The retail sector is an industry that has seen more disruption than most in recent times. Though the struggles of brick-and-mortar retailers have cast doubt on the importance of traditional point of sale, the reality is effective POS can help create a seamless customer experience across multiple channels. With digital POP displays, in particular, seeing a surge in popularity the relevance of POS is further reinforced by Popspot who state “62% of shoppers said they would be more likely to look for a product advertised at the point of purchase on a future visit”.
Consumers now use an average of six touch points when buying an item. Unsurprisingly then, there is strong forecasted growth in the adoption of “smart PoS” systems which can track customers’ shopping behaviours and engage with them across channel to create strong brand-customer relationships. This culminates in greater in-store personalisation, through the use of “mobile POS” technology. A hyper personalised marketing approach is one that is being readily adopted by the leading brands, as “78.6 percent of consumers said that they were only likely to engage with a brand if their promotional offers are customised to how they have interacted with that brand before” (prnewswire).
Smart POS
Retaining a strong brand identity whilst also tailoring marketing to individual customer wants and needs is a considerable challenge, but one which “smart POS” can help to solve. A number of retailers including Topshop, Pandora and Dixons are already harnessing this technology, using leaner customer behaviour to create targeted campaigns and personalised offers physically at the till or in the online check-out. Providing these kinds of personalised experiences is becoming an increasingly popular tactic in an attempt to gain customer loyalty, with various customer surveys indicating the importance and value of targeted marketing:
• 79% of consumers are only likely to engage with a brand if the promotional offers are tailored based on their previous interactions (Marketo)
• 63% of consumers are “highly annoyed” by brands that continuously target them with generic advertising messages (Marketo)
• 83% of businesses are already or intend to prioritise suggestive selling based on a three-year customer purchase history (PCMS)
To maximise the impact of this kind of personalised PoS marketing, brands are also rapidly adopting the latest mobile PoS technology which allows retailers to engage directly with each individual consumer. This is driven by the phenomenal success of mobile loyalty apps including Starbucks, Daily Deals and Shell, all of which allow customers to obtain exclusive offers and deals according to their previous purchases.
To find out about how Amnet can support your PoS initiatives across all channels, please contact us at hello@weareamnet.com
