Photo: RetailWire
Should smartphones, tablets or walkie-talkies be the selling floor tech tool?
With a few reports showing more people bought goods via smartphones than tablets for the first time last year, tablets appear to be losing ground as a purchasing tool. But one place tablets appears to have found a purpose is with associates on the selling floor.
According to a survey of 195 retailers from “State of Online Retailing 2016: Key Metrics, Business Objectives and Mobile” from Forrester and the National Retail Federation (NRF), a quarter of stores have associates who use tablets provided by the company. Another four percent allow employee-owned tablets to be used on the selling floor.
Tablets continue to benefit from their ample screen. According to the survey, the biggest use for mobile devices by associates were to:
- Show additional products not in stores, 44 percent;
- Send e-receipts, 40 percent;
- Ring up purchases, 40 percent;
- Show product features and functions, 35 percent;
- Order an out-of-stock item, 33 percent;
- Check inventory in warehouses, 23 percent; and
- Check inventory in stores, 21 percent.
Despite a smaller screen, six percent of associates use smartphones supplied by the retailer and four percent use associate-owned smartphones on the selling floor.
Still, 64 percent of retailers don’t use any kind of mobile device to assist customers in stores.
The survey did not explore non-mobile tech gadgets used by associates, with the most common being walkie-talkies. The big benefit to walkie-talkies is enabling communication — hands-free, if necessary — among associates. Like mobile, walkie-talkies can also be used to check for inventory. Without a screen, of course, associates are unable to view additional products, get information on product features or check a customer out.
A newer and smaller wearable communication tool from Theatro, profiled in Stores Magazine, features one-on-one communication, stock checks by voice command, and GPS-capabilities to find associates in the store.
- Over-And-Out For The Walkie-Talkie? – Stores Magazine
- The State Of Retailing Online 2016: Key Metrics, Business Objectives And Mobile – National Retail Federation
- Shop.org, Forrester Research Find Smartphones Top Tablets as Driver of Sales, Traffic for First Time – National Retail Federation
- Startups Battle to Make Star Trek’s Comms Badge a Reality – Wired
Discussion Questions
Do you see smartphones, tablets or walkie-talkies as the most beneficial tech tool at this point for store associates? Do you see a hybrid tool emerging or the need for multiple devices?
Poll
BrainTrust
Zel Bianco
President, founder and CEO Interactive Edge
Marge Laney
CEO, Alert Tech
I can see smartphones serving several purposes: First, for the same kind of communication within the store that a walkie-talkie can achieve; second, as a search tool (for example, to locate and help a customer purchase goods from a website or another location); and finally, as a mobile checkout device. The right kind of smartphone should eliminate the need for the other two options.
Is there anything more painful that watching another person use an electronic device? Even when they are adept and well trained it still seems to take forever. A tablet is great to have on the sales floor but it is best if it is available for customers to use themselves with a store associate nearby to offer assistance to the non-tech savvy. Walkie-talkies or some mode for store associates to quickly communicate with each other will always be essential to a well-run store.
Smartphones, tablets, and walkie-talkies are great tools for sales associates on the selling floor with two caveats; first, make sure their use doesn’t slow down the selling process and second, keep head-down associate activity on the selling floor to a minimum.
Nothing turns a customer off more than seeing an associate on the sales floor on their cell phones or other device. They may well be helping a customer in a fitting room or another part of the store, but to the customer nearby looking for help, they are unapproachable.
In our race to automate the in-store selling process in the name of speed, we need to make sure that we don’t end up slowing down the process instead. If I’m in a fitting room and I need a different size or another selection it’s probably faster to summon an associate to my fitting room with a call button. In most cases the associate is probably 20 feet away and it will take less time for them to come talk to me than to stand head-down in the middle of the sales floor receiving my message via a tablet.
The in-store experience is a game of seconds. Extreme care should be taken to not slow down the process with the very technology intended to help.
I like a bigger screen on a tablet, but the most practical advice is the smartphone. It doesn’t even have to leave the associate’s pocket during an interaction unless there’s a reason for it to help the shopper.
But if it is used, the associate had better be trained. Time is of the essence to shoppers and help is disregarded as helpful if he or she has to wait on a bumbling associate.
