Report:Retail Bulletin In-store Engagement Conference 2012
The role of stores has been put under increasing pressure by the internet, but technology is potentially coming to the rescue as the advance in mobile capabilities is enhancing customer engagement in-store. By Glynn Davis
Speaking at this week’s Retail Bulletin In-store Engagement Conference in London Mark Fabes, IT director at McDonald’s, told delegates how “technology has played a large part in transforming the restaurants” and helped the company deliver many months of year-on-year growth.
Technology as in-store enhancer
“The restaurants use technology to enhance the customer experience and not to take labour out of them. The UK business is offering staff and customers an energised and improved experience,” he says, adding that McDonald’s is running numerous technology trials – under the ‘Spirit of Family’ banner – at a small number of UK stores.
This includes: kiosks for ordering, which account for 15% of orders in these outlets; an ‘order ready’ board that highlights when a meal is ready; iPads that help increase dwell time and provide an opportunity for up-selling; interactive tables for playing games; and digital play surfaces on the floor.
The company has also rolled out contactless payments to its restaurants and is trialling hand-held devices that can take orders away from the front counter. This could lead to table service being introduced, according to Fabes, who suggested: “Self ordering will be the main use of technology in the future as we disperse customers from the counters.”
Dismantling of the checkout
Helena Andreas, group head of retail at Vodafone Group, says it is also an objective of Vodafone to “move away from counters to a side-by-side sales process” with store employees assisting customers with problems and handling sales through the use of tablet devices.
It is a similar story at O2 with the company investigating how it can develop its interactions in-store to improve the experience. Simon Smith, head of multi-channel customer and employee experience at O2 UK, says: “Some customers who come into our stores will have a small problem or they’ll want to buy an accessory. We need to filter out the queues by using a concierge to allow an express-type service through the stores. It’s about re-inventing how we serve our customers.”
Ease of use is the key
For Andreas the crucial aspect of any technology used in-store is simplicity and relevance: “Simplicity is not about dumbing down but identifying the key features. It should be like the iPhone – easy to use but not dumbed down. It also needs to be relevant with the right functionality at the right time because the attention span in-store is not the same as when at home.”
Ease of use is something that is at the forefront of the thinking of Claire Zuurbier, workstream lead for new channels at Marks & Spencer, who says her core customers are 55-plus years-old are “excited” by in-store technologies but they have to be convinced about initially using it.
Lee Cooper, creative director at White Stuff, suggests that as such technology is introduced into stores the role of the sales assistants has to evolve. “They need to help customers through the technology. Our people are quite savvy so there is no need to educate our teams.”
With some older members in its stores, the strategy for M&S has been to educate these individuals as well as assign staff members to encourage the use of the various technologies until the customers are comfortable with them.
Certainly M&S is convinced of the role of IT in its stores as Zuurbier’s team in the ‘New Channels’ department now numbers 50 people and they are working on many projects that will involve a sizeable £100 million investment over the next three years.
Initiatives to date aim to boost the lines available beyond those its stores are able to physically stock and include: the introduction of a ‘Style Online’ area in a small number of stores that involves large digital signage, interactive screens and kiosks showcasing M&S’ sub-brands; the installation of a new beauty proposition with large iPad-shaped kiosks; and within certain homewares’ departments there are screens showing inspirational content alongside kiosks that allow online ordering.
Wi-fi enabling mobile interaction
M&S has also introduced free wi-fi into 11 stores and will be extending it further as mobile is where Zuurbier thinks the future lies. “It will be the most elegant experience for customers once we’ve cracked it,” she says.
Mark Cody, senior marketing manager for mobile at Tesco, agrees: “There is a massive growth in mobile. You can’t stop it. We’ve now put wi-fi into 250 Extra stores and are expanding it to the superstores. You’ve got to provide the tools for customers to have an optimised experience.”
Steve Moore, connected world team Lead at Carphone Warehouse, suggests there is no escaping the continued move to a multi-channel world and that mobile represents a “communications opportunity as the cheapest digital signage is through the mobile phone”.
Digital signage has its role
This is not the only way of course and Harrods is a major advocate of using digital screens in its store in Knightsbridge. Guy Cheston, media sales director at Harrods, says 160 screens were initially installed but the strategy today is to move to high impact locations with large single screens or video walls rather than many small screens.
This has been a sound strategy as the screens have generated advertising revenue from brand owners, along with promoting in-store events, and this has guaranteed the return on investment in the infrastructure.
However, mobile still plays a part in its activities as Cheston says the store windows have been used for augmented reality where customers hold up their mobile devices to interact with the window displays. “It’s an opportunity as it engages with the customers. We’ll [probably] see NFC downloads in the future,” he suggests.
Rise of social media
What will also play a larger part in-store is social media, according to Jeremy Waite, head of social strategy at TBG Digital, who suggests there is a worrying pattern emerging for larger retailers in that they are “getting beaten by the small guys” who have found that they have not necessarily had to outspend the big guns to win in the social space.
The problem is more cultural, he says: “The big companies are like oil tankers and they are behaving like it was 2007. Whereas the small feisty start-ups are getting involved [with social media] and they are cleaning up. New Look, H&M, and Topshop are just not engaging,” he says.
Waite points to the fact that people no longer trust big brands and the celebrities that they use to endorse their products. Instead, this has been taken over by the “guy in the street and friends” recommending things. “They share emotions and not facts,” he adds.
This emotional approach rather than a transaction-driven method of operation is one reason why the smaller operators have been more embracing of social media than their larger rivals, with Waite suggesting the big retailers will be more likely to seek to place a return on investment on their social media activities. Criticising their approach, he asks: “How can you place a value on a relationship?”
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