Quick answer: Retail uses video and collaboration technology to connect stores, head office, and customers, supporting virtual shopping, staff training, and faster coordination across locations. It matters because it improves consistency and customer experience. PeopleLink delivers the AV stack and collaboration software to connect retail operations as a single OEM.
Online shopping peaked enormously in the last decade with shopping giants like eBay, Amazon, Flipkart trying to make shopping more convenient for the customers. However, the greatest drawback with shopping online is the lack of personalized attention. A customer’s buying decision is often influenced by multiple factors. There are numerous questions that needs to be answered before he/she is convinced to buy a product. Video-enabled shopping provides the customer with a more personalized and smarter shopping experience. “Video has higher impact on buyers, it is said 73% of the customers are more likely to make a purchase after watching a video explaining the product or service. Nearly 96% of the consumers found videos helpful for making their purchase decisions.”(Tubularinsights.com) Shopping online brings the customers across unending stuffs. However, to know the details about the commodity and its utilization, there is only the written document to refer to. These details are mostly generic and their accuracy isn’t guaranteed. Integration of a live video help can make shopping a better and more satisfactory experience both for the buyer and the seller. Let’s see how the inclusion of video technology can make shopping smarter Personalized shopping experience Customers want personal attention. Getting connected with an executive who can resolve their queries in real-time, greatly influences their buying decision. This is particularly important for fashion and consumable commodities. People are highly conscious about the things they buy. They have a lot of questions regarding their quality and usability. A face-to-face video communication with an expert can assist in buying right and thus have the most satisfactory shopping experience. To sum it up, a face-to-face video collaboration can make sales happen. Post-sale training and assistance This is important for commodities that need proper installation before usage. Reading through the obscure installation manual with technical jargon or searching on Google doesn’t always help. This restrains the customers either from using the product or enduring an extra expense in getting a professional to install the same. Connecting with the technical expert through video conferencing can provide the required the post-sale training on installation and usage of the product without any added expense. Competitive Edge Though video shopping isn’t a new term anymore but it isn’t very common either. Not all online shopping portals or physical showrooms are seen using video in their regular work process. Thus, incorporating video into the retail environment can lend a business a clear competitive advantage. Efficient virtual help desk The ROI of a business is greatly dependent on an efficient help-desk. Retails and E-commerce portals can enormously benefit from a video enabled customer help desk. The customers will be more than happy to collaborate with a virtual help desk executive in real-time rather than being greeted by a robotic voice or entering endless options over the telephone which might not have answers to the specific problem that he/she is facing. Is video conferencing only effective for online shopping? No, video based solutions can also benefit brick and mortar shops. The video enabled digital signage can be of exceptionally helpful for showrooms. A digital signage isn’t only meant for advertising but it can be the virtual site-map of the store for new customers, guiding them to various sections and the product availability. To comprehend it better there are varities such as Windows digital signage, etc. that can adapt to your tailored preferences. Stores having multiple entities need to recruit multiple customer care executives for each of their branches. The video enabled customer help desk ignores the requisition for redundant hiring in the same job role. The customers can remotely connect to the help desk and get all the required help they need. The video enablement expedites the internal communication including stock alerts, delayed consignments etc.; resulting in improved sales figures. PeopleLink is currently involved in smartification of both online and on-premises shopping scenarios. We are empowering our clients in the retail sector to create smarter and more convenient shopping environment for their customers. Check out our revolutionary video conferencing solutions designed for the retail sector and get in touch with us to know more about them.
Connecting stores and head office? Explore PeopleLink’s retail solutions and collaboration platform.
Frequently Asked Questions
Ready to upgrade your rooms?
See PeopleLink’s AV and Unified Communications solutions in action, or get pricing built around your needs.