By all accounts, the use of mobile devices in stores will grow more prevalent among consumers and become a key focus for retailers in 2011. When asked in a recent NRF survey, "Which technology will you invest the most in the coming year," retailers chose mobility. What's driving this adoption of mobile platforms and devices? The same survey reports that more than 65% of retailers will focus on customer service and the customer experience this year. There's a definitive correlation there.
Customer service and experience was also a significant factor in the adoption of self-checkout in grocery during the late 1990's. The focus was customer convenience, but the return for the retailer was labor savings. The shopping experience was transformed, with many grocers seeing as much as half of their sales from self-checkout. The advent of mobile technologies will have a similar impact in all retail segments, most notably in specialty and general retail.
