Retail associates are responsible for helping customers in a variety of ways that go beyond just ringing up purchases. Sales floor team members, for example, check prices, stock availability, and answer general questions about merchandise. Sometimes they even call other stores to find out if they have items in stock.
Customers expect all of these services, but when staff members don’t have a mobile scanner, help doesn’t come easy. For example, when a customer has to follow an associate to a register just to get a price, it disrupts their shopping experience. They have to walk all the way back to where they came from to continue shopping. When a customer knows it’s an arduous process to get a price, they’re less likely to ask for help. When customers feel like it’s too much trouble to ask associates for help, their overall experience is diminished and they become more likely to leave negative reviews.
When retail associates have mobile, handheld devices, they can provide customers with the top-notch, instant support they expect. In turn, this supports your business.
Here are some of the best reasons to equip your retail associates with mobile scanners.
1. Great customer service is the foundation of success
Every successful business is founded on satisfied customers. You can’t expect to thrive with a reputation for providing poor service. Among the long list of ways to make customers happy, the most impactful strategy is to provide them with an outstanding experience to ensure they don’t have a bad experience. A whopping 86% of customers will stop buying from a business after two negative customer service experiences. What customers consider negative can range from being treated poorly to having to ask multiple associates for help to get an answer.
When retail associates have a handheld device, like a Zebra mobile scanner, they won’t need to pass customers off to other workers when they don’t have answers. They can use their device to look up prices, stock levels, and see if other locations carry the item. Even if the customer doesn’t get the product they want in the end, being tended to by an associate who is eager to help is sometimes enough to constitute “good service.” Even when the results are fruitless, the effort is often appreciated.
2. Customers don’t have much patience
Impatience is a dominant theme among customers because they expect instant results and are used to getting bad service. When they ask for a stock check, they expect associates to have a handheld computer to look up the item. They don’t have the patience to wait for someone to go into the stockroom to perform a manual search. Customers also expect instant answers.
For example, when they ask an associate if the store carries those little clips you put on your sheets to keep them attached to the mattress, they expect a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ immediately. When associates don’t have an answer, customers get frustrated.
Retail workers on the sales floor who have handheld scanners can answer product questions like this (and others) relatively fast. Big chains, like Target, use programs that allow workers to type in keywords to find out if and where a product is located. If it doesn’t come up in the system, it’s safe to say the store doesn’t carry that item.
The faster and more thoroughly you can satisfy your customers’ needs, the more likely they’ll be to say nice things about your business and buy from you again.
3. You can lose business over out of stock items
When an item is out of stock, most customers will go somewhere else to get what they need. If you’re running a company with multiple locations, handheld scanners can help you secure the sale at another store. For example, when an item is out of stock and there’s nothing in the back room, scanning an item will tell an associate if other locations have any backstock of that item. They can inform the customer of what location to visit to get the item, including the address and phone number.
Using the contact information that comes up, the associate can call the other store directly and have the item held at customer service. This supports the customer and increases the chance of getting the sale. Sometimes customers don’t pick up their reserved items, but many will go straight to the other location to get their product.
Boost your customer service experience with mobile scanners
Having a positive customer experience is essential for success, and there’s only so much you can do without technology. By providing handheld scanners to your associates, you’ll be giving them the tools they need to create the positive customer service interactions you’re after.
