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Delivering a superior customer experience

Retailers seeking to differentiate themselves should look to the many advantages offered by purpose-built mobile devices for in-store communications and service delivery.


Johannesburg, 27 Feb 2019
Quentin Daffarn, MD, UC-Wireless.
Quentin Daffarn, MD, UC-Wireless.

In the current economic climate, it's no surprise to learn that retailers are being squeezed from all sides. Online shopping is eating into traditional stores' profits, consumers are far less loyal than they used to be and differentiating oneself is extremely difficult in this globally connected era.

The only real way to fight these challenges is by delivering exceptional customer service. This should help to bring clients into the brick-and-mortar stores. It will assist in maintaining their interest in the brand and it will provide an outlet through which the retailer can offer a distinct level of differentiation.

In order to deliver a superior customer experience today, explains Quentin Daffarn, MD of UC-Wireless, many retailers are equipping employees with mobile devices and applications that empower them to serve as consultants to customers, rather than merely being there to enable a transaction.

"Choosing the right device will provide a flexible platform in which to work with existing third-party applications such as ERP and stock management software. Employees can also use these devices to access promotional pricing, product information and customer history from anywhere on the sales floor," he says. The benefit that WiFi analytics and guest WiFi can deliver, while at the same time providing the coverage for specialised WiFi phones, further increases the benefit to retailers

"Of course, it is critical that superior voice quality is delivered at all times, as this is required to facilitate communication with business associates and to ensure all customers are being cared for at any given moment. Clear voice capabilities and uninterrupted call access also helps to create a quieter, positive experience by eliminating unnecessary noise from overhead paging."

Furthermore, he suggests, the right device will be able to deliver discreet alerts and secure messaging, which will reduce loud interrupting announcements and ensure security issues can be dealt with, without alerting customers.

"It should be noted that mobile solutions that are specifically designed for retail offer a number of benefits over allowing employees to merely use their personal mobile phones for such purposes. For one thing, these devices include excellent voice quality over in-building WiFi and digital enhanced cordless telecommunications (DECT) wireless networks. They also deliver extensive battery life with easily replaceable batteries, and are built to military grade drop specifications, making them extremely tough.

"Moreover, since all employees at a store will utilise the same device, this should streamline employee training significantly and bring far greater efficiency to store operations. It should also reduce the total cost of ownership (TCO) and provide lengthy call and standby times, which are ideal for dealing with long shift durations and the sharing of devices. And, because they belong to the retailer, they are always kept on-premises, which helps to secure customer and transaction data, and remove any unwanted information security risk."

Daffarn points out that although many retailers might find the idea of implementing a bring your own device (BYOD) policy appealing, as it relies on employees to use their personal smartphones and thus leads to some cost savings, there are numerous things to consider before committing to a BYOD plan. The most important of these could be the total cost of ownership (TCO), which appears attractive with BYOD, but, over three to five years, a rugged purpose-built phone that can include bar code scanning and managed applications, proves more cost-effective, studies have shown.

Not only are there greater security risks with such devices, he says, but consumer smartphones can be difficult to integrate with back-end retail applications. Personal smartphones are also dependent on the individual's carrier for call quality, and they often lack sufficient signal strength in store environments, which can lead to dropped calls.

"There is little visibility or access to these devices, so if an employee leaves the company, IT can't remotely wipe corporate or customer data from their phone. Also, employees using their own phones may not remember to keep up to date with their security patches, resulting in unintended data breaches or regulatory violations. Finally, there is the perception issue to consider: consumers who see store associates using consumer smartphones often believe they are engaging in social activities while on the job, which promotes a poor brand image for the retailer.

"In today's world, where the margins between success and failure get slimmer all the time, retailers need to find new ways to set themselves apart from their competition, while gaining more of their customers' insights, loyalty and wallet share. Purpose-built devices that easily outweigh the fragile nature of smartphones, while at the same time deliver a wide range of benefits to the user, the store and the customer, are one way to help retailers gain a new competitive edge," he concludes.

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