a tablet on the counter and Google up some answers for them. We do this all the time, looking up drink recipes for customers.

3. Let me come over there and Google that for you
Don’t stick behind the counter. Bring your tablet out to meet the customer. It’s a tablet, so go mobile! Show customers what you find. Show them pictures. Pull up a video that shows how to do something. It’s memorable for customers and helps you do a better job of selling.

4. Show off some pics
Your business has pictures to show off: product photos, happy customers, product in use in the field. (OK, that last one not so much for liquor, but maybe for a tire store!) Both iPads and Android tablets have a built in photo slideshow feature and extra apps with special features. Set the tablet in a frame on the counter, and let it show off when it isn’t working.

5. Update your social status
Grab the tablet, shoot a photo of something new, and post it straight to Facebook or Twitter. Or send it as an email to customers. And since the tablet lives at your retail store and you’re in a small town, you can leave it logged into your social accounts, and let your staff do updates any time of the day without worry.

6. Count your inventory
If you’re using a tablet-based Point of Sale system that manages inventory, there’s probably a built-in function to do use your tablet to count inventory. No matter how you manage your inventory, a tablet is much easier to carry around when you’re counting than, say, a heavy laptop. And of course it’s better than having to write it all down with pencil and paper, then enter it into a computer system later.

7. Clock in
Toss the paper timesheets and go with a timeclock app. And check with your Point of Sale, as ShopKeep includes a time clock, and I’m sure others do as well.

8. Ask your customers what they think
Set up a customer survey using a website like SurveyMonkey or using a survey app. Put it on the tablet, and get it front of customers. Maybe strategically by the front door. I especially like the idea of “smiley face surveys” that ask simple “are you satisfied?” questions and give graphical icons to tap as an answer.

9. Sign up for our newsletter
You do have an email newsletter, right? If not, get one. I’d start with MailChimp, which is what I use myself and that is my rewards link. They have a free plan up to 2,000 subscribers so that should get you started. Then use their sign up app on either iPad or Android to let people use your tablet sign up right in your store.

10. You Googled it, now blog it
Every time you Google an answer for a customer, blog the answer to share with everyone. Using the Android or iPad Blogger or WordPress apps, you can type up a simple question and answer story, maybe throw in a photo, and hit publish.

Won’t someone steal it? 

Since you’re in a small town, you probably don’t worry too much about people swiping your store’s tablet. But if you do, you can use a heavy metal stand like the red one we use in the photo. That should be enough to discourage the casual would-be tablet takers. Many metal stands are compatible with locking cables for even more security. We haven’t found that necessary.

(i) In-store payment processing:

As mentioned earlier, retailers are gradually replacing POS hardware with mobile devices. While some business owners like POS tablets for their sleek, high-tech look, many retailers also benefit from the easy-to-upgrade software and the data-collecting abilities of mobile apps.

(ii) Customer self-service:

With in-store tablets, customers can help themselves. If your company has a loyalty program, the customer can type in his or her rewards number. They can search for products and place an order quickly and efficiently. In the restaurant industry, for example, tablets are being used to allow customers to select menu items without waiting for a server.

“Tablets aren’t replacing staff,” Johnson said. “Companies are just looking to serve customers better by allowing them to [complete actions] they can do on their own. It’s quicker and easier, and people are comfortable with that.”

(iii) Product displays:

As a small retailer, you likely don’t have a lot of space for large volumes of inventory in the store. If you don’t have what a customer is looking for while he or she is shopping, you can use tablets to display your full range of products online, and even complete the transaction there in the store so the customer doesn’t have to look for it elsewhere.

“Tablets open up an opportunity for small retailers to expand their product offerings without having the physical merchandise on hand,” DeMeo added. “With same- or next-day delivery, you can allow shoppers access to more items.”

(iv) Signage and in-store advertising:

Instead of putting up printed signs and flyers that can only be used for a limited time, some retailers are choosing to broadcast their announcements via in-store tablet. Johnson noted that the biggest advantage of digital ads like these is the ability to quickly and easily change, rearrange and schedule display content, so that a retailer’s only real cost is the price of the tablet itself.

(v) “Picture this” selling:

One reason that consumers continue to visit brick-and-mortar stores is to physically see and feel an item before they purchase it. Tablets can help retailers enhance this experience and bring in extra digital content that will help customers see the product in action.

“You want people to experience as much of the brand as possible,” Johnson said. “Photo and video content [on tablets] in-store lets customers see and experience more about that product.”

Implementing tablet use as a small brick-and-mortar retailer may seem like a costly investment, but Johnson and DeMeo agreed that making the switch is more affordable than most business owners think, and in the long run, it can even benefit the bottom line.

“Tablet technology is not expensive,” DeMeo said. “The cost of the tablet itself and access to information [on your company’s website via tablet] is relatively low. Almost any retailer can take advantage of it and save long-term on POS hardware.”

DeMeo believes that the future of brick-and-mortar stores is going to be all about focusing on the in-store shopper experience, especially as e-commerce continues to thrive.

“Retailers used to have all the power,” DeMeo told Business News Daily. “Now it’s shifting to consumers. [Brands will] continue to bring the offline world online and blur that line to engage with shoppers more effectively.”

Credit: Andrey_Popov/Shutterstock

With the steady increase in mobile tech developments in recent years, many small businesses have made mobile commerce, or m-commerce, a priority. Whether it’s using a tablet in a brick-and-mortar store or enabling sales through a mobile website, businesses across a wide range of industries are seeking solutions to help them adapt to a mobile-obsessed world.

“With the ever-growing adoption of PayPal, Square and other big players, we are beginning to see mobile commerce alternatives find their way into the hands of small businesses,” said Drew Lewis, who runs product marketing and management at mobile point-of-sale solution Leaf.

