Have you ever thought about shopping and to what extent it can go? And have you ever wondered how important is our mobile device when it comes to shopping? We live in a hybrid society where online and offline are becoming increasingly intertwined. Voice (think Alexa and Google Home) and other smart gadgets are developing and the majority of them are based on mobile devices.
We found two cases where having a mobile device while shopping is very important.
In early 2018, Amazon introduced Amazon Go – a convenience store where you don’t need a credit card or cash to shop. Why not? Because everything is done by your mobile device. When you enter the store you check in with an Amazon app and the rest is just you taking products from the shelves. There are numerous scanners in the store, so every time you pick something from the shelf, the scanner will monitor this and put it on the list in your app. If you return an item, it will be deleted from that list. In the end, you just walk out of the store, because there are no cashiers. But don’t worry, you receive a receipt on your mobile device shortly after leaving the store.
Another interesting case is Blueberry’s attempt and progress toward an omnichannel world. They tried to ease your shopping with a different approach. Everything that you searched and looked at on Blueberry’s website gets saved into the system. When a customer walks into a Burberry store, the store’s computer system may recognize the things the person has looked at online and even check their previous purchase history. This way the shop assistant can help you find the same clothes or some good alternatives.
We always want an easier and faster shopping experience, nobody likes standing in a check-out line or looking for that perfect T-shirt that you saw on the internet. Offering your customers a digital solution that is safe, easy to use, and quick at the same time, is a big competitive advantage.
