Retail store operations and front-line sales teams have a challenge - retail has changed. Rising and constantly evolving customer expectations are driving retailers to find new ways to reinvent themselves to provide the value consumers want. Not only are store operations being asked to introduce new systems, processes and tools, but they’re also tasked with adapting store functionality to fit the way associates work, learn, and engage with customers to deliver an enhanced and personalized customer experience.
With foot traffic under pressure from online, and profitability under pressure from increasing staff and property costs, retailers have to make every store visit turn into revenue – either at the point of sale in the store or back at home on the customer’s mobile device. It’s time for retailers to re-evaluate how they’re driving revenue so that they’re also increasing associate productivity and reducing operating costs.
Go Mobile
For many stores, the mobility revolution has been no more than a mobile web browser that links back to the corporate website. It’s now time to learn from the technology CX leaders (think Apple, Nike, etc.), and create a single pane of glass for associates and managers to realize the promise of mobile sales enablement solutions.
With today’s solutions, every associate, manager, and remote corporate operations team can get all the learning, corporate communications, sales and marketing content, and even team collaboration through a single scalable native app - that runs on the store mobile device. These new retail apps transform how each associate gets the information they need to do their job, and also provide a level of insight about their engagement that just was not available before.
Leverage In-store AI
While there is a lot of hype over AI, we are starting to see a tangible set of tasks that AI can really impact for the associate. And it all starts with recommendations. Just like social media sites recommend content, AI technologies can, in a controlled environment, recommend tasks that a retail associate should do - either guiding them down a required learning path to improve customer engagement, or ensuring that they get trained ahead of a new product launch.
Sales enablement platforms powered by smart, machine learning based systems are transforming the level of engagement of retail associates and helping store ops to drive productivity and skills in ways that were just not feasible before.
Drive Revenue and Performance
Faced with the reality of an increasingly competitive and challenging retail environment, what can store ops teams do to help drive and protect top line revenue while improving the performance of associates?
With the power of smart mobility and AI driven recommendations, new approaches to information distribution are presenting store ops with new opportunities to move the needle in three key areas.
We can now…
- Improve learning and training by moving it from the back office to customer facing, which in turn helps with freeing up square footage, makes the associate feel supported, and improves flexibility of staffing
- Improve win rates by delivering better, more compelling information available at the exact point of need to create new revenue opportunities.
- Be more productive with on the floor completion of tasks, stock takes and forms, and by automatically comparing systems as associates and managers go about their day.
The Impact on the Customer
But most importantly, it’s customer relationships that count - and with mobile and AI working together you can change how that relationship is formed and developed.
With AI technology, you can know when a customer comes into the store, understand their actions on the web or previous visits, and make recommendations for the associate to drive sales in areas that really interest the customer. Retailers who embrace the power of mobile and AI-powered sales enablement tools will learn they can sell smarter and engage smarter to deliver improved top line and lower costs – all while delighting customers.
Bigtincan will be at NRF!
Want to chat more about how mobile sales enablement can power your retail transformation? Stop by our booth #1077 to speak with one of our experts. As a retailer, you’re also invited to join us at the GUESS Showroom in Midtown following NRF on Monday, January 15th at 6 p.m. Learn how Retail Sales Enablement technology is empowering GUESS stores to digitally disrupt the retail industry by creating a seamless, omnichannel approach to the in-store customer experience. We will also be raffling off 2 $500 GUESS gift cards at the event! Please ask for details at the Bigtincan booth!
