Adding app value through at-home and in-store mode

This is the fourth and final article in our four-part snackable series on how to harness an online-offline retail revolution via your mobile app. 

Physical retail isn’t dead. Boring retail is. Despite the anticipated annual growth of online shopping, more than 80% of all retail sales will likely still be made in stores according to Forbes, so stores should coexist happily with online services such as online ordering and in-store pickup.

International brands are already making like China’s online-offline retail ecosystem in their bid to bridge digital and real-world experiences: US retailer Walgreens launched its rewards program, which gives shoppers extra loyalty points to spend in-store for making healthy choices like exercising, eating well and quitting smoking.

Retail brands like Walgreens could turn their app into a valuable sensor for healthy in-store deals and discounts as they step onto the shop floor, loading a log of their progress based on their journeys from the gym to work to grocery aisle, and displaying available products that give greater rewards and fit with a shopper’s personal profile.

Build momentum by bridging online & offline moments 

China is driving a revolution in retail by creating seamless online-offline value, trying out new kinds of disruptive real-world service and customer experience through harnessing an extra layer of offline data. We can take some of the best bits from this increasingly connected world, and apply them to our own mobile retail proposition:

  • Think outside the box in terms of business models. How can you really harness app user intent to understand and monetize what they want and need
  • Create demand for location services by making them core to your brand offering and capturing clear consent. How can you remove friction from your users daily lives, and their A-to-B journeys?
  • Make your app into an extension of real life by seamlessly switching content on-the-fly that mirrors your userś shopping habits, daily routines and product preferences. Where are they, and what do they need from you?

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