In the competitive world of retail, even small companies stand out by embracing tech.
Luxury menswear retailer The Dandy Lab, a champion of groundbreaking, location-based marketing and reward card technology, has been listed by Insider-Trends as a “Top 50 Innovator in Retail”. Positioned among technology giants like Amazon, Ebay and Apple, the July 25th article shows how companies leading the re-imagination of the traditional bricks and mortar shopping experience come in all shapes and sizes.
Despite starting out as a small, relatively unknown company, throughout its six-month trading duration, Dandy Labs’ pioneering customer experience solutions meant they were nominated for two retail awards and attracted a vast amount of publicity. The backbone to their forward-thinking strategy was the employment of Reward Technology’s long-range detection and personalisation system. In addition to allowing Dandy Labs deliver tailor-made offers directly to customers, the system gave them the distinct advantage of being able to communicate these in real-time, upon arrival in store.
Various surveys over the past five years have reported that almost 80% of purchase decisions are made in-aisle. Unlike other loyalty schemes, Reward Technology’s RFID smart card detection meant Dandy Labs could send their customers reliably targeted content, at the time it was most relevant and most likely to influence purchasing decisions. The benefit of using real-time data didn’t stop there. While in store, a customer’s purchase history was provided to staff to help them improve their recommendations and identify VIP shoppers. This impressive application of cutting edge customer engagement was the focus of a BBC Click! programme. (http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06srjjs)
Dandy Labs’ fashion-conscious target market, predominantly aged 35 years and under, are more likely than any other to go into a physical store, to download discounts — and to expect instant gratification, according to research by Ecconsultancy. So the application of integrated reward card technology with the capability to send personalised offers directly to a customer’s mobile phone while in store, was a perfect match to consumer expectations.
However, not all customers are as well positioned to embrace these systems, or engage with such loyalty schemes. Research has repeatedly shown that middle-aged shoppers are especially resistant to signing up to, or even downloading, apps to claim rewards. PwC’s 2015 global retail survey showed that of the small slice of customers who do download a retail app, only 3% use it on a day-to-day basis. The flexibility of the solutions offered by Reward Technology means retailers can still access this significant and lucrative audience and enhance their customer experience.
The majority of digital-first loyalty programs suffer significant barriers to adoption: finding and then downloading an app, waiting, switching on Bluetooth, registering within the app, and even engaging with the app. These barriers can all lose valuable customers at each hurdle — the adoption funnel. By employing a simpler solution, Reward Technology is able to sidestep these obstacles by requiring a familiar process of either receiving a new card in the post, or filling out a simple paper or online form. Communication can then be sent to any phone, ‘smart’ or otherwise. Customers can get useful information sent to them on store entry, and retailers can collect behavioural data for the whole trip. And while over 20% of seniors still don’t regularly use a mobile phone, but even this need not be an issue with a robust system that doesn’t rely on one. Using a smartcard, rich data can still be collected and rewards offered and redeemed at the till. Without the restriction of relying on a customer’s mobile ID, a retailer can build a far more accurate and well-rounded picture of their audience, including entry and dwell times.
This capability to highly personalise or tailor a service to a retailer’s requirements is exemplified further in the seamless integration of Reward Technology’s real-time customer data with Dandy Labs’ Shopify sales inventory. Marketing consultancy Dunnhumby suggests it is exactly this integration of technologies that is key to tapping valuable customer data and improving sales. Keenly aware of the possibilities that broad integration brings, Reward Technology has developed an ecosystem to provide connected solutions and specialised features within retail and other markets.
Recent partnerships have resulted in employing a leading analytics engine to determine the ideal offer for each customer, and a service to enable easy redemption of rewards at the point of sale. Another of their innovative partner companies, Localz, also cited by the Insider-Trends list, provides an exciting, location-based Click and Collect solution. By employing flexible high-tech solutions, tailored to fit the specific requirements of the customer, retail companies can ensure they receive the best return on their investment.
As the Insider-Trends list has highlighted, more retailers than ever are “employing cutting-edge technologies to their stores with an eye to attracting more customers”. Though online sales are certainly on the increase, a survey released by Verdict Retail and British Land showed that nine out of ten transactions in the UK still in some way ‘touch’ a physical store.
Finding ways to enrich the customer journey in-store is critical for retailers to succeed against the world of e-commerce. And while there are definite advantages of a physical presence, the case for employing the best in-store technology has never been more compelling.
