5 Natural Retail Trends To Watch in 2012: Technology Goes Small

New Hope 360, December 20, 2011

by Carlotta Mast

According to Morgan Stanley Research, sales of smart phones—which provide easy, mobile access to the Internet—will exceed that of PCs in 2012. Not surprisingly, the widespread penetration of smart phones is poised to change the retail landscape by further empowering consumers with real-time product and pricing information. In fact, one can already see how this technology is forever altering shopping behavior. Consumers now use their phones to check prices, evaluate products, find and use coupons, pay for products, and much more—all on the fly and on location.

But is launching a mobile app the right thing for retailers to do? The answer depends on the retailer and the type of app that retailer wants to develop, says John Caron, senior vice president of marketing at Modiv Media, a developer of retailer apps. Apps that provide little more than a store’s basic information—hours of operation, location and sale details—provide little value to consumers and are hardly worth the effort, Caron says. Yet, flashy, expensive-to-develop apps aren’t the right avenue for most retailers either. The better bet is to offer an app that provides real consumer utility, is easy to use and gives shoppers a reason to keep coming back—to the app and to the store.

Stop & Shop’s SCANIT mobile app—which was introduced to the conventional supermarket chain’s 45 stores in 2011—is one such example. Using an iPhone or Android device, shoppers can use the app to scan products as they shop and skip long check-out lines by paying at a special kiosk. Because the app is tied into the store’s loyalty card database it also serves up coupons in real time as users peruse the aisles.

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