How Does Technology Help Mobile-First Retailers Reap Benefits?

social media, when combined with mobile, provides a huge opportunity for retailers to converse with customers.

Fremont, CA: Shoppers today are more empowered than ever before, armed with a bundle of information such as product reviews, product availability, and price comparisons to inform them before making a purchase. For retailers, this means that the balance of information asymmetry, which was previously in their favor, has now shifted to the consumer's advantage. And thanks to the pervasiveness of smartphones, consumers can access all of this information on the fly with just a few taps of a finger. Listed below are key ways how technology helps mobile-first retailers reap benefits.

Mobile Lowers are Pricey but Delivers Better Service

Mobile-first businesses benefit financially in ways other than increased sales. These mobile-focused organizations reported that mobile had increased their business efficiency (62 percent) and reduced the cost of providing services to customers (33 percent). Furthermore, mobile technology has had a number of positive effects on businesses' customer relationships, with three-quarters agreeing that it has made them more accessible to customers and two-thirds reporting that it has increased customer satisfaction (66 percent).

Another way to invest in the customer experience is to give store associates mobile devices. Mobile devices that offer sales associates real-time, relevant data, such as inventory as well as expert knowledge to guide customers in-store, are also critical in assisting retailers in fully realizing mobile's revenue and efficiency potential.

Use of Social Media for Marketing and Communicating

For many consumers, mobile and social media appear to be synonymous. With nearly 2.5 billion Facebook users and 1 billion Instagram users, the majority of retailers polled said they use both platforms as part of their mobile sales and marketing strategies. Eighty-eight percent of respondents said Facebook is crucial to their marketing and sales strategy, followed by Instagram (80 percent) and Twitter (both at 80 percent) (69 percent).

Social media, when combined with mobile, provides a huge opportunity for retailers to converse with customers. According to one research, the majority of retailers are already doing this. Sixty-four percent of the retailers polled communicate with customers on Instagram, and 61 percent communicate with customers on Facebook Messenger. More than half of respondents said they communicate with customers through text messaging, and nearly half said they communicate with customers through iMessage/Messages.

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