Commentary
Using push-to-talk technology to boost the customer experience
Jesse Robbins, CEO of Orion Labs, offers up insight on why push-to-talk devices and mobile communication are key to improving the customer experience. And they're easy to integrate andrequire very little training so teams can get up and running quick.
February 4, 2019
By Jesse Robbins, CEO of Orion Labs
Despite the e-commerce boom, numbers show shoppers still want the touch-and-feel experience of brick-and-mortar — recent data from the National Retail Federation found that nearly 80 percent of consumers primarily shop in traditional stores. While the increased foot traffic is great for a retailer's bottom line, it can wreak havoc on sales associates if you don't give them appropriate tools to manage the many needs and requests of shoppers in real-time.
To successfully meet (and exceed) customer needs, efficient communication between store associates is essential. Brick-and-mortar environments can be especially challenging, with employees stationed in multiple places — from greeters at the door, to fitting room attendants, to cashiers and others managing in the inventory in the stock room. The ability to stay connected and relay information in real-time is the difference between a completed purchase and a lost sale, at an immense scale.
Today, retailers of all sizes — from department stores to boutiques — are providing their employees with mobile devices that allow them to communicate with a simple touch of a button. Push-to-talk devices, which operate like a walkie-talkie, eliminate the need for workers to focus their attention in multiple places. Modern voice-enabled devices have countless benefits for both front- and back-of-the-house retail applications, and they enable employees to work more efficiently and provide better customer service.
Communicate in real time
To successfully operate a retail store, regardless of size, takes many different employees and management personnel. It's unrealistic to think that a cashier can greet every customer that walks in, run to the stockroom to check inventory, and answer the phone. With a PTT mobile device, employees can easily communicate in real-time with other workers around the store.
Say, for example, a customer in the fitting room requests a different size. With a PTT device, the attendant can ask an employee in the stock room to bring out the item, which allows the attendant to remain available for other shoppers. Similarly, PTT devices can be used by cashiers to request assistance when the checkout line gets long, a price lookup, or notify their team when leaving for a lunch break. Not only are PTT devices easy to integrate, but they require very little training so teams can get up and running in a matter of minutes.
Personalize the customer experience
For shoppers, every employee that they interact with can profoundly impact their experience and the likelihood that they'll become a repeat customer. It's an employee's job to make every customer feel like the only one in the store, even during the busiest hours. Workers cannot afford to leave a customer waiting for assistance or spend 10 minutes sifting through the stockroom to find an item the customer is requesting.
With PTT mobile devices, employees can route a customer's request to a specific employee — perhaps to the person in the stock room. Or, if an employee notices that a customer is walking toward the fitting room, they can alert the attendant so the dressing room is clean and ready for the shopper when they arrive. With PTT, employees can remain heads-up when they're interacting with a customer, and they don't need to pull out multiple devices.
Streamline repetitive processes
During a hectic retail season, one of the easiest ways that retail employees can improve efficiency is by creating automated workflows that that they trigger through their PTT device. With a simple voice command, workers can look up inventory on-site or request delivery for a product that is selling out. These workflows, powered by artificial intelligence bots, streamline operations and reduce time spent on repetitive processes and manual work.
According to the National Retail Federation, retail is the U.S.'s largest private-sector employer, with over 42 million people working in retail. Ultimately, successful revenue begins with employee performance, and equipping workers with purpose-built PTT devices ensures they can serve customers more efficiently. The retail industry is becoming increasingly reliant on technology to improve the shopping experience, and voice technology is one of many tools that is coming to the forefront.