If associates are well-trained on how to use a smartphone to assist customers and to communicate internally AND proper etiquette is part of the process these can be very powerful tools in assisting customers and ensuring good communications in-store. But if associates are head-down on their devices non-stop while on the sales floor, it could be a real detriment.
I think technology is a tool and we shouldn’t fall in love with a particular platform. Screwdrivers are great tools but it’s hard to saw wood with one.
So, let’s see, hands-free communication devices let associates … well … keep their hands free to straighten stock, assist customers, etc. Tablets are great if you need a visual and smartphones probably cover most inventory questions well enough.
Which is the best platform depends entirely on the sales environment and what you are selling. And yes, new tools will keep emerging. Best not to fall in love with any of them either.
A tablet can be a good tool for certain retail stores, and home furnishings come to mind. Seeing a living room decked out on a nice tablet can help make a sale. So can seeing a beautiful kitchen design, which can help sell cabinets and appliances for sure. However, there is absolutely no substitute for a polished salesperson who is knowledgeable and able to sell the benefits to an inquiring customer. Great salespeople are rare, about 10 percent of them, and the ones who shine are able to use the technology as an aide to closing the deal rather than a crutch.
My ENT and family practitioner both carry laptops (Dell, for what it’s worth), balanced like a waiter’s tray. Eye contact is usually made with the device, not with the patient (e.g., me.) It’s very disconcerting and adds nothing to the experience. Not to mention that I can’t tell if he’s checking my chart or doing something else entirely. (I’m healthy enough not to have generated that much data.)
So, no to all of the above. When necessary, the associate should of course have access to a device, but it should be modeled as a last-ditch “elevation” to service, and not a de rigueur substitute.
Please, not multiple devices.
I have been quite impressed where associates have used tablets. It provided any information need and could share (visually) with me. The latter is important. Include the customer in the process, no matter if it is an inventory check, pictures of alternative items, specifications … never give the impression there is magic in the information or that the associate is hiding something. The more engaged the associate makes the customer, the more likely the customer is to buy.
Each of these has their benefits and applications. Depending on how they function, I don’t know that multiple devices are needed for any given retailer, but different retailers might have different needs.
Obviously, walkie-talkies are the most low-tech and mostly geared toward in-house needs. Most likely when checking a remote stock room or pricing for a retailer with centralized check out.
Smartphones and tablets are more interchangeable with the trade-off of benefits between portability and screen size. If showing an image to the guest isn’t generally necessary a smartphone is probably the most versatile.
I generally agree that tablets are best for on floor service, but it is remarkable that Millennials even watch movies on their mobile phones, so the small format is something they seem to be used to.
Tablets are superior to phones when you have more than one person looking at the screen. Phones have a significant advantage as a personal tool, convenience etc. The interaction with the agent and customer requires a bigger screen, even tablet is pushing that barrier when it comes to older customers.
One thing that I don’t see very often is the use of larger format Digital Signage screens to open a dialog with customers. It’s not something all customers will be open to but there will be many that love to see it on a big screen, and don’t mind that it’s visible to others. The benefit to the retailer is that it creates interest in other shoppers. I don’t have data or research to back it up but I believe people are naturally curious about what others are buying.
I think the most beneficial tool — for customers that is — is to actually HAVE sales associates available. I mean, seriously, many stores have depleted staffing levels to the point that make the moonwalks look crowded, and we’re quibbling over which toys are most useful?
Tablets are the most versatile for employees. Pictures and information can more easily be shared with the larger screen, demos can more easily be seen, access to additional information is possible, employees can provide feedback to management or ask questions, management can send reminders, it can also be used to check people out.
Having the right/better tool is one point, and it is important. But this is making the assumption there will be qualified and trained sales associates on the floor who are willing to be of assistance. This has to be a priority. Without it, the tools they carry might as well be a hammer and screwdriver.
Walkie talkies/smartphones are definitely great for store associates to communicate with the back room or locate an expert, especially with ear buds. Tablets with scanners and readers are good for information retrieval and verification (Is that item in stock? What aisle is it at?) and also for line busting checkout assistance and e-receipt. As associates become more comfortable with technology and customers value accurate information, technology enabled employees represent a trend that will continue in retail.