CounterPath : 2 Ways Handheld Devices Improve Retail Operations

The retail industry has been experiencing friction between online and offline shopping environments. Can mobile technology bridge the gap between these two worlds and assist retailers in delivering a fluid shopper experience?

While more and more retailers are open to adapting new technologies, their biggest doubts lie in overcoming day-to-day management struggles - from improving warehouse communications to securing robust functionalities that can boost sales operations. Smart retailers have now found the most viable solution to these difficulties - mobile handheld computers.

By abandoning their limited-purpose, traditional devices for modern touch-centric handhelds, retailers have freed themselves from the constraints of unreliable and inflexible technologies and are moving towards a more seamless mobile experience. Handheld computers leverage the convenience and utility of mobile, while enhancing both offline and online shopping experiences. Here's why innovative retailers are relying on handheld computers to unlock the true strength of omnichannel retail and turbocharge their business operations:

1) Modern retail communications improve operational efficiencies

Smartphone-savvy, connected customers are longing for faster in-store satisfaction today. They are well-informed, review-seeking and in need of in-store shopping tools that can help enrich their shopping experience.

Retailers need to quickly jump on the mobile technology bandwagon to minimize chronic shopping hassles.

Whether it's in a warehouse, in the stockroom or on the sales floor, by empowering your sales staff with mobile devices, you enable them to streamline communications whenever and wherever they are.

When front-line associates are enabled with mobile computers or tablets, it allows them to conduct inventory and price checks, scan coupons and communicate across the sales floor or stockroom without ever having to leave the customer's side. It allows them to locate merchandise with ease, boost inventory accuracy and reducing out-of-stock chances.

Worried about device management hassles? Simple and low-cost centralized device management is possible with customized retail solutions. This drives down the massive cost associated with mobility solutions - that of day-to-day management.

Choose those mobile device management solutions that allow you to remotely manage, monitor and troubleshoot mobile computers from a single location. This makes management less complex and more cost-efficient.

2) Feature-rich voice technology can help maximize ROI on hardware investment

By embracing advanced voice technology, these handheld computers turn into powerful mobile devices with HD voice and video calling capabilities. Enabled with wireless connectivity, you can access all the features you need for your workers to stay connected - with their customers, coworkers, supervisors or any other peripherals needed, in-store or on-the-road.

If armed with superior battery management, it preserves power for full shift operation, thus allowing workers to interact smoothly, without interruptions, sustainable throughout the buyer's journey.

Cost-effective mobile solutions can also be made secure with standard security and encryption protocols that keeps your data safe. With voice solutions enabled on their handheld computers, retail associates can connect with their coworkers, meet and helpshoppers anywhere in the store, with product information available at their fingertips.

From boosting employee productivity to streamlining inventory datato powering upsell capabilities, mobile handheld or computers allow for a more cohesive retail environment. Moreover, by leveraging the cutting-edge technology of mobile, retailers are able to providean exceptional customer experience that can help fuel sales.

Looking to future-proof your retail communications? View our on-demand webinar 'Enrich Shopper Experience & Handheld Device ROI with Integrated Communications'and learn how voice and messaging solutions when integrated with handheld computing devices improves communication, employee productivity and the customer experience.

Co-presented by industry leaders Honeywell andCounterPath, this webinar highlights the benefits and strategies of transforming handheld computing devices into an extension of the existing corporate phone system.

Our retail solutions can help you provide a better standard of support to customers, enhance productivity and elevate the customer experience.

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