Mobile Couponing to Drive Retail Footfall

According to an article in the Telegraph, mobile shopping is expected to continue to rise by a further 115% across this year and almost a third of UK shoppers are already expected to be using smartphones as part of their shopping process.

However, as mobile shopping shows great growth, many traditional retail stores are struggling to gain footfall traffic and achieve previous sales growth.

Traditional brick and mortar stores must examine strategies to encourage shoppers into their retail stores and generate sales. One way to help bridge the gap between digital and traditional brick and mortar stores is through mobile couponing. According to Streetfightmag.com "When it comes to getting more customers through the front doors of a business, it’s hard to beat the effectiveness of a simple coupon."

Coupons and offers have been shown to enhance engagement with customers and help retailers keep existing customers. I think we’ve all been in a position where we may get a coupon or discount offer from somewhere we’ve bought from before and decide to try them again as we see value in the coupon.

More shoppers are recognising the value in coupons with Juniper expecting the number of coupons redeemed through mobile and tablets to reach a whopping 10 billion this year - rising by more than 50% compared to the previous year. Mobile coupons have redemption rates of 10% which is excellent compared to the mere 1% redemption rate of print and PC coupons. However, at the moment the number of mobile coupons given to customers is still rather low but we should expect to see this number rise in the near future.

It is important that retailers examine how their own customers like to redeem coupons according to CMS Wire. RadiumOne examined four types of coupon redemptions and found 51.5% of customers prefer to show coupons to a cashier, 23.8% prefer scanning-based systems, and 42.3% prefer SMS-based coupons. It is therefore essential that retailers study their own customers and devise a coupon which suits their customers’ needs.

Streetfightmag.com urge retailers to also consider what happens after coupons are redeemed as return rates are always rather low. Many businesses are beginning to use ‘post-couponing’ to generate additional sales. This can include giving reward points or small token gifts such as a free sample allowing businesses to add additional value without having to endlessly mark down products and diminish the quality of their brand.

SMS messaging can also prove to be a simple yet highly effective tool for retaining customer engagement. Retailers can alert customers to special promotions, account information, or send updates on stock availability. These types of SMS alerts help encourage repeat business and strengthen customer relationships.

At HSL, we specialise in offering businesses high quality solutions to suit business requirements. From simple text message promotions to bespoke solutions, visit our Solution Planner and find out more about some of the different ways we can help you.

For further information regarding HSL, visit us at:

http://www.hslmobile.com

follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter @hslmobile or Google+

or call us on +44 (0)1506 605260

or email us at sales@hslmobile.com

How can retailers combat showrooming?

Showrooming is gaining popularity amongst consumers and causing grave concern amongst traditional retailers as it hits revenues. Wiki defines it as “examining merchandise in a traditional brick and mortar retail store without purchasing it, but then shopping online to find a lower price for the same item.” 

This trend originally began in the US, but is beginning to create waves in the UK. Intersperience found ‘showrooming’ is increasingly popular amongst UK customers with 1 in 3 using mobiles to compare prices, read product reviews or check products were available to buy (particularly relevant over the festive period). Roughly 20% phoned other retailers and compared prices while they were in a retail store with 30% purchasing the product right there and then!

So the big question. How can retailers combat showrooming?

The most obvious solution would be for retail stores to match prices with online retailers. According to research from Forbes, if retailers matched prices this could create the necessary motivation for customers to buy from the retail store over an online competitor.

However, retailers must also look beyond simply matching prices as they have to create a profit in order to sustain business activities and most would not be able to afford to continuously price match due to having larger overheads than online retailers.

Luckily, Forbes found that retailers can also compete with showrooming by using personalised offers, loyalty points, improving customer service and sending items directly to customer’s homes. Paul Hudson, Chief Executive of Intersperience concurs with these findings: “The onus is on retailers to make instore shopping more attractive, via loyalty bonuses, limited edition goods, price matching or better service.”

