To answer my own question:
KNOW THE CUSTOMER. IDEALIZE THE EXPERIENCE.
RetailWire posed the question: Which apps or other tools make the most sense for retailers to incorporate with mobile phones?
You can see the base article and the BrainTrust discussion here: http://bit.ly/8TivDA.>
In the opening piece, the author notes that a "number of consumer packaged goods brands have introduced iPhone apps that give consumers direct access to the brand and include recipe ideas, nutrition info and special offers. But the reality is, shoppers are not going to download all the brand applications that come down the pike. More realistic is an application offered by a retailer, store-branded and shopper-focused, that enhances the entire shopping experience, starting from home and the creation of the shopping list.
"The greater challenge in using technology as a practical tool is ensuring the accuracy of the data and the ongoing relevance of the offering. Novelty will drive trial for many, but continuing value is the only way to keep people using the service or application."
I couldn't agree more. Most of the apps we're seeing are technology driven--use gps to find Crest White Strips; take a picture of a product and get more info--not human behavior driven. Cool once or twice, but will I do that with every purchase? Who has that much time in the grocery? (Or even Best Buy? I'd rather play with the stuff and not the phone I already have.)
At ConsumerX, we start with the idealized experience. In this case, which essentially is a grocery occasion, our intrepid customer is shopping with a list. She is balancing influential messages received through various sources--broadcast, print, the weekly circular, friends ideas and recommendations--with the emotional drivers of doing what's right for her family and her self.
The potential for mobile in the shopping experience lies in understanding her and what drives her behavior. Odds are, she has spent a good deal of time reconciling all the offers and clipping paper coupons. How will, at a minimum, mobile mimic that (so she can easily migrate her behavior to a new construct)and more importantly, how will mobile make it better in ways she cannot imagine?
The article puts the opportunity at the feet of retail store and I think this is spot on right. Retailers know more about us than we do (or perhaps they realize) or any single brand can. We know that and the average consumer knows that. As a matter of fact, the average consumer, would LOVE it if we used all this information to make her life, not just easier, but cooler, nicer, better.
Combine the insights gleaned from thoughtful, attentive qualitative research, with the broad and deep data from loyalty programs and point-of-sale data and work with consumer packaged goods brands on her behalf.
Jack Dorsey, the co-founder of Twitter has launched Square, a company that uses the iPhone as a cash register (that cannot take cash). This is great--for small retailers, iPhone enthusiasts and, well, Jack Dorsey.
Where's the app for the customers that will let them design their own shopping experience? Hell, just keeping track of hundreds of coupons is a cottage industry.
So, come on retailers, let me access the information you and the brands have about me and what you're willing to offer and I'll try new stuff, buy more from you and keep coming back.
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