Stop Flying Blind with In-Store Retail Analytics
Walking into a store blindfolded doesn’t make much sense. How are you going to find what you’re looking for if you can’t see? By the same logic, operating a retail store without proper insight into in-store customer behavior is like flying blind. If you can’t see how customers are interacting with products in your store, how are you supposed to improve their experience with your brand? This blog will explore how behavior-based insights can help retailers improve the performance of their brick-and-mortar locations and optimize in-store shopping experiences for their customers.
Understanding Brick and Mortar Retail Performance
Let’s face it. Retail has always been competitive. Scores of B2C brands fighting for a limited resource – the attention, loyalty, and dollars of fickle consumers easily drawn to the next trending digital platform. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has only accelerated the digitization of retail as consumers have abandoned in-store shopping for “safer” digital alternatives. With fewer people shopping in retail environments, every customer’s experience matters just as every dollar matters. This change in the retail landscape has led to a surge in demand for in-store analytics.
In our digital-first era, analytics are more valuable than ever because they enable retailers to optimize operational efficiencies and improve facets of the in-store experience that drive revenue. For retailers in many industries, obtaining behavior-based insights on how and when customers interact with products isn’t possible. How are you supposed to know if someone takes a jacket off the rack and looks at the price?
Smartphone retailers – such as wireless carriers – have a huge advantage in this respect. The internet-connected products they sell contain advanced on-board software and sensors that can track and report behavior-based analytics. Equipped with insight based on actual customer interactions, smartphone retailers can stop guessing about how to improve the shopping experience they provide to customers and zero-in on tactics and strategies that will drive increased in-store engagement and more brick-and-mortar sales.
Watch Smith Micro CTO, David Sperling, discuss the importance of in-store retail analytics in the digital-first world of commerce.
What are Retail Analytics and Why Do They Matter?
In-store analytics provide smartphone retailers with behavior-based insights into customer activities within brick-and-mortar environments. Here is a quick sampling of the questions these insights address:
- What devices are the most popular?
- What on-device promotions drive the most engagement?
- What time of day are they most likely to engage with certain products?
- Are there specific areas of my store that consistently see the most engagement?
- Which stores/regions are driving the least in-store engagement?
- Are certain devices more popular in certain demographic areas?
- Are customers making in-store purchases or just browsing?
The Importance of Customer Journey Analytics
To stay competitive in today’s hyper-competitive, digital-first marketplace, you need information. Having insight into your store’s performance and customer preferences means you can tailor your strategy for success. Let’s imagine you need to decide which devices to stock in your stores. In-store analytics would show you which devices are the most engaged with in each location allowing you to make sure you have what your customers want.
ViewSpot®: Behavior-based Insights for Wireless Carriers
You guessed it! Smith Micro’s ViewSpot platform provides wireless carriers and other smartphone retailers with the necessary data and insight to improve in-store promotional campaigns and optimize retail operations. ViewSpot’s engagement dashboard provides a multi-faceted understanding of your customers’ in-store interactions to enable holistic, data-driven business decisions. Pinpoint which stores/regions perform better and why. Cross-reference shopping behavior data with store-based sales data to uncover potential correlations between in-store experience and higher brick-and-mortar sales. Equipped with this level of granular insight, you won’t be flying blind in a data-driven world.
Watch this brief video to learn more about the insights ViewSpot can deliver to your business.
