Meaningful Mobilization

Mobile technology is moving so fast, if you rush into it, you may be left behind.

Mobile is the biggest news to hit the retail world since the UPC code.

The National Retail Federation (NRF) has already written and updated a 100-plus page white paper on the topic of mobile in retail, and Forrester has dubbed 2011 the “year of mobile.” The hype surrounding mobile continues to grow, and with good reason.

Mobile has changed our lives in ways we would never have imagined even five years ago. How it will affect us over the next five remains to be seen, but it's a sure bet the influence of mobile will only intensify. As the iPhone nears version 5, and Android-based hardware multiplies like rabbits, by the end of 2011, most Americans will have ditched their old feature phones for ones with operating systems and keyboards.

Retail marketers are champing at the bit to get involved in the mobile game, but this is one of those times that going slower now could mean going faster in the future. The rate of change that surrounds mobile is only accelerating, and with every new phone and feature, consumers are looking for and finding new ways to add value with these devices.

Grocery retailers aren't known for their patience or willingness to wait long for anything. As mobile grows, the thought of missed opportunities will begin to keep more than a few people up at night. But before you jump into the game with a mobile app or a new mobile commerce solution, there is a bigger picture that must be considered.

That bigger picture is the marketing strategy in its entirety. While mobile has many features that — properly employed — can entice and engage shoppers, its primary benefit is the connectivity it provides to other media, to the shopper, to the retailer, to the CPG, and ultimately back to the shelf edge. Mobile is a powerful medium that is best used as a link connecting the various elements and constituents of the existing marketing strategy. In no way is it a stand-alone answer to any marketing problem, and simply building and deploying an app could be a waste of time and resources.

To illustrate the point, let's go back 15 years or so to the mid-1990s, when loyalty programs were all the rage. With few exceptions, retailers either had or were implementing loyalty programs, shouting to the rafters about the myriad benefits for shoppers and brands alike. Privacy advocates were shouting just as loudly, concerned about “Big Brother” and how everyone's purchases would be tracked and given to who-knows-who.

Fifteen years later, a recent survey shows that most shoppers belong to at least one loyalty program but have no idea why. They receive no communication about the programs or their benefits. Supermarkets — flinching at the privacy issue — tossed cards out to everyone who asked but gathered little or no identifying information, making it virtually impossible to gather any actionable data.

Mobile is at the same juncture today. Many retailers are looking for ways to jump on the bandwagon but haven't given enough thought as to why, or what the goal is once they get an app launched. There's good reason to be deliberate in all decisions that include mobile.

Mobile can be a way to maintain an ongoing relationship without being obtrusive, and provide consistent, relevant value to customers. In fact, properly implemented mobile could be used to make that floundering loyalty program viable again, allowing for the collection and dissemination of shopper info and actually bringing loyalty to a process that had none.

The secret lies in a complete strategy. What is the ultimate goal for shopper engagement, and how does the retailer meet the needs of its target customer? The goal isn't to implement a mobile program; the goal is to drive shopper loyalty in a manner that adds value for all three stakeholders: the retailer, the manufacturer and the shopper.

Once a complete strategy is developed, only then should tactics be considered. Technology should serve the goal, rather than create it. Mobile should be a tactic to support the strategy, rather than an end unto itself.

SUPPLIER PERSPECTIVE

Talking With... Bob Henry, CEO and Co-Founder, IT Retail

It takes a grocer to know a grocer's needs — and the importance of knowing shoppers' needs. With software developed by a lifelong grocer, IT Retail, based in Riverside, Calif., helps retailers succeed by providing a comprehensive suite of grocery POS systems that allow users to accurately monitor sales, track customers, and analyze store procedures, among numerous other functions. IT Retail's POS software was designed as an easy-to-use solution that speaks and works the way grocers think and work, empowering supermarkets to manage their stores more efficiently.

Q: How did IT Retail get started and what would you say to people who haven't heard of the company?

A: I call us “the best kept secret in point of sale.” I think the reason people might not have heard of us is because in 1993 when we started, we were the first to come out with a POS system on the (Microsoft) Windows platform. At that time Windows was not considered a POS-ready operating system. So we took our solution international, traveling to Mexico, Central America, South America and India and had a great degree of success. It wasn't until the last six or seven years that we've begun to focus on the U.S. and make some penetration here.

Q: What makes your grocery POS systems better?

A: Our focus has always been not to make a big splash, but to have happy customers one at a time. We wanted to deliver a great product at a good price. This has really been our mantra and focus of our company. What makes us better is that we offer a POS system that is completely open, giving our customer limitless possibilities, a system that is easy-to-use, while being one of the most robust and complete systems available for grocers.

Q: How is that, in turn, a benefit to your customers?

A: We are small and nimble and not caught up in a lot of red tape. Also, it's all happening right here in the U.S.. Our customers are the “meat and potatoes” of America — they are the entrepreneurs, the ones who are going out day by day and beating razor thin margins to make it work. These are the kind of people we want to be partners with and help succeed. It goes back to why and where we started this company - in the basement of a grocery store. I was a software developer and my partner was a third-generation grocer tired of the inflexiblity of the available POS solutions. We developed a system that works the way grocers think and is totally open.The result was a POS system that revolutionized the way grocers do business.

Q. Looking ahead, what do you see for the future of this platform and for IT Retail?

A: The Phone and the Cloud are the current trends. IT Retail will continue to look for new ways to make the shopping experience faster, easier and more informative for the shopper. For the retailer, IT Retail will continue to make the system easier to manage and information easier to get to the point where everything you could possibly want to know is available at your fingertips.