A NEW WAy to ENgAgE With ShoPPERS

Retail OutlookA Samsung white paper on the role of technology in the retail industry

94% believe that companies failing to address the technology needs of the consumer will suffer a competitive disadvantage.

2 | A new way to engage with customers

THE FUTURE OF THE SHOPPER EXPERIENCEAs a consumer, what keeps you coming back to the best retailers? It’s the whole experience: in-store and beyond, from the first contact to ongoing service and support.

What makes a good customer experience?

Shoppers expect a lot. Not just responsive service from your staff, but fast access to information, compelling offers, and an engaging in-store environment. Whether they’re browsing, buying or looking for help, if these ingredients are missing, your customers may simply go elsewhere.

Even though retail standards are already high, the bar is set to rise further. Driven by increased competition, retailers are innovating to give themselves a competitive edge. And shoppers’ expectations are growing too: for example, they want to see the best features of online shopping when they visit a store.

How can you improve the experience you offer, to attract new customers and keep them coming back?

Technology — revolutionising retail

Technology can make the shopping experience faster, easier and more personal in a multitude of ways. For example, digital signage makes it easy for you to push product information and location-based mobile vouchers directly to customers, as they browse your store. Tablets can give sales assistants instant access to the information that they need to answer any customer query on the spot. And mobile point-of-sale devices let you take payment without customers having to queue.

But where do retailers think the future lies for in-store technology?

To find out, we commissioned a market research company to conduct in-depth telephone interviews with senior retail decision-makers across the UK. We asked:

• What their attitude towards technology was.

• How they’re currently using technology to enhance the customer experience.

• What their plans and predictions are for the future.

The ultimateshopping experience

• Helpful shopping assistants

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• Detailed product information

• Quick and easy

Personalised offers

• Immersive, engaging andinteractive • Seamless transition betweenonline, mobile and physical

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THE STRATEGIC ROLE OF TECHNOLOGYThe findings were clear. Technology is driving the evolution of the customer experience and giving the retailers that embrace it a competitive edge.

Retailers see the benefits of technology

Many retailers are already placing their bets on technology. 41% told us that they have started implementing a technology-based strategy for enhancing the retail experience.

94% of retailers said they believe that the customer experience of the future will be driven by technology.

69% said that they already use technology to differentiate themselves from their competitiors.

67% of retailers said that they like to be among the first to adopt new technology.

41% of retailers are already implementing a strategy for using technology to enhance customer experience.

But many are playing catch-up

Retailers’ technology strategies come not a minute too soon. In many ways, shoppers are already streets ahead. Nearly every UK shopper has a smartphone and many have a tablet. They run price comparisons and conduct research online before making a purchase. It’s natural that retailers should be planning how they can engage with this kind of behaviour — consumers are ready and waiting for it.

Yet when it comes to real deployments, many retailers are still on the starting blocks. Just a third of retailers have issued tablets or smartphones to customer-facing staff. Just 22% are using video walls. Only digital signage has achieved significant traction, with 53% adoption.

Join us on a journey

The customer journey is now driven by technology end to end, from initial research to ongoing service and support. Those retailers that act fast to embrace the potential that technology holds will be the ones that succeed.

Over the following pages, we’ll show how a customer journey might play out, describing just a few of the benefits that retailers and customers can get from the latest technology. We hope it gives you some ideas.

94% of retailers say that the in-store experience of the future will be driven by technology.

4 | A new way to engage with customers

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TECHNOLOGY IS AT THE HEART OF THE EXPERIENCETechnology offers you lots of exciting ways to improve the whole experience for shoppers — from before they visit your store to how you build an ongoing relationship with them.

BRINGING THE STORE HOME

Picture the scene: a customer is using their tablet to do some research about a home appliance from the comfort of their sofa. They’re looking at your competitors’ websites, reading reviews, visiting online forums and chatting on social media.

After being impressed with your customer reviews, they use your website to configure the product’s colour and optional features to their tastes, and reserve it for collection in store that day. Now it’s time for them to pay you a visit.

THE PERFECT FIT

When they enter the shopping centre they pop into the VIP lounge, to check their email and look for any special events using the free Wi-Fi. Should anything grab their attention they can print off directions or a voucher wirelessly, using the lounge’s NFC printers. They print a map with directions to your store.

