During a Mobile Commerce Daily webinar, an executive from NewStore emphasized how important it is for retailers and brands to make their applications a content destination that fits their brand to create the feeling of a trusted friend.

During the webinar, “Mobile roadmap for retailers: How to prepare for 2016 and beyond,” the executive explained that users now spend the majority of content-consuming time in mobile apps, which means that marketers need to streamline their strategies to compete with other platforms. Creating a mobile app that pairs retail and coinciding content is vital in becoming a one-stop destination for users, keeping them returning as well as thinking of the brand in a positive light.

“Experience is an important part,” said Margie Bell, senior director of product management at NewStore. “A big part of engaging a consumer is making them feel a part of a community.

“So think about it as if I am an activewear brand,” she said. “It is about using the mobile app as a way of engaging them in community exercise classes, or providing them with health and fitness tips from recognized gurus.

“Anything that helps to give them a good experience to create that notion of becoming a trusted friend.”

The webinar was sponsored by NewStore.

Mobile and millennials
Younger millennial consumers can barely remember a time in which they lived without a smartphone and without an unlimited amount of content available to them at their fingertips. This means that the bar is set high for appealing and engaging these users, and marketers need to focus on delivering more than just the elimination of pain points but also providing positive experiences.

Retailers should also be arming store associates with a bevy of information so that customers will not have more knowledge about products and campaigns than employees. To create a true omnichannel experience, it is vital that all in-store teams have information that mobile and digital channels are putting out.

There have been too many times in which customers enter a store location looking for a particular deal or product advertised on social media, mobile and digital that the associate is unaware of. Team members should know the same or more amount of information regarding the retailer than customers.

Mobile devices are essentially the way consumers now control their lives. Brands need to pay attention to what they can be doing to garner the attention of the consumer among the onslaught of content.

Sensing consumers
Another key factor for retailers to standout is to be able to sense their customers. Omnichannel is what every brand is striving for, and to create a true multiplatform experience, retailers should be able to connect with in-store users through the use of technology such as beacons, Bluetooth and others.

When a mobile user walks into the bricks-and-mortar location, it is important for the retailer to pick up on that, and leverage information such as past user history and interests. Retailers also need time to focus on keeping up the maintenance of all properties such as user operation on digital channels, in-store Wi-Fi and beacons.

“I like the analogy of the remote control,” Ms. Bell said. “If you think of the old days with the remote control of a television, you no longer had to get up from your chair to switch the channel.

“Now I do not have to get up from my chair to get my groceries,” she said. “I can sit there and use my Instacart app.

“I can command and select my groceries and have them show up at my door. I really do think mobile is this remote control for our lives.”