Retailers must consider what is important to their customers and the advantages that shopping and buying in store can bring – would they be motivated to buy from the retail store because you offer better after sales service or would they respond more positively if you offer additional loyalty points? These considerations are key to retailers winning business.

Combining mobile with customer relationship management (CRM) systems is an effective way for retailers to enhance service and customer relationships. For example, retailers can alert customers by SMS when out of stock products become available to buy and collect in store. With almost everyone having their mobile phones on them, they are then instantly alerted and can collect goods sooner rather than later. This can be a very crucial service for customers who require products urgently.

Mobile marketing is also an effective tool for enhancing customer relationships and generating further revenue. Retail stores can advise their ‘most valuable customers’ about sales promotions instantly by SMS before letting all customers know giving the ‘most valuable customers’ a better chance to purchase products they like as there will be higher availability.

Mobile couponing is also proving to be very popular amongst consumers, particularly when combined with geo-location. This allows retailers to target customers with special coupons directly to their mobile phone whenever they are nearby, helping drive foot traffic to their retail stores.

Retailers must be more proactive in their customer relationship management and focus on what their customers want and make the buying process as painless and enjoyable as possible. Focusing on targeting promotions so they are relevant, enhancing customer services and improving customer communications will be crucial considerations for all retail strategy and help overcome issues of showrooming.

A great example of a retailer adapting to how customers purchase products today can be found in Argos. They changed their retail model to fit in with their customers, focusing on making the buying process as convenient as possible. As a result, customers can now buy online and be alerted when they can collect items in store making the shopping experience more efficient and ensuring their business model remains relevant in the retail environment today.

Find out how HSL can help you stand out from the crowd by developing bespoke and innovative retail mobile solutions for you.

For further information regarding HSL, visit us at:

http://www.hslmobile.com

follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter @hslmobile or Google+

or call us on +44 (0)1506 605260

or email us at sales@hslmobile.com

How Can Retailers Enhance the Mobile Shopping Experience?

As mobile commerce heads only in one direction – up – more demand is being placed on retailers to examine the customer experience as a way to ‘stand out from the crowd’.  With more and more businesses entering the world of online, shoppers have more choice available and if retailers are failing to develop an enjoyable customer experience in which shoppers can buy easily online from any device, they run the risk of losing valuable revenue and repeat business.

IMRG Capgemini Quarterly Benchmarking survey discovered that British shoppers spent a massive £7.5 billion in 2012 using a mobile device, accounting for 12% of all online sales that year. However, although this growth is strong with mobile sales growing steadily at about 300% all the way through 2012, sales began to slow down by the end of the year

Chris Webster, Vice President, Consumer Products and Retail at Capgemini attempts to explain: “The slowdown of sales made on a smartphone suggests there is an issue with the customer experience retailers are offering. If retailers are to reinvigorate the level of adoption, they must recognise the difference in the mobile channels and build specific customer experiences for the smartphone.”

So how can retailers achieve a first-class mobile shopping experience?

First of all, retailers must recognise all the different channels a shopper can buy products or services from. For example, a PC, mobile phone, smartphone or tablet device can be used to visit either a retailer’s website, mobile website or mobile app. Which channels are most popular for your group of customers and which channels offer you a new attractive segment of customers?

Secondly, retailers must tailor mobile experiences so they are relevant, valuable and meets the objective of the shopper. This is why retailers must know who their customers are and how they buy. A shopper accessing a website from a mobile device may have a completely different objective to shoppers accessing a website from a PC, and retailers must tailor content to ensure it is relevant and adds value.

Thirdly, retailers must look at the different ways they can reach out to customers. Retailers sending promotions, updates, stock alerts and other customer communications find SMS text messaging an invaluable tool for communicating with shoppers as notifications are received instantly. It is imperative that retailers only send SMS to shoppers who have opted-in to receive SMS communications, otherwise they may damage their brand reputation, lose customers and ultimately ruin the customer shopping experience.

