Customer Experience Innovation demands that a retailer offers a personal shopping experience for each and every customer. This maximises the sales opportunity as well as creates loyalty and repeat business. The only way this can happen in today’s profit-squeezed, fast-paced, retail environment, is through the use of IT.

In the past, such systems were only for large organisations, ­however, today it is possible for retailers of all sizes to use technology to enhance their clients’ experience.

It is no longer sufficient for a retailer’s POS system to merely sell and record stock movement, it also needs to assist shop assistants to upsell and cross-sell. Retailers also need a system that takes advantage of powerful promotions and offers to maximise sales and out-of-the-box analytics that will allow them to gauge the effectiveness of promotions.

Another important aspect of a retail system today is the power of its customer loyalty and how this tool can be used to engage customers in the long term. Loyalty systems should update loyalty points in real time and notify clients via e-mail instantly. This should be paired with smartphone e-wallets whereby points, coupons and vouchers can be sent in digital format to the clients’ smartphone. These can also be geotagged to remind customers of any digital coupons or vouchers when they are in the vicinity of the shop.