The future of shopping: the mobile market

The Mobile Generation

There is a global trend towards mobile technology that is both enhancing people’s daily lives and enhancing the businesses that serve them. We can see better than ever the nature of the relationship between people and services.

FabriQate’s role is to provide innovative mobile solutions for companies looking to tap in to the growing trend of reaching customers in this way. In retail this is a hugely popular trend and one FabriQate, as comes naturally to us, has provided a solution for. In this blog, you’ll find a bit about the mobile boom in retail and about how FabriQate is helping retailers capitalise on it.

What’s happening in retail

Shoppers want more from their retail experience and retailers know they have to give them more to keep them buying goods from them; it’s as simple as that. And more and more customers are turning to mobile. 80% of shoppers take their smartphone shopping and claimed to use their smartphones in various ways in a recent survey: either to locate the retailer (54%), to compare prices (49%), to get promotions or coupons (48%) or to read reviews or product information (44%).

A growing trend is ‘showrooming’; where shoppers compare prices in store to prices on the retailers website or on rival’s websites. Mobile apps like Amazon Price Checker and Bestbuy have been providing customers with quicker routes to the best deals for them. For a time the idea of hordes of smartphone-brandishing consumers coming into bricks and mortar shops then leaving to buy elsewhere, struck fear into the eyes and pockets of retailers, now retailers are wising up to an opportunity. What smartphones offer is transparency and marketplace knowledge for customers, and customers who know more will spend more. It is important for bricks and mortar retailers not to fear the smartphone generation, but to pander to their personalities by offering ease of use and intelligent deals.

Now shops are placing QR codes in items in store and allowing customers to scan them and have them shipped and wrapped, wherever they want, for free!

“We’re seeing the convergence of e-commerce and the in-store shopping experience, and as long as the opportunity to save online and in-store is equal, consumers are very happy to make that purchase [in the store],” says Coupons.com CEO Steven Boal. “And if they can have a fluid experience, they’re more likely to buy.”

Where FabriQate comes in

FabriQate has designed and created Qatalyst; a sales tool app built for all areas of retail, the platform of which allows companies to tailor the technology to their business needs. It works as the link between the retailer and consumer and facilitates a far greater understanding of each from the other’s point of view.

It provides the consumer with a intuitively designed portfolio of information, aiding their shopping experience; access to promotions and deals; location and contact services. It provides personally catered recommendations based on learned data.

There is now total transparency between the retailer and the consumer. And, now, having a mobile strategy and a mobile platform to engage with clients has gone from a novelty to a necessity if retailers want to keep up. No sector sums up the nature of the mobile service so well; it is a two-way street. What the consumer stands to gain, is knowledge of what they’re getting and then informed decisions about where to go. They also get the benefits of loyalty and an easy, convenient experience. What the retailer stands to gain, is not too dissimilar; a knowledge of their customer based on the analytics the customer provides them. The retail cycle starts with consumer knowledge and research, which fuels the purchase and the experience, which, in turn, drives loyalty, sharing and a brand identity. It is mobile that is connecting the cycle.

Source: Fabriqate (http://goo.gl/oSYfN)