Optimization of Promotions with Scan & Go
Using a Scan & Go app in retail does not only allow customers to save time at the checkout but also provides the opportunity for retailers to rethink their promotional strategy – optimizing already successful features or implementing new ones.
What could be more appealing to customers than finding an item they want to buy on sale? Well, when the sale finds them, for example. With a perfectly tailored strategy, retailers can ensure that their customers always receive specific promotions that will interest them. And when a Scan & Go app is in use, the key points of this strategy are raised to the next level.
Mobile self-checkout solutions are able to provide any promotion type known from eCommerce and brick-and-mortar shopping, including flat discounts, percentage discounts, interdependent promotions, and multi-buy promotions. And with a good Scan & Go provider, it is possible to integrate current programs and campaigns into the mobile app, thus combining various content from all the merchant’s existing channels.
Promotion potential with the Scan & Go app
Adapting a mobile self-checkout solution not only saves time and store space (when reducing the space needed for a regular cash register), but also improves store efficiency and opens up potential for increasing sales revenue. How? By making the most of the communication potential available and finding new ways to interact with customers. For example, by providing recommendations based on past shopping behavior in real time, using the data collected for sales forecasting and creating promotional offers accordingly, and, most of all, letting customers know about these sales, digital vouchers, or loyalty program directly and immediately through the Scan & Go app on their mobile devices.
Some means to harness the promotional potential perfectly as well as make the shopping experience a personalized one include
- customer loyalty programs,
- digital vouchers,
- micro campaigns,
- featured products,
- dynamic pricing, and
- data driven recommendations.
To gather all the details needed for a well thought out strategy, let’s look at some of these features in detail.
Next level customer loyalty programs
Customers who are loyal are perhaps the most important ones. To encourage people to visit a store again and again, customer loyalty programs are a great way to reward and induce shoppers. When partaking in these kinds of programs, not only do the customers profit from special promotions, but systems like collecting bonus points to redeem later, birthday specials, or early sales access are further ways to nurture long-lasting customer loyalty.
When working with a Scan & Go solution, customer loyalty programs become even more accessible and convenient. There is no need to bring loyalty cards along or check emails for the latest sales, since all the relevant information and notifications about new promotions are available in one place on the customer’s phone. Furthermore, collecting loyalty points and later exchanging them for discounts directly in the app makes for an even smoother shopping experience.
Redeeming digital vouchers in the app
Vouchers and gift cards have always been a popular way of retail promotions. Customers can receive these vouchers on various occasions – as a gift from a loved one, as a courtesy by the retailers themselves, or as part of a marketing campaign – and in various shapes and forms, including, of course, digitally.
Receiving and redeeming digital vouchers is easier than ever when customers can do so via their Scan & Go app. This way, they can add discounts themselves before paying as well as keep track of gift cards available to them, and their respective value and expiration date.
Spread the word: communicating promotions via Scan & Go
What used to be classic newsletter, flyer, or social media content now has a much more direct way of reaching the retailer’s target group. Communicating any micro campaign, sale, or featured products via the mobile self-checkout app guarantees that the customers it is meant for, or most interesting to, will immediately see it when they open their app, enter the respective store, or otherwise engage with the retailer’s content on their phones.
This possibility of a live content rollout directly on the mobile devices of the customers presents an invaluable feature – especially in an age of drastically reduced attention spans and overload of digital information.
Using smart recommendations to boost sales
Making use of the data that becomes available through the integration of a Scan & Go app is another distinct advantage that plays into the optimization of promotional strategy. Since the app collects customer data, such as buying behavior, in real time, this information can be linked to hyper-personalized recommendations to increase sales revenue.
This type of data driven recommendations is one of the reasons why customers using the Scan & Go app spend 10% more money per shopping trip, compared to customers using the cash desk, as researchers at the University of St. Gallen foundi.