Mobility is a powerful force in the retail industry. It becomes even more powerful when the implementation is not about the technology but about improving the customer experience.

COACH stores implement mobile technology as good as anybody. They are a high-end apparel and accessories store that is known for their line of handbags and organizers. The user experience is carefully matched to the class of their merchandise. COACH utilizes a mobile solution that allows the service representative to scan a particular item and determine a few specifics about the customer, send them to the checkout desk needing only his/her first name to complete the transaction at the POS, and walk out with a wrapped gift—all inside of a few minutes. In one simple customer experience they have raised the bar on in-store customer service and left the customer with a more positive perception of the company.

The retail store value proposition

The evolution of the mobile value proposition has been constant, and its impact can be seen in our daily lives. And from our homes, to our jobs, to where we shop, mobile technology will continue to become a more mainstream component of the retail experience. The implementation of mobile technology in retail is aimed directly at making the consumer experience easier and more enjoyable—whether that is allowing the associate to better serve the customer or allowing the customers to serve themselves. This is not an easy task. Generally speaking, the simpler the end-user experience, the more complex the "behind the scenes" technology and software has to be to provide that simplicity. The challenge in the retail environment is to match the sophistication and savviness of the consumer with the features and functions of the mobile device. The solution has to work for the 20 year-old geek as well as the curious grandmother.

Nevertheless, we are now seeing the implementation of, and the strategy planning for, mobiles devices as a mainstream component of the retail experience.

Transaction to knowledge

From a transactional standpoint, there are many traditional uses for mobile devices in the retail environment. These range from tracking inventory with a wireless UPC scanner to registering for gifts on a gift registry.

The gift registry is one of the oldest examples of a mobile solution in a retail store; it also happens to be one of the most successful. The overwhelming sentiment from retail consumers that have had this experience is "this is cool." The gift registry concept allows people that are experiencing a significant life event, one that would traditionally prompt others to buy them a gift, the ability to tag desired gifts and allows the purchaser the ability to view them online and print those preferences. "Tagging" the desired gifts is typically accomplished through a mobile scanner that allows the registrants to scan a product UPC that is then stored on the gift registry for that person. The gift buyers either pull this information directly from the Web (potentially on their own mobile device) or print the information from an in-store kiosk.

I don't think anyone that has had the experience of traversing the aisles of a Target store with what appears to be a radar gun from Star Trek and is "shooting" every little thing that they see has ever said, "I wish I just had a pencil and a pad of paper."

The demands on the retail employee have changed over the past several years. Retail associates need to possess deeper knowledge about an ever-increasing number of products. Unfortunately, the high rate of employee turnover, the large contingencies of seasonal employees, and the general candidate profile make this a challenge. In response, retail decision makers have turned to technology to provide some knowledge continuity among its staff.

The mobile world is perfectly positioned to support and bolster the use and value of knowledge management applications that already exists in most retail stores. Stores are now arming their employees with mobile devices that allow them to look up product information and share it across stores in different states and countries.