With the ubiquity of smartphones and smartphone technology today, it is easy to think that brick and mortar retailers have no place in this world. This is in fact wrong and it is possible to use the power of technology and specifically smartphone and tablet apps to drive in-store purchases.

Today’s customer is a savvy one; they generally have done some research before they enter the store or they have been witness to some of your store products in their social media accounts or somewhere else online perhaps by an online influencer. Apps allow brands to get concentrated attention from their target customers so a smartphone is a fantastic real estate space to occupy.

Store retailers have a choice whether to embrace the app revolution or to ignore it but ignoring it is dangerous as you are leaving yourself open to sustained attack in terms of customer losses. While creating a standalone app might not be financially viable for some store owners, they can still be a part of existing apps. For example, an independent clothing store can easily set up an Instagram account and curate it with beautifully designed images of their stock. They can update it when new stock comes in and can start interacting with customers online who might have queries. To grow the audience, they can inform the customers who purchase from them in store or create some in-store signage to ‘announce’ it. This would be quite easily to enforce, manage and curate even with a small team.

The key for any brick and mortar retailer is to educate themselves on what aspects of app technology they should invest in. Even without moving fully online, the app world still has a lot to offer the traditional retailer.

This infographic from Storetraffic highlights the reasons why brick and mortar store owners need to sit up and take notice about how apps can help their in-store business. It gives some interesting statistics; it highlights some challenges also and gives advice from industry experts. Check it out below.