Why go mobile? That’s the question many retailers are wrestling with at the moment and there are many watching the trendsetters for evidence of ROI.

Why go mobile? That’s the question many retailers are wrestling with at the moment and there are many watching the trendsetters for evidence of ROI. As someone who has led a successful in-store mobile pilot project, Brian Scott from Pets at Home shared his experiences at the Retail Unleashed event held recently in BT Tower…

Brian explained that mobile is all about cutting the umbilical cord from the back office to liberate colleagues. For Pets, this wasn’t possible before, because the technology hadn’t reached a point where they could genuinely replicate and improve paper processes digitally.

Brian Scott of Pets at Home shares his mobile experience and describes the benefits of liberating in-store colleagues

Wrong said FRED

That’s not to say it was all plain sailing. The retailer’s first move into mobile – a pre-pilot project called FRED (Fish Record Entry Device) – was an eye-opening  experience for everyone involved, and a huge amount was learned from it. One thing which was clear to Brian – and that we see across the board with our client mobile initiatives – is that to be successful, Pets at Home needed the involvement of enthusiastic, critical colleagues from day one.

Why? Because they’re the ones using the devices and facing the customers. In fact, Brian’s store colleagues ultimately came up with creative additional in-store applications for their new mobile tool that, when added together, made a terrific impact – not just through soft benefits, but on the ROI.

PetPad – Pets Unleashed

All of that shaped the roll-out and success of the new ‘PetPad’; an interactive, integrated iPad mini with digital forms, fun creative in the spirit of the Pets Brand, guided processes and prompts.  With standard digital processes and instant access to centrally stored customer and loyalty VIP data, it allows the pet form data and customer basket to be captured away from the till, throughout the customer journey in the store, and has proved a real game changer.

Brian’s top tips for mobile success? Choose a partner who feels as passionately about your business and what you are trying to achieve, as you do. Involve your frontline colleagues at every stage. And be brave. Go in for what you need, don’t do it half-heartedly, because mobile can be truly transformational.

Thank you Brian, Kevin and Pets’ wider team for such a great project.