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Annual Connected Retailer Survey: New SOTI Survey Reveals U.S. Consumers Prefer Speed and Convenience When Shopping with Limited Human InteractionNEW YORK, Jan. 14, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- With numerous new apps and devices to make online shopping quick and easy, there has never been more pressure on brick and mortar retailers to bring the same convenience in-store. According to SOTI's Annual Connected Retailer Survey, U.S. consumers are demanding a more convenient shopping experience with less human interaction and more mobile technology and in-store innovation than ever before. In-Store Mobile Technology “SOTI’s Connected Retail survey indicates that consumers desire technology that enables a quicker and more convenient in-store shopping experience with limited human interaction. These results prove the critical role that mobile technology plays in reducing many of the challenges of the seamless customer experience through solutions that reduce cost, complexity and downtime in a secured for mobile, yet accessible fashion,” said Shash Anand, Vice-President of Product Strategy at SOTI. “In an era where mobility can be taken to endless possibilities, retailers need to evolve beyond traditional mobile technology management to capitalize on new customer expectations quickly and efficiently.” Anand continued, “Retailers need to invest in platforms that provide a holistic mobile experience – from the ability to build mobile apps, that are both consumer- and sales associate-facing, manage critical processes, to being able to quickly troubleshoot devices on the floor to reduce downtime, and ultimately customer frustration.” When it comes to arming sales associates with the right mobile solutions, consumers were dramatically more in favor of supplying them with technology to improve their experience than they were in 2017, which makes this all the more evident that retail continues to evolve and customer expectations never stand still. These technologies included: New In-store Retail Technologies
Voice Activated Shopping/Virtual Assistants Mobile apps are not the only competition brick and mortar stores face. This holiday season, Amazon announced a record breaking number of its devices sold with its Echo Dot smart speaker being one of its best sellers. Virtual assistants like Amazon Alexa and Google Home have promised to change the way consumers shop, but according to SOTI’s survey, only 25% of consumers with a Virtual Assistant have used it for voice-activated shopping. “With companies that have transformed how society uses technology – like Facebook, Google and Amazon – backing Virtual Assistants, we are keeping a keen eye on how these voice-activated technologies can be used in store by both consumers and associates. We suspect that by next holiday season, we will see more stores leveraging voice activation to improve the physical shopping experience.” Consumer Shipping Innovations Anand concluded, “While there has been a steady increase in the desire for new delivery options, few companies are leading the pack in employing these methods such as Amazon and technologies like Hello Alfred. Mobile technology and IoT devices afford the opportunity to make these distribution methods a reality and we expect to see retailers adopt more modern solutions to meet consumers innovative demands.” Methodology: About SOTI Inc. SOTI is the world's most trusted provider of mobile and IoT device management solutions, with more than 17,000 enterprise customers and millions of devices managed worldwide. SOTI's innovative portfolio of solutions and services provide the tools organizations need to truly mobilize their operations and optimize their mobility investments. SOTI extends secure mobility management to provide a total, flexible solution for comprehensive management and security of all mobile devices and connected peripherals deployed in an organization. For more information, visit www.soti.net. For media inquiries, please contact: |