Accessories retailer Fossil is forging a more personal and streamlined in-store experience with a mobile point-of-sale system that employees can access on a variety of devices.

Store associates will now be able to move throughout the sales floor and assist shoppers without being tethered to stationary devices, a strategy many retailers are moving towards for a more modern and effective experience. Fossil is adopting a system for payment and inventory management that can be accessed on mobile devices from Apple and Windows.

“Apart from enabling line busting and personalized, one-on-one engagements, mobile solutions that are properly integrated with other channels can deliver the seamless, frictionless omnichannel experiences today’s customers are looking for,” said Mark Colbert, director of product management at Aptos. “Store associates can have as much product information as their customers do, plus loyalty information, lifetime sales totals, transaction histories and even a virtual view into their customers’ closet, all at their fingertips.

“With a truly integrated solution, the store associate can sell merchandise to the customer to carry out at the time of purchase or search throughout the enterprise for merchandise not available in the store,” he said. “And once the items(s) are found, they can be added to the same transaction to be picked up at another store, or be shipped to the customer all within one single transaction.

“Now that is a revolution, a way to engage customers differently and truly deliver on their expectations.”

Fossil has adopted Aptos Mobile Store Point of Sale solution for its new in-store program.

Sales on the go
The point-of-sales application can be installed on any Apple iPad, iPhone and Windows device. Employees equipped with these devices will travel around bricks-and-mortar locations and assist customers with any help they need regarding products.

Associates can access a wide range of product information including what is in stock and prices, as well as transactional function. The manufacturer is focusing on forging a secure payment experience to ensure no customer’s purchasing information will be compromised with the new change, as this can be a real concern for consumers.

Fossil is one of many retailers adopting a mobile POS system in the modern age, as it can cut down costs and help bricks-and-mortar stores evolve with the change of technology. But most importantly, store employees need to be equipped with a wide range of information to meet shoppers’ needs.

With the rise of mobile and online access at any time, consumers are now more knowledgeable than store employees. They can do a quick search on mobile devices and discover a wide range of product information, such as exact measurements of a shoe, that employees have no way of knowing.

Equipping employees with mobile devices that include all the production information available means they can continue assisting customers in meaningful ways.

Mobile management
Los Angeles-based boutique chain M. Fredric also recently introduced a new inventory management app, which allowed the retailer to make more accurate inventory decisions while on the go (see more).

During a Mobile Commerce Daily webinar, an executive from NewStore emphasized that retailers should be arming store associates with a bevy of information so that customers will not have more knowledge about products and campaigns than employees (see more).

“Mobility is much more than a convenience, a productivity tool and an enabler of seamless experiences,” Mr. Colbert said. “In all these ways, of course, it allows for richer customer engagement.

“But its value goes beyond that; it has the potential to fundamentally change the relationship between the customer and the associate, and, by extension, the retailer and the brand,” he said. “Consider, the traditional POS counter, like the walls that separate the selling floor from the back room, are both physical and psychological barriers that separate the associate from the customer, reinforcing their roles as seller and buyer, as server and served.

“Mobility removes those barriers, breaks down those distinctions, and helps distance the customer from the sense that he or she is being actively influenced. Instead, the customer feels that he or she is simply speaking to another person, just like themselves, which puts them in a more relaxed, favorable state of mind, contributes to a great experience and makes them want to come back.”