Retailers need to leverage mobile to increase in-store sales – expert

Digital channels, including online and mobile, have presented huge marketing opportunity instead of threat to brick and mortar shops to grow their online transactions and increase share of in-store sales.

Online shopping trend is increasing and will continue to increase, but this should not be a threat to brick and mortar shops as they need to leverage the platform by creating convergence to increase sales.

The acceleration in online sales – with mobile commerce playing an increasingly prominent part in that growth – indisputably presents on the surface grave challenges to bricks and mortar retailers. But the brick and mortar shops could riggle out of the challenge depending on how they respond to the seismic changes in the landscape.

Already, there is powerful evidence to suggest that using mobile to enhance the physical shopping experience can actually drive in-store and online sales simultaneously. Which is, after all, the point of the whole omni-channel, Dayo Elegbe, a mobile marketing expert, told BusinessDay recently.

Presently, traditional retail shop system is experiencing dynamism and it is expected that mobile platform will serve as a complement to boost sales.

Given both its ubiquity and its accelerating functionality, mobile has clear potential to be the ‘glue’ that binds people to brands more tightly and persistently than any other channel. He said this could be realised through digitalising the physical, saying “when we carry a mobile, we carry a key that allows us to unlock the internet 24 hours a day. Retailers can exploit this to make every physical asset an invitation and gateway to a broader, more immersive digital experience.”

The world is no longer separable into physical and virtual spaces, Elegbe said, saying “mobile allows shoppers to inhabit both simultaneously, which means the relationship between the two is undergoing profound change and geo-location creates rich opportunities for marketers to exploit this shift.”

On turning the showrooming from a threat into a commercial opportunity, Elegbe said operators need to focus on factors such as search, engage and reward, as mobile search was extremely purpose-driven. He quoted a recent study, which says 66 percent of smartphone searchers intend to make a purchase within a day. It also tends to be highly location-specific. 50 percent of searchers are looking for results within walking or driving distance, “you need to be on their radar,” he said.

Digitising physical environments allows shoppers to interact with brand proposition, Elegbe said, as “having worked hard to attract footfall, you need to invest in converting the opportunity.”

Retailers also need to reward shoppers. The retailer can use in-store Wi-Fi as a means of identifying and rewarding individuals. “You need to thank shoppers for their presence; which is one of the major strides our company, Sponge Limited will be launching in 2014,” he said.

He also said that geo-located content in-store can remove struggle from the shopper journey: by improved navigation; by empowering customers via access to product information and reviews; or by providing cost assurance. Smartphone-enabled shoppers have high service expectations, and you need to exceed them, he said.

According to him, smartphones are fundamentally ‘about’ empowerment. They give us access to the infinite resources of the internet. “Smartphones also makes it convenient and compelling for people to buy something from you online even if it’s out-of-stock in the store. Mobile also has a powerful role to play in driving recurrence, especially in terms of the softer side of the value proposition. If your value proposition is right, the smartphone-wielding shopper represents an excellent opportunity to drive impulse, increase conversion, build dialogue and incentivise frequency.”