Real-time data analytics: Transforming retail marketing through mobile apps – Brand Wagon News

By Tushar Dhawan 

The term “digital transformation” refers to a change made to improve products and services along with existing systems employing technology. Like other industries, the retail sector is going through a paradigm shift, with mobile apps, big data analytics, and spatial transformation leading the way. Retailers are likewise working to change and adapt to the changing consumer expectations. From creating innovative and novel business models for personalised shopping, retailers are going beyond focusing on a single technology.

Retail apps, one of the latest approaches adopted by retailers, intend to enhance the shopping experience of customers. With the ease of their smartphones, users can interact with companies, explore products, make purchases and access additional services. Subsequently, Deloitte India has projected that the country’s online retail market size will reach USD 325 billion by 2030, owing to the benefits of retail applications.

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Perks of Retail Apps: Boon for the Retailers and Consumers

Retail applications hold enormous potential both for businesses and consumers. Here’s a look at some of its benefits that are transforming the retail industry landscape.

Enhance Customer Experience

One of the key reasons consumers resort to retail mobile applications is the promise of a better shopping experience. These applications are user-friendly, with simple interfaces that make it easy to navigate through product catalogues. With a few swipes and taps, users can smoothly navigate between numerous categories, apply filters, and examine extensive product information.

Personalisation and Customer Engagement

Retail mobile applications have become effective tools for gathering consumer information and insights. By analysing customer behaviour, retailers become capable to provide personalised shopping recommendations. This, in turn, helps in increasing consumer engagement and fosters brand loyalty.

Increased Sales

The main objective of any retail firm is to increase sales and income. Retail mobile applications thus provide a direct avenue for achieving this aim. By providing a smooth shopping experience, apps enable users to make purchases with ease and convenience. Furthermore, many retailers offer unique discounts and promotions via their mobile applications. These app-only discounts encourage users to make purchases within the app, increasing revenue. The data-driven insights gleaned from app usage also allow organisations to fine-tune their marketing efforts while increasing sales and income production.

Since mobile applications are developed to increase brand visibility and enhance customer experience, retailers are embracing various trends that help them achieve their objectives.

Trends Influencing the Future of Retail Apps

Michael Burke, CEO of a renowned brand, once said, “If you want to satisfy everybody, you can only do it by having a longer outlook than the market has.” This is so true in the case of the retail industry. Retailers embrace numerous trends in their mobile applications to step ahead of the competitive curve while increasing their customer engagement. Here’s a look at some of the trends that shape the future of retail apps:

Cloud Infrastructure: In recent times, the utilisation of cloud infrastructure has increased in organisations as it allows them to extend and develop their operations by accessing resources on demand rather than investing in expensive physical hardware. In retail, this entails hosting m-commerce websites and applications, storing and processing client data and managing payments and financial activities.

Novel Technologies: By integrating machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI), the retail app experience has been enhanced. Businesses may obtain useful insights and drive growth by integrating ML algorithms to assess consumer sentiment and AI-powered chatbots for personalised customer support, while also providing customers with a better purchasing experience.

Omnichannel Payments: As more customers become accustomed to buying through a combination of physical, digital and virtual channels, they demand a seamless experience that incorporates technology to meet their omnichannel habits. Therefore, businesses have incorporated mobile into all channels, allowing customers to pay using mobile wallets, mobile payments and loyalty benefits. This unified payment experience across all channels improves simplicity of use, transaction speed and security for all consumers.

In conclusion, mobile applications have transformed the retail industry by offering a more customised and convenient purchasing experience. Retail applications are no longer a passing novelty; they are essential for businesses seeking to succeed in the digital era. Whether a retailer is a small firm or a huge business, investing in a mobile app can help them equally in consumer retention, loyalty and income. As the retail landscape continues to evolve, the strategic adoption of mobile applications will remain a cornerstone for success in the digital age.

The author is Partner at Plus91Labs. (Views expressed are the author’s own and not necessarily those of financialexpress.com)

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