Clienteling: Connecting with shoppers on the sales floor

| Products & Solutions , Retail

Clienteling: Connecting with shoppers on the sales floor

Today’s retailers are faced with the difficult challenge of keeping shoppers engaged in a marketplace that is larger and more competitive than ever before. Retail is always evolving to meet consumer needs, but in today’s technology-rich environment the challenge has never been harder. Retailers are competing in the age of ecommerce, where shoppers can browse online, compare prices and read product reviews on virtually any product with the touch of a button. With large online retailers like Amazon.com and Wal-Mart taking more of the retail market share, brick-and-mortar stores have to provide a comparable intelligent shopping experience that keeps consumers engaged and satisfied with an in-store visit.

Imagine a retail store where every associate on the sales floor knows everything there is to know about the products customers are browsing with a simple scan of a barcode. If a shopper can’t get the important product information, features and benefits provided by an online retail store, why would they choose to shop in person? Salespeople at brick-and-mortar retail locations field a large variety of product questions on a daily basis. Traditionally, they’ve had to rely on their own expertise to answer these questions, but not anymore. One of the most important tools for creating such an environment is a mobile sales force empowerment application (or “clienteling”) that salespeople use to provide customers with the most up-to-date product information and personalized customer service. Clienteling is quickly becoming a retailer’s strongest asset to influence customer behavior and secure sales in-store. Clienteling applications enable associate self-scanning from any smartphone or tablet, empowering them to deliver higher levels of customer service.

Clienteling holds many benefits for both the consumer and retailer, and any brick-and-mortar business that wants to compete with online retailers should consider sales force empowerment to stay relevant in today’s retail marketplace. Clienteling has been shown to save sales by checking product availability, enhance customer service by providing responsive in-store support and giving customers as much, if not more, product information as an online retailer. These innovations allow consumers to have a more personalized shopping experience, where salespeople can provide better product information and services without leaving their side. Clienteling applications allow for seamless sales interactions that leave the shopper with a positive experience that keeps them coming back for a personalized and unique in-store experience.

The global presence of smartphones has paved the way for a new class of mobile applications that deliver product information on the fly, and retailers don’t want to fall behind. More and more retailers are utilizing sales empowerment applications, and it’s time to innovate your retail sales technology and embrace the digital transformation. We can help developers utilize the Scandit Barcode Scanner SDK to create outstanding sales empowerment applications for a retail sales force today. Check out the products and services we offer to learn more about how we can drive your sales empowerment applications today.