Merkle leverages the momentum of the CES 2022 and unveils two solutions that are both part of their data-driven customer experience management portfolio, intending to help their retail partners offer their customers a contactless shopping experience. Are you wondering about the future of brick-and-mortar businesses and how they could win back customers from entirely digital experiences? If the retailers want to redeem themselves, it helps to offer an unparalleled customer experience (CX).
Very few retail businesses have already implemented decent solutions for contactless shopping. You might be lucky if you have been to such a place, but in reality, there is a lot of room to grow in this sector. But this is not only about buying modern technology and throwing it into the customer’s faces. This kind of cultural transition and adoption can take decades before it becomes the new normal. This is why it’s vital to offer customers stress-free and convenient experiences and not a technological hurdle for shoppers.
Subject matter expert and director of strategy, product innovation at Merkle, Val Vacante, advises, “Creating experiences that are simple, safe, and seamless for both shoppers and retailers is a priority. We designed ShopNXT products to be lightweight, future-focused, compatible with major ecommerce platforms, and easy to test without a heavy investment,” and adds, “From in-store exploration and contactless check out to connected experiences upon arrival and more, ShopNXT empowers retailers and shoppers in the moments that matter most.”
Merkle Scan & Know
With Scan & Know, a retail business can provide their customers with a contactless shopping experience by letting them scan items from their own mobile phones. Based on what the customer scans, they would then receive more information about the product and browse what they care for and what kind of information they need as well as pricing details and the ability to manage wish lists.
Not everybody has a car and still might love to go shopping in retail because they simply enjoy the experience. With Scan & Know, they can scan and purchase something that they fancy, and it gets shipped to their doorstep without the need to check it in with the cashier, carry it around the whole day, and bring it home. As per Merkle, this requires no apps and no additional hardware. The system integrates into websites and can further leverage existing loyalty programs and ecommerce solutions such as Salesforce Commerce Cloud, Adobe Commerce, BigCommerce, or Shopify.
Merkle UnboxIt
How about UnboxIt from Merkle? How does it differentiate from Scan & Know? It’s straightforward. After a customer has used Scan & Know to have a product delivered home, UnboxIt is the part of the customer experience that happens when they receive the box and as they unravel everything within.
The brand gets an extra digital touchpoint with their customer, and the shopper can use their phone to browse instructions or review other information that was prepared for them via QR code on the outside of the package. The UnboxIt solution also offers the retailer a no-code means to update the browseable content even after it was already sold or shipped without breaking a sweat.
These two services are an interesting option for a holistic customer experience. The possibilities for seamless integration into each other and third-party platforms can surely aid a retail business to gain a few more positive touchpoints with their customers both in the digital and physical world.
Photo credit: All media shown is owned by Merkle and was provided as part of a press kit.
Source: Merkle press release