As the customer approaches your store, a promotion in the window catches their eye. Why did it work so well? Because your digital signage recognised their age and gender and presented an advert targeted at their demographic.

As they walk up to the window to get a closer look, the signage detects a smile — they’ve responded well to the advert. The next step is a personalised voucher that can be downloaded to their smartphone — buy today and we’ll give you a free gift.

They were just visiting to pick up their order — but maybe a little look around wouldn’t hurt.

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FRENCH RETAIL CHAIN USES DIGITAL SIGNAGE TO PROMOTE OFFERS

One of Intermarché’s biggest challenges was keeping customers coming back. To improve retention levels, the company used Samsung digital signage around its stores to push the latest local and national promotions as shoppers browsed.

Customers have been incredibly positive about the new technology — with some even saying that it seems to make queuing at checkouts quicker because it’s so entertaining.

Read our case study

75% of consumers research products online before purchasing.1

1 Deloitte: The Changing Face of Retail. The store of the future: the new role of the store in a multi-channel environment.

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GIVING SHOPPERS A WARM WELCOME

On entering the store, the shopper can relax. The LED lighting is warm and bright, showing off products at their very best. Subtle music plays and air conditioning keeps the temperature just so — the perfect environment for browsing.

The customer sees a welcome point just inside the entrance. They tap their smartphone against it, firing up the store’s app and alerting a sales advisor to their arrival.

The app creates a customised map of the store, using data from the shopper’s recent searches and purchase history. It highlights where they can find the appliance they were originally looking for — and today’s promoted items, too.

A printer in the welcome point gives the shopper the option to take away an instant hard copy of their customised map, too.

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TOUCHSCREEN TECHNOLOGY DELIGHTS CUSTOMERS AND BOOSTS SALES BY 30%

Build-A-Bear Workshop offers children an innovative hands-on experience, letting them build their very own teddy bear. The company wanted to modernise the experience for a new generation of children used to the latest technology.

It installed Samsung’s wall-mounted, touchscreen displays with facial recognition in five of its stores. Children can now drag and drop their favourite characteristics to make their perfect bear.

The result? Sales grew by 30% and customer satisfaction hit new highs. Thanks to the positive results, Build-A-Bear plans to upgrade 50 more stores by the end of 2014.

Read our case study

61% of shoppers believe they are better informed than in-store staff.2

74% said that “interactive shopping” technology increases footfall, loyalty and ultimately sales.

2 Motorola Solutions: what’s driving tomorrow’s retail experience?

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4 PUTTING INFORMATION AT THEIR FINGERTIPS

As the shopper looks around the store, they are drawn to featured displays — the floor-to-ceiling video walls bringing offers to life. One of your personal shopping assistants greets the customer and offers to guide them around the store. Even though working in an unfamiliar store, the assistant can handle even the toughest questions. That’s because they are carrying a lightweight tablet that offers easy access to:

• Detailed customer information, including their purchase history.

• Full product information, complete with photos, videos and specifications.

• Product location and real-time stock levels.

The tablet even helps assistants upsell and cross-sell by suggesting complementary products and accessories — it’s great for the customer too, because it saves them another trip to the store later.

But the shopper just wants to browse, so the assistant leaves them alone to try out the products.

They take advantage of the in-store Wi-Fi to check out some reviews on their smartphone and watch some product videos on the shelf display. Having narrowed down their choice to two products, they download the store’s augmented reality app that lets them check out how each would look in their home.

They’re getting all the depth of an online experience with the immediacy of being in-store.

+9% giving store staff easy access to detailed product information can increase conversion rates by 9%.4

36% of shoppers find it useful when stores offer QR codes or barcodes to scan to get more information.3

3 Deloitte: The Changing Face of Retail. The store of the future: the new role of the store in a multi-channel environment.

4 Deloitte Research, Driving profitability through your store associates: the make or break factor for retailers.

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MAKING QUEUEING A THING OF THE PAST

With all the information they need, and thanks to the great service they received, the customer decides to make a purchase there and then.

But they also want to buy a product that’s not in stock in store. No problem, the assistant can order it for delivery straight to the their door. With all the customer’s details at hand, this can be done with just a few taps.

