3 Reasons to Use Mobile In Your Retail Biz

If you are a retailer who needs to get things done fast – yet still efficiently – while also reaching a broad network of consumers, it’s time to consider how mobile may be incorporated into your business. While implementing mobile may not happen overnight, working towards it should be your goal. Not only can mobile support help you reach and sell to more customers, it can also help you in your store operations. Consider the following…

Speed

Mobile is (nearly) everywhere. With exception to a few random “dead” cell zones, customers and you alike can easily access mobile devices 24/7. Whether accepting a credit card by phone, uploading details to shopping sites like Walk.by or scheduling appointments, you can do almost anything on your mobile Smartphone these days… and do it fast. As the folks at Walk.by say, simply Snap. Sell. Share. In more ways than one, this is very true.

Coverage 

Forget reaching just your own customers anymore. Thanks to mobile devices, you can reach well beyond your direct followers (aka Facebook fans, Twitter followers, Pinterest likes and actual email subscribers). Consumers “share” their favorite photos and store news all the time with the click of a single button via their cell phones. Are you being clicked? If not, it’s time to get on this bandwagon. People don’t just engage on their PC’s anymore… many don’t even have PC’s anymore!

Flexibility

You can be in your store, at home, in a parking lot, at a fair or on vacation and get work done – including making sales, communicating with store staff, ordering inventory and doing retail research. A mobile device isn’t so much a luxury but a need, and yet too many indie retailers aren’t using their mobiles for everything they can. This said… so many retailers still complain of lack of time and, dare we say it, flexibility.

Remember, it’s not just about how the consumer using mobile but how you use mobile, too. A few of our favorite apps and supporters that can help you excel in your mobile use include:

Boutique Window – Boutique Window allows independent merchants to easily showcase their products on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest – plus make their own websites look a lot better! It’s a simple solution with powerful results.

Digby – Digby delivers a fully-managed suite of applications designed for iPhone/iPod Touch, BlackBerry and Android devices that empowers retailers to optimize their mobile strategy and unify their web, in-store and catalog channels.

Any.do – Very simply, this award-winning app helps you make things happen. It’s simple but effective in supporting small business owners get things done. It’s sort of like a personal assistant. You need one of those, right?

A final thought… using mobile isn’t embracing showroom shopping or ignoring customer service or dismissing core in-store responsibilities. It’s simply a way to strengthen all of these things from both a customer and management perspective. Finally, studies show that customers who buy online will often – given the opportunity –  pick up their purchases in stores. This means you aren’t neglecting that face to face experience at all! Add this to your mobile checklist of things to make happen. The catch is, get this list in place and start making it happen!