Pro-Touch

The Retail Sector in 2012: What are Consumers? Needs?

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Society is constantly evolving and consumers’ needs are always evolving so it is paramount for businesses to be aware of the latest requirements to cater to these with modern technologies. The retail sector is one industry that will always thrive but it has to change its ways to stay afloat in the current economic climate. High street stores are suffering due to the World Wide Web but a recent survey has found that brick-and-mortar stores are still important to 90% of shoppers. So what are consumers’ needs that your business can provide? A new study by Local Corporation, an e-tailing group and online local media company, revealed that almost two out of three shoppers use at least one device to research and make transactions while shopping and 28% use two devices at a time. More than 1,000 consumers were surveyed on their shopping behaviours and it showed a growing trend of mobile devices and self-service machinery usage when researching and purchasing products. Around 60% confessed to researching products several times a month using a mobile device so imagine the possibilities if they were exploring your services/products…

Further findings from the study consist of:

– 46% of shoppers check out prices on a store’s site and 42% check the inventory before visiting.

– 47% of consumers search for local information about the store they want to visit

– 1 in 3 shoppers has made at least one purchase via their mobile device over the past six months.

Self-service kiosks can encourage consumers to shop in-store to give them the control and convenience that they are craving. If they are using mobile devices to browse and influence their shopping activities, let them do it in-store with a touch screen that has internet access. Let them rate your products in-store and publish reviews and have access to vouchers to boost customer loyalty. What is more, printing features can enable them to print out receipts. Further features are specific to the retail industry and therefore can benefit supermarkets, departments, shopping malls, post offices and phone stores. Functions include;

– Payment

– Ordering

– Wayfinding

– Internet

– Product information

– Loyalty (gift voucher, promotional)

– Queue busting

  Contact Protouch.co.uk today to see how we can help you install touch screen technology in your retail business. Or check out our retail case study on Kiddicare by clicking here. Our kiosk solution improved Kiddicare’s in-store offerings to customers visiting its new store by allowing them to purchase individual brand merchandise via the kiosk. Since the deployment, they have expanded with more kiosks being installed and all checkout queues have been reduced so the staff can cater to the customers more enhancing their experience.