Now to pay. There’s no need to queue: one swipe of their card through the mobile point-of-sale device does the job. An email receipt appears on the shopper’s smartphone; there’s no paper copy to lose. And they can come back at the end of their day out to collect their purchases. Nice and easy.

TAKING SERVICE TO THE DOORSTEP

As the order for the missing item comes in, your warehouse springs into action. A pick list is automatically generated, complete with shelf location, and sent to the next available order packer on their mobile device.

Each item is scanned as it’s picked, ensuring order accuracy. And once the picking is complete, the device suggests the best box for that order and fires off a request for shipping labels, a copy invoice and customised product documentation to be printed ready for packing.

Once packed, the box is scanned and added to the list for shipping. The customer is automatically sent an email saying that their delivery is on its way. And the message contains a link that they can click on to track the exact location of their delivery in real time — right up to their front door.

How? The driver carries a GPS-enabled mobile device that tracks their progress, lets them take proof of delivery, and even routes them to the next job.

68% of lost sales could be recaptured if the store is able to order the item and have it delivered to the customer’s home.6

75% of shoppers who enjoy a ‘great’ in-store experience are likely to return.5

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5 Verde Group Survey, 1,006 shoppers, North America6 Motorola Solutions: what’s driving tomorrow’s retail experience?

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82% of retailers said that investing in technology has helped them make significant “green” savings.

NOT JUST BETTER MORE EFFICIENT TOOOur research shows that, while retailers are most attracted to new technology as a way to improve the customer experience, they’re also turning to it to make their shops and staff more efficient.

Improve staff productivity

The same technology that can enhance the customer experience can also drive operational excellence for your business. For example:

• Tablets can give staff real-time stock levels so they can spend more time serving customers and less time in the stock room.

• Smart CCTV can track the movement and behaviour of customers, enabling retailers to improve store layout, maximising the effectiveness of POS and improving the customer experience.

• Wireless networks and VoIP technology give staff a continuous connection to company systems so they don’t need to head back to the till point or back office to look something up.

• Mobile point-of-sale devices can enable sales assistants to take payment wherever the customer is.

Cut energy costs

You can also use technology to reduce energy bills and make your store greener:

• LED lighting uses 80% less energy than halogen bulbs and has a lifespan of up to four and a half years running 24x7.

• Air-conditioning features the latest monitoring, control and remote management applications, making it more energy efficient.

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MAKING THE IN-STORE EXPERIENCE THE BEST OF BOTH WORLDSThere’s no denying that online shopping is here to stay, but rumours about the death of in-store shopping are greatly exaggerated. Technology isn’t killing the bricks and mortar shopping experience, simply transforming it. We think that the physical store has got a vibrant and exciting future as part of seamless mix of channels.

Technology is revolutionising in-store interactions, improving what was already good about them and adding some of the characteristics of the online experience.

For shoppers this means greater personalisation, information at their fingertips and seamless integration between what they do online and in-store. Visiting a store is no longer about necessity; it’s a choice that shoppers make.

Retailers must make stores pleasant environments that offer interactivity and quick and easy ways to make transactions. That means leveraging technology to make it possible to offer increased personalisation cost-effectively. Tablets, large-format displays, in-store kiosks and digital signage aren’t gimmicks; they offer ways to improve service, increase sales and cut costs.

What are you doing to take advantage of the potential that technology offers?

60% of retailers said the best-of-breed retailers of the future will have technology solutions at their core.

START YOUR OWN JOURNEYTechnology is at the heart of the new retail experience — and you can get ahead of the game. We’re dedicated to making innovative technology for retailers like you. Over a quarter of our global workforce is in research and development — helping to make the customer experience of the future a realistic possibility today.

To find out more about our retail offerings and how they can help transform the customer experience,

visit samsung.com/uk/retail or email businessuk@samsung.com

END-TO-END SOLUTIONSSamsung supplies a wide variety of electronics equipment to the retail market. All our commercial products are designed with interconnectivity in mind, enabling you to assemble a full and dynamic system architecture across all devices and appliances.

SmartphonesTabletsWireless networkingAir conditioningPrintingPCs and laptopsVideo wallsLarge format displaysTVsLED lightingCCTV

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