Fourthly, retailers must create a consistent mobile shopping experience. By this, shoppers should be able to complete the buying process using one or multiple channels. This could mean that shoppers receive a sales promotion by SMS to their mobile phone alerting them of discounts on selected stock bought before midnight, they then view products using a mobile website but wait to complete the sale until they can access the website from a PC and view products on a larger screen. It is therefore vital that they can ‘save’ items they like and return to later using either the same or an alternative device. 

Retailers should also consider the various payment and delivery options available. It is important to remember that some shoppers are still cautious when it comes to paying online. Retailers can therefore offer to have items selected online delivered to a nearby store where customers can pay in person.

Find out how a company is already utilising mobile communications to improve the customer shopping experience Retail and Marketing say Ahoy to Mobile Communications Services

For further information regarding HSL, visit us at:

http://www.hslmobile.com 

follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter @hslmobile or Google+

or call us on +44 (0)1506 605260

or email us at sales@hslmobile.com

Does Mobile Banking Mean the Chop for Branches?

Deloitte estimates that a further 20 million customers will take up banking services and consequently banks will focus on developing mobile banking to compete for new customers. Banks are expected to move away from cost cutting strategies and invest more in IT to capture new customers. 

As banks continue to focus on mobile banking innovations, what does this mean for branches?

There is much debate as to whether mobile banking signals the end for branches. Bain and Company don't think so and I agree. Research by BT Global Services demonstrates that branches remain the most trusted and preferred channel for many as people need a certain amount of human interaction and want to put a face to 'who' has their money. However, as mobile banking continues to develop, adoption rates increase and customers' security concerns diminish, trust levels for mobile banking is likely to rise and this will impact on the banking channels used by customers. Think about it. 'Who' do you want to speak to when you are annoyed or have a question - definitely not a computer!

However, as further mobile banking innovations are introduced, we should expect to see increasingly less reliance on branches. At the moment, many banks are offering basic mobile banking features such as the ability to check account balances and transfer money which helps reduce the number of people visiting branches as they are able to complete basic transactions themselves. However, demand for more advanced technology is growing as customers seek more control over the management of their finances such as imaging for cheque deposits using their smartphone. This means that customers won’t have to visit a branch and wait in line to deposit a cheque – they can do it instantly with the touch of a button! But the fact remains, branches are unlikely to disappear as customers will, at some point, seek face to face interaction.

The role of branches and the functions they carry out on the other hand is very likely to change. Bain and company state banks must change from dealing with costly routine inquiries to high value inquiries. This makes sense as customers are increasingly able to carry out routine activities themselves and this will allow banks to reduce costs. In order for branches to remain relevant, useful and achieve optimal productivity as channels such as mobile banking continue to seek dominance, banks must review the role branches perform.

Celent research looked at different ways banks are changing their branches in light of recent technology changes such as mobile banking. Banks are increasingly empowering customers to use technology to assist with services rather than requiring them to go to a branch. One bank mentioned that customers are able to open a credit card from their mobile or book an appointment with a member of staff at a branch using their mobile. One of the key themes was to view each channel as a host of ways to reach customers and ensure consistency across all. This allows customers to contact a bank using a contact channel that suits them, and allows branches to become more focused on helping deal with more complicated inquiries, offer information and focus more on a sales approach.

Banks are increasingly reviewing their infrastructure and rethinking the purpose and role of branches. SunTrust Bank in the US is closing a number of branches after customers began using other channels such as mobile and online banking, helping them cut costs significantly. CEO and Chairman William Henry Rogers also agrees that branches still have an important role to play and will not disappear, stating,  “They’re still where most new products are sold and where clients typically go to resolve a problem. So while the role of the branch may be changing, they remain a key sales and service distribution channel.”

To find out more about how mobile banking can help your financial firm reap benefits such as reduced costs, higher customer loyalty and new customers (to name a few) please visit our Solution Planner

For further information regarding HSL, visit us at:

http://www.hslmobile.com 

follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter @hslmobile or Google+

or call us on +44 (0)1506 605260

or email us at sales@haysystems.com