In-store broadband opens a world of new service, speaker says

Once broadband Internet access is in a store, retailers can leverage it in dozens of ways, Tom McDonald, product manager for in-store products at Datavantage Corp., told the NRF’s Annual Convention & Expo in New York this week.

Among the uses to which retailers can put broadband in stores, McDonald said, are:
Fraud detection/prevention
E-learning
Managing loyalty card programs
Voice over IP to replace telephone lines
Web kiosks
Online planograms
Payment authorization
Electronic check scanning
Forms management
Payroll and personnel scheduling.

In addition, broadband can move large enough amounts of data that store sales personnel could use broadband connections for CRM purposes, such as looking up customer information against a database, then making product suggestions.

In fact, Nordstrom Inc. is using web-based capability from Blue Martini Software Inc. in its stores to replace sales associates’ customer books. With the application, sales personnel can access customer information via POS terminals, PCs, handheld devices and in-store kiosks. The system can generate prompts for the sales associate to undertake follow-up activities, such reminders of events or sales.

Whatever use retailers put broadband to, however, they must be mindful of ROI as they implement, McDonald cautioned. “Keep tabs on the costs and identify the tangible savings,” he said. “Separate the intangibles as gravy.” Intangibles would include such functions as trickle polling to achieve real-time data flow from stores. McDonald spoke at the Datavantage-sponsored, exhibit-floor session “Leveraging the Wire: Maximizing Broadband in Your Store.”