Grid Signals: leveraging the power of IoT

One of the most powerful aspects of Ombori Grid is that it supports many different apps that provide a wide variety of different functions to shoppers. But what makes them truly effective is that since they all run on a common platform, they can all interact and communicate with each other and with store staff. 

Throughout the customer journey, staff and customers are continually notified about progress and what they need to do next. This creates a smooth, seamless customer journey that increases customer satisfaction and boosts revenue.  

 

In order to make these interactions easier to maintain and control, we created Grid Signals, a software layer that enables triggers to send real-time information and instructions around the entire system. This can be used to automate all sorts of useful events. For example: 

• A customer arrives for a pickup or appointment and checks in -  staff are notified and digital signage tells the customer where to go. As soon as the item is ready for collection, the customer is notified and their ticket number is displayed on-screen at the pickup point.  
• A customer using a smart fitting room or endless aisle kiosk requests an item - staff are notified to bring it to them. This reduces the likelihood that customers will purchase and reduces lost sales. 
• A customer brings an item to a fitting room or kiosk - RFID tags can immediately display relevant product information on screen. 
• A customer places an item in a digital shopping cart - nearby signage can automatically adjust to recommend related products. This additional personalization increases the likelihood of upsells and cross-sells, which results in increased basket size and ticket size. 
• The people counter determines that occupancy levels have reached predetermined thresholds - managers are notified, and doors can be automatically opened or closed. This allows stores to adjust manned checkout levels in real time, and be confident that they are in compliance with occupancy regulations. 

Empowering the customer 

Signals can also extend the Grid experience beyond in-store devices and onto the customer’s mobile. Using a QR code, customers can transfer information from a screen to their phone, allowing them to step away from the screen and continue browsing the store.  

What’s more, the customer can now use their phone to further enhance their shopping experience. They can: 

• Pay without having to go to a manned or self checkout 
• Place an order for home delivery if an item is out of stock or they don’t want to carry it 
• View personalized product recommendations 
• Receive digital coupons or promotions 

This reduces wait times, increases impulse purchases, and reduces cart abandonment. 

Next level analytics 

Signals also give management an unparalleled real-time view of what’s happening in the store. Since every app is constantly sending data to the Grid, managers have access at all times to detailed insights on many different aspects of operations. For example: 

• Number of people in virtual queues and average wait times 
• Number of scheduled, completed and missed pickups 
• Store occupancy, traffic, and dwell time, broken down by different areas 
• Items that customers are browsing for, both in stock and out of stock 
• Online vs immediate purchases 
• Engagement with different promotions via digital screens 
• Guided selling and product designer preferences 

The ability to see what customers didn’t purchase is particularly valuable. For example, if we can see that 60% of customers who come in to buy a phone initially look at a certain model, perhaps responding to an ad, we know that the ad is highly effective at bringing customers into the store. However, if only 5% of them purchase it, we can conclude that although it seems attractive, it doesn’t actually meet their needs.  

With further analysis from the Signals data, we can extract even more useful information about customer behavior.  

• Did they read reviews before deciding not to buy that phone? 
• Did they consider different model options? 
• Did they look at any other phone or just leave? 
• Did they browse the store, speak to an associate, or just look at a screen?
• Did they eventually purchase a different phone? If so, which one did they select? 
• Do we see different behavior depending on whether the item is in stock? 
• Do we see different behavior depending on which devices they engage with? Are customers who use a Guided Selling kiosk more or less likely to buy the phone than those who use an Endless Aisle or Customer Remote.  

Armed with this level of data provided by Grid Signals, managers can adjust pricing, promotions, in-store displays, store layouts, and stock levels to better meet the needs of their customers and increase revenue.