In retail today, the competition is fierce. Considerable changes in customer expectations over the years have put increasing pressure on the customer service function. In order to differentiate themselves, retailers are working hard to find ways to improve customer interactions in innovative and techno-savvy formats. They are also looking to create high-performance operational environments as resources become more scarce. Some of the areas of improvement include:
- Instant access to product information
- Customer checkout at the point of decision
- Satisfying customer requests with real-time answers
- Visibility of on-hand inventory
Because the ways in which customers communicate, learn and make decisions has changed over the years, the competition to continue to keep consumers engaged has increased. All of this has come at a time when our economy has taken a hit, corporate budgets have been trimmed and consumers have less time and less money overall.
What are retailers doing to improve the customer experience? First, retailers are getting in front of their customers. Many offer weekly texting of promotions, announce sales and specials on their Facebook page, and Tweet their latest news on a regular basis. Signage in stores has also gotten a little more exciting as digital signage has taken the place of traditional signage.
As a manufacturer who has supported the retail environment for decades, Honeywell Scanning & Mobility continues to find new ways to engage retailers and their customers in order to streamline processes, increase rate of return and keep customer loyalty at the top of the list. Honeywell’s Captuvo ™ SL22 Enterprise Sled for Apple ® iPod ™ Touch allows sales associates to walk around the sales floor and help shoppers find specific products. If an item is out of stock sales associates can check inventory status right there on the floor – the integrated barcode scanner allows associates to scan product barcodes quickly and easily. They may even be able to order from another store or from the warehouse and have the product shipped directly to the customer. Additionally, an encryption-ready three-track magnetic stripe reader can be integrated, facilitating quick and easy processing of credit card transactions. This technology increases the number of checkout lines for retailers, a huge convenience for shoppers, by bringing the checkout process to the point of decision. Now, THAT’s what I call customer service!
Want to see more? Download the Captuvo Datasheet, or contact L-Tron for more information and start differentiating yourself today!