Today, the mobile phone business is booming. People are relying exclusively on cell phones, eliminating land lines all together. More and more users are upgrading to smartphones, or upgrading their current smartphone to the newest model, and shopping for the plans that best fit their ever-growing data usage needs. As people use their phones for more and more daily activities, like social networking, music and entertainment, photography and thousands of application-specific programs, the mobile sector of retail continues to grow.
On the user side: Users are very attached to their smartphones. It’s the way they communicate with immediate friends and family; stay in touch with acquaintances; read the news; set their alarms each night before bed; plan their days, weeks and months; keep track of their bank accounts; look up maps and directions – and so on. In a smartphone user’s life, their device can play a role as big as their car or computer. Without it, they would be lost. That’s why it is important to them that they receive the best service possible when looking to repair or upgrade.
On the store side: Competition is fierce in the mobile retail sector. Each cell phone carrier strives to give their customers better service and support than the next, because one bad experience could be the reason that a user makes the switch to another carrier. Because of this competitiveness, mobile phone stores should strive to ensure that they can provide each customer who comes into the store with quick and helpful service.
Here’s how people counting can help mobile phone stores ensure the best service possible:
1. Assessing promotions
As new mobile phone models are released almost monthly, new promotions are constantly being created. How do you know which ones were worth your investment? A people counting system will allow you to assess the amount of traffic and sales obtained in the context of media money spent on the promotional campaign in question. With that information, you can determine if a promotion was a worthwhile business venture or not and whether or not to do it again. Using a people counting system to glean this information will keep you from making the same marketing mistakes more than once.
2. Optimizing staff scheduling
It’s happened to almost all of us – we’ve gone to a mobile phone store with a simple question or need, but walked in to find a crowded room and a half-hour wait time. For some users a broken phone is just as a bad as a broken bone, so speedy service can be as important as it is in the emergency room. An adequate shopper-to-associate ratio will keep lines moving and speed up service times. But how do you know how many associates are needed at a given time? Traffic history allows mobile phone store managers to forecast their busiest days and seasons – the difference in numbers between Christmas, Valentine’s Day and back-to-school – and keep an optimal shopper-to-associate ratio during peak periods. That way, employees can make sure they provide quick and helpful service and eliminate long wait times.
3. Tracking visitor-to-sales conversion over time
When the corporate office assesses your store’s performance, will it be known for its selling capabilities? When customers compare your store to your competitor’s, will they say your service is above par? Because of the competitiveness factor, mobile phone stores should account for each customer who comes into the store and, based on those numbers, improve their conversion rates – the amount of foot traffic divided by the amount of sales transactions. Working to raise your conversion rates through improved customer service and increased sales could make a difference in the way your store is perceived by both customers and corporate officials.
According to a 2013 study by Qualcomm, 34 percent of respondents said they could only go a few hours without their mobile phone. So when a customer enters your mobile phone store with a broken phone, they will most likely be very anxious to leave the store with a new or fixed device. People counting systems ensure that their experience is a quick and helpful one – and that they choose your store every time.
Traf-Sys has supplied people counting systems to well-known names in the mobile phone industry, such as Sprint, CellularOne, Viaero Wireless and Wireless Zone.
