Mobile Retailers Idea

It’s hard to believe that mobile phones have been with us for nearly 30 years, they no longer look like something you could build a wall with, now they’re sleek stylish and for most people a fashion accessory. Long gone are the days when your phone was used only to make calls, now they are an extension of you, they keep you connected with the whole world around you.

Cell phones have now become our new best friend and constant companion; they are there when we go to sleep and when we turn off the alarm in the morning. Because they are such an integral part of our lives retailers are doing everything in their powers to become a part of this. Some of the world’s largest chain stores see mobile retailing as a new sales stream. In short it won’t be to long before there are 4 recognised sales channels, Store, Catalogue, Web and Mobile. The lessons learned with the dot com bubble will ensure mobile retailing will be a home run. The other big advantage is that mobile retailing will also help to facilitate sales in the more traditional sales channels.

It may not sound too awe inspiring but Starbucks have a really simple app that will tell you where there nearest store is, it also allows you to place your order, so your steaming cup of mocha is ready as soon as you walk in the door. All you have to do is grab their coffee and pay with the Starbucks card on their phone. What makes such a success is it offers a quick convenient option for anybody that’s in a hurry and now a days that seems like most of us. Once their customers realise how quick and convenient this service is they’ll return day after day.

Target is another great example they will allow you to search your friends gift wish list through your phone, again it doesn’t sound like much but it ensures you get the perfect present and your friend gets what they want and Target will even tell you the nearest store that has it in stock. Everybody wins but most importantly target gets your money and ensures you will leave the store happy. You then decide it’s a great idea and put own wish list together for when your birthday rolls around, the domino effect comes into play and everybody is happy.

I will grant you that these are the largest retailers of their kind in the world, but the technology that they’re using now is freely available, what will set you apart is the way you use it.

Lets say you run a small delicatessen and every day your customers ask what’s on special offer, you tell them, they then ask what would go well with that, you tell them this to, they decide that sounds nice and leave your store with the thoughts of how nice tonight’s meal will be. What if you decided to spend $500 on an app that will do all this for you. So the next time a customer asks the same question your hear every day, this time you tell them we have an app for that!, you help them download the app and it then tells them what’s on special offer and what goes well with it, it also tells them if it may contain allergies, again your customer leaves happy, they can almost smell how good this evenings meal will be. Another week passes and you have another special offer but this time you load it onto your app along with everything you need to make that special meal, but this time you find a picture of the recipe and load this as well, click send and this week’s special offer shots off to all your customer that have loaded the app and when they see the image they just can’t help themselves, they have to try it. They following week you decide why not offer a wine that would go perfectly with this week’s meal. Word spreads more and more people download your app and try your recipes, business grows and who knows you might even get your own book deal.

This is only one small example of how every day businesses can use mobiles to interact with their customers, not only for their own benefit but to also offer a better and more convenient way for their customers to shop and buy from them.