Marketing experts and business leaders shared their thoughts on the trends currently shaping the m-commerce landscape. [What Consumers Really Want from Mobile Commerce]

Optimized omnichannel experiences

Whether they’re opening promotional emails on their smartphones, contacting companies via social media apps or visiting mobile websites, customers expect seamless and easy interactions with brands via mobile devices. A company’s ability to optimize the customer experience across all channels will drive its m-commerce success, said James Van Arsdale III, director of user experience for commerce solutions provider WebLinc.

“Having a mobile website to allow customers to shop from their phones isn’t solving the root of the problem — it’s a Band-Aid,” Van Arsdale told Business News Daily. “Customers want the same content, delivered to them on whatever device they want, so they don’t have to waste time searching.It’s all about tailoring the interface and content to easily allow customers to find what they’re looking for.”

Among younger demographics, SMS text message alerts convert more sales than emails do, Van Arsdale said. He advised businesses to consider segment-testing their target consumers with different marketing approaches to see when and how those consumers convert.

In-store mobile devices

Many major retail companies, such as Apple and Nordstrom, have introduced dedicated mobile point-of-sale (POS) devices in their stores to make transactions simpler and more convenient for employees and customers. Lewis noted that many of Leaf’s small business clients have adopted tablets and smartphones in-store to take orders and ring up purchases.

“Mobile POS is a valuable tool for small businesses, because it increases operational efficiencies and ushers them into the world of the cloud, moving them away from unreliable, paper-only tracking systems,” Lewis said. “Mobile POS also provides small businesses with benefits that help improve their bottom line, such as accurate business reporting, improved projections and the ability to accept nearly any type of customer payment — not to mention that they can manage their employees and access sales data using any mobile device.”

One component of mobile POS that hasn’t seen much growth is mobile wallets, Lewis said. Despite the amount of press coverage this topic receives, mobile wallets don’t seem to be catching on as quickly as projected, he said. This could be a “chicken and egg” problem, Lewis added: Mobile wallets need to have a concrete value proposition before small merchants will adopt them, and widespread availability needs to exist before consumers will start using the tools.

Responsive email and website design

A recent survey by email marketing solutions provider Campaigner found that half of consumers have never made a mobile purchase, and less than 30 percent of those who have made such a purchase did so directly from a promotional email. Seamas Egan, Campaigner’s manager of revenue operations, said these statistics will shift significantly as mobile design becomes more intuitive and responsive.

“Consumers have been burnt by enterprise’s slow adoption to Web 2.0,” Egan said. “Many consumers expect to receive non-responsive emails and know that if they want to buy the product [via mobile], they will have to deal with hard-to-read text, difficulty entering their credit card information, etc. So, ultimately, they end up purchasing through their PC for a guaranteed easy process.”

Egan cited a Persian restaurant near his home as an example of a business that has taken full advantage of responsive mobile design: A search for “kabob” on a smartphone near the restaurant’s location pulls up the business’ mobile website, which has a “call” button right on the page. Giving a seamless call-to-action prompt like this on your mobile site and promotional emails will encourage consumers to follow through with a purchase or phone call.

“E-retailers will have to work on changing the perspectives of that 50 percent of consumers who have ingrained expectations that facilitating a purchase on a mobile device is hard,” Egan said. “Once expectations have been reset for consumers, mobile commerce will flourish.”

Easier mobile app conversions

Many of today’s small businesses are eager to build their own branded mobile apps. While these apps aim to drive customer engagement and sales, the costs often outweigh the benefits in terms of conversion rates.

“As the mobile space matures, it’s gotten very competitive,” said David Zhao, CEO and co-founder of Voxel, a company that creates trial versions of apps for mobile marketers. “The cost [to get customers] to install the apps and acquire them has grown tremendously, and there’s no guarantee that these people will actually interact with the app. Companies are less concerned about the performance of the app [because of] the pressure to produce revenue.”

In-app conversions were so low because, prior to a year ago, apps didn’t support links and couldn’t bring users directly to a company’s webpage, Zhao said. This is changing as app design becomes more conducive to mobile sales.

“Apps are starting to ensure that content is deep-linked,” Zhao said. “From [the in-app] URL, you can get to where you need to go [to complete a purchase].”

If you’re considering creating a mobile app, be sure to look for one that makes in-app conversions easy — since all of a consumer’s mobile experiences with your brand should be easy.

Greater focus on the core product

Growing small businesses are clamoring to jump on the m-commerce bandwagon in an attempt to keep up with consumers’ growing reliance on mobile tech. But the desire to increase your mobile offerings shouldn’t trump what matters most — your core business.

“Almost all of our clients are small businesses, and we see the most success in the small businesses that are focused on their core business,” said John Jannotti, co-founder of food-delivery app Foodler. “They recognize and participate in some of the [mobile] trends that are changing their businesses, like online ordering, social media marketing and review sites, but their energy is spent, first and foremost, on making great food and providing great service. Then they work with partners they can trust to handle the rest.”

Jannotti noted that it’s important to realize that mobile commerce is both enormous and irrelevant at the same time. Your business still sells the same thing it always has, but almost all of your customers are going to find you online or via mobile first. So while mobile does matter, it should only serve to enhance, not distract from, your core product.

“In the restaurant business, we think that more than 90 percent of takeout and delivery orders will be submitted online within five years,” Jannotti said. “Of those, 30 to 40 percent are already being submitted from a mobile device, and that number is growing monthly. While that sounds like a sea change, it doesn’t change what a great pizza shop does, any more than the telephone did. It’s true that it would have been foolish to ignore the telephone, but the business stayed the same.”

– See more at: http://www.businessnewsdaily.com/6720-mobile-commerce-trends.html#sthash.K5DVmOiX.dpuf