Blog

This year has not been easy for any business, and with the holiday season right around the corner help engaging customers is sorely needed. To add to the frustration, mobile and online sales have increased in the past seven months making it even more difficult for those in service-based industries to connect with customers and potential customers, again eroding the possibility of success in difficult times.

The good news is that the Grinch isn’t going to steal this holiday season from you or your customers—that is as long as everyone prepares in advance for the inevitable. And though I know this is about to sound a little bit like a product pitch—rightfully so—please know that it comes from a place of wanting to help everyone in a year that will never be forgotten, yet should be.

First, the key to this season’s success is going to be through empowering your customers to interact with you in the safest manner possible. This includes contactless shopping, advanced ordering, as well as a myriad of other safety-oriented protocols that are required.

Once that is accounted for, the next phase will be that of ensuring customer experiences are nothing short of fantastic, meaning every interaction—whether online, in-app, or in-store—is seamless, and highly personalized. To put it bluntly, generic campaigns such as “Get 10% off” or “Free delivery on order over $100” is not going to get anyone anything. Instead, every offer must be personalized directly to the individual. The opposite of generic, these ads and messages read more like “Hi Jane, we want to offer you a discount on your favorite dessert—lactose free just the way you love it.”

I know, all of this makes sense in theory, but how can it be accomplished in such a short period of time? Well, here’s the product pitch. Our InterACT mobile app is the perfect place to start. And before you swallow your own tongue thinking this is a giant expense and even longer development and roll-out time, it’s so far from any of that nonsense.

Our mobile app has been purpose-built as a pre-developed, preconfigured app that can be fully branded and ready to launch in just days. In fact, the slowest aspect of the entire endeavor is simply waiting the few days for the major app stores to approve and post the app for your customers to download. The initial setup for you (with help from us at every step) is hours at best.

Better yet, the features of the app are what make it the perfect fit for your customers. It immediately enables customers to do everything from pre-order items for pick-up in store, scan-and-pay for items in-store to avoid lineups and minimize contact, and also enables them to scan-and-learn about items all through information contained in the barcode of the product.

How does this make that aforementioned personalized interaction happen? Every single item ordered in advance, scanned and paid for, or even scanned just to learn a little about the product, is captured in a database that creates the ever-magical Single-User-Profile information. It’s this information that begins the journey of knowing what customers like, dislike, when they shop, how they shop, and more.

Pair all of that information with now being directly in their pocket via your mobile app, and connecting with that customer through messages, offers, and ads becomes seamless and easy. The ability to nurture relationships with every customer is inherent in the system—and all of that wonderful data is yours to leverage at all times.

Is 2020 a terrible year? Of course it is. But let’s not let the Grinch known as COVID-19 steal our holidays, steal our customers, or steal our success. There is a clear and easy path ahead that will stop COVID-19 in its tracks from impacting business. We can do this together—we’re just a phone call away.