An article published today in eMarketer discusses the ways multichannel retailers bring the Web into the store. Among the methods listed are internet kiosks, WAP enabled handheld devices, and point of sale terminals. Almost all of the emphasis is on the ability of the consumer to access online inventory when/if the store itself is out of stock. Pushing it one step further is the ability to present a significantly expanded assortment, with range and depth beyond that available on the shelf.
Still, the most powerful opportunity to bring the Web into the store is being missed completely, and it does revolve around mobile phones. That opportunity involves the use of 2d or QR codes. What are these? Simply, they are powerful open source 2d barcodes designed to bridge the gap between the offline and online worlds. I've recently reviewed the beta version of a new site, 2dCodeMe.com, which has been created to educate consumers about this technology. I was immediately struck by the powerful potential of the technology to vastly improve in-store customer service.
2d or QR codes are scan-able by almost any smartphone (after downloading a scan app....check out 2dCodeMe's at the iPhone App Store, it's excellent). The codes can be configured to auto-launch an array of applications in the smartphone, from uploading a text document (warranties, additional specifications, customer testimonials) to downloading a coupon (gee....see a product, scan a code, have a coupon on your iPhone!) to linking to a page deep within a retailer's website offering specific customer support (product demos, customer reviews, video programming, even the item page itself). The point is that all of this happens solely as a result of the consumer scanning the code and letting the phone do the rest of the work.
The Web has an almost infinite amount of purchase support available to the consumer. Instead of letting a consumer wander around aimlessly in that soup of information, why not send them directly to the content you've already created?
The real power of bringing the Web into the store is doing exactly that. Bring the real power of the Web. Accessing online inventory is not ground breaking, and honestly, could be done from most current point of sale registers simply by integrating the inventory in the data base. No, the real power of the Web is to engage, inform, entertain and empower. Imagine doing all that at the point of sale.
Accessing customer reviews (which already exist online and cost you nothing to make available), specifications and buying guides (which also already exist onlin and cost nothing), or product videos (which already exist too!)....these are the ways retailers need to be thinking. And the really amazing thing is that the technology is open source, already mature, and could be implemented with almost no additional resources.
No comments:
Post a Comment