1985 Called, they want their fax machine back!
That's the tagline Chipotle uses to introduce their iPhone app! Welcome to a world where the shopping experience is completely enabled by a mobile device.
I was at the Apple store yesterday for an accessory purchase and was amazed by how quick the entire process was. The store associate used an iPod touch based POS system which had an attachment with a barcode scanner and a credit card magnetic strip reader. No more standing in lines for checkout!
Imagine shopping completely enabled by a smartphone that results in a much better shopping experience for the customers while enabling the retailer to cross-sell and up-sell...
Pre-store experience:
The entire process of shopping starts at home with the shopping list creation.
· Product replenishments - I scan the QR code on the product (cookies, shampoo, etc) with my smartphone and add it to my shopping list app which helps categorize the list by stores.
· Browse through mobile catalogs on the tablet, read & watch product reviews & ratings, elicit opinions on my social network and add those items to the shopping list app. The process is seamless and the updated shopping list is accessible from my smartphone as well.
· Search for recipes on any of my favorite blogs using my tablet and "like" a recipe.. the ingredient list gets added to the shopping list app (now if it could tell me the inventory of these items at home and only order the rest, that would be truly awesome... but I guess I'm asking for too much :))
· The mashup app on my phone links the coupons from a couponing app with my shopping list which is already categorized by store.
In-store experience:
The usual shopping experience is in 2 modes... a quick mode when you are in a hurry and a browse mode when you have time to browse the aisles.
· I have store related apps on my phone
· I have a "Quick mode" and "Browse mode" within the store's app which I can access with my phone as I shop in the store.
· "Quick mode" points me to the right aisles based on my shopping list (especially useful in superstores and department stores)
· In "Browse mode", I get product suggestions based on my purchase history and based on popularity of products during that promotion period.
· If I like a product but am not sure I'm getting the best deal, I point my smartphone camera at the barcode and my app comes up with comparative prices at other stores including online stores. (Already being done by Google Shopper, ShopSavvy, ...)
· As I add items in the cart and scan them with my NFC enabled smartphone, I get suggestions for related promotions based on common shopper trends
· Personalized promotions for products that I buy often based on my shopping history
· If I have coupons for 10% of $50, the app shows a discount meter and indicates how much discount I have earned as I go through my shopping trip
Checkout:
· I scan mobile coupons at checkout (apps like Cellfire)
· Add loyalty points to the card on my mobile device (apps like CardStar help consolidate all loyalty cards into a single app on the device)
· Maintain my invoices and transaction history on the device which will help during returns
· Checkout options:
1. Mobile POS: Checkout with Apple POS where a store associate checks me out (already in Apple and Guess stores and being piloted in Old Navy stores)
2. Use NFC on my phone for a quick checkout process (Nexus S already has NFC and iPhone 5 is expected to have the capability at launch)
Wow! That checkout was quick... and I'm back home to catch the NFL playoff game live with my friends
