Kobie believes that customer loyalty can be accelerated through delivery of great customer experience. Flip this statement around, and you also understand that we believe the absence of a stellar customer experience can be a big roadblock to creating customer loyalty.
We dedicate a lot of time thinking through customer “use cases” with brands sponsoring loyalty programs and, in the process, never want to lose sight of how customers themselves relate to a purchase experience. We recently read about PacSun using iPads to create curiosity and engage customers in-store, and asked our own secret-shopping millennial to give us her take on this latest use of technology in the retail mall.
The new mall experience
While strolling through the mall last week something caught my eye, an iPad in the hand of a PacSun employee. My thoughts in the moment were something like… here’s another case of a retailer trying to be relevant by strategically placing a gadget prop within shopper’s view.
Feeling the need to know more, I did some research and now can see the potential for this “tool.”
Often the retail mall experience fails to hold my attention due to lack of access to resources I’m used to having at my fingertips at home. At the same time, online shopping fails to meet my needs all the time due to lack of the “touch and feel” experience. To me, the iPad has the potential to marry the two with more flexibility than having to revolve your shopping around the POS machine.
While being truly engaged with the sales associate, playing with the iPad to access resources normally only available at home, I suddenly realized I was roped in. The result? I would indeed be more inclined to walk into a store with a lighter step, knowing that sales associates had iPads in the hands and my needs could be more thoroughly met.
We will see if the iPad meets the demands of an ever increasing crowd of “digital” consumers. At the very least, it captured my attention and brought me in to shop. That’s ultimately an undeniable positive for PacSun.
Ready to learn more about driving customer experience through loyalty? Contact us at info@kobie.com to learn more about our offerings.
