In today’s mobile-focused world retail marketing can be challenging to say the least. As a business, you want to promote your offers in the best way possible. But how are your customers going to see your offers?
Customers no longer make the decision to purchase from a brand based on a business’s product or service offering. The UK is now only second to Norway in its average number of online sales per person meaning the way we spend how fundamentally changed.
With consumers able to shop and research online through their smartphones and mobile apps, their decision hinges on how you offer your products.
In fact, by 2020 it’s predicted that the customer experience will overtake price and product as the key brand differentiator for retailers. Customer perception is a powerful thing. Your business must ensure your customer experience strategy is delivering across mobile, and online. It is the single most important factor in the decision-making process for the online shopper. The journey has to be consistent.
The challenge all retail marketing teams are faced with is how to deliver a seamless customer journey. How do you encourage spend and loyalty in today’s mobile phone focused world? Creating a successful customer-centric journey is no easy task. Retailers are exploring how they can align the online shopping experience with their existing marketing strategy and of course customer expectations.
M-commerce and the future of retail
The mobile journey is a pivotal part of overall customer satisfaction with £1 in every £5 spent online. An astounding 93% of people who browse using their smartphone also go on to make a purchase. The research suggests the focus on customer experience is only becoming more prevalent given that 80% of people are already shopping using their mobile device.
With these figures in mind, it’s undeniable that m-commerce is shaping the future of the retail experience both in-store and online. Mobile messaging and SMS are crucial to supporting the evolving customer journey. Businesses can connect with customers in real-time, sharing order updates, promotions, special offers and more. In fact, over 37% of people have made a purchase as a direct result of receiving a message from a business.
Supporting your retail marketing strategies with SMS
The proven potential for mobile messaging is incredibly vast when it comes to improving the overall customer experience in retail marketing. Implement SMS based retail marketing strategies can be as simple as adding a click and collect option for customers. In doing so, you encourage footfall as well as aligning the world of online shopping with the service of in-store.
Another way retailers are able to combine the immediacy of the mobile experience is to use geo-location tagging. Using this technology, brands are able to send a limited time offer or stock reminder to their customers. This delivers real value to the customer experience that encourages spend.
Retailers have an abundance of important customer information stored within their CRM system. With the right integration, this information can be used to create better, personalised messaging.
Personalised messaging further enhances the customer experience and encourages brand loyalty. In fact, 65% of consumers say their loyalty is influenced by companies sending personalised or exclusive offers.
Businesses can effortlessly plug the power and reach of mobile messaging into existing systems using one of our API integrations. Achieving more effective retail marketing is easy through intelligently created content sent via SMS.
We’ve created a list of key use case examples to help retailers improve their customer experience:
- When new stock becomes available
- Bespoke, branded mobile vouchers
- Click and collect initiatives
- Personalised offers
- Birthday promotions
- Abandoned basket promotions
- Suggested products to support previously purchased items
- Order confirmations
- Delivery alerts
From the research, it’s clear that mobile messaging is the key to delivering a seamless customer journey. This type of experience is now expected due to giants like Amazon, John Lewis, and Argos. These three retail superstars offer reliable services, convenient delivery dates all at reasonable prices.
Get in touch with a member of the team today if you’d like to find out more. Our mobile messaging platform can effortlessly support your retail marketing strategies.
