When it comes to the digitization of business, there is arguably one vertical sector that first led the way: retail.
Online shopping was a thing way before the default deployment of cloud voice functionality or remote workforce collaboration.
Consumers browsing websites via their laptops; clicking and then collecting purchases from their local store; and then, more recently, the Amazon-dominated explosion in lightning-speed home delivery: all possible thanks largely to the power of smart connectivity.
Retail has come a long way since it all began and now, more than ever, clever technology is supporting its continued, voracious evolution.
A cloud communications platform — a.k.a. communications platform as a service (CPaaS) — provides an easy way for retail businesses to add new communication capabilities to existing applications without having to build those capabilities from scratch.
This can save those businesses time and money, while also providing them with more flexibility in how they communicate with customers and employees.
In today’s always-on world, consumers demand simplicity and speed at every stage of their buying journey.
It’s why traditional telephony has been overtaken by messaging – particularly email and SMS – as the most favoured way to interact.
The statistics are compelling.
According to research carried out by TechJury, 66% of Americans check their phones 160 times a day on average; SMS has a 98% open rate; and more than 60% of people read their SMS messages within five minutes.
Retailers must be able to respond to those behaviours – and choosing the right communication platform can be a transformative differentiator.
“If retailers are not already communicating with their customers via their preferred channels, they are doing the relationship a serious dis-service,” says Tony Graham, Head of Product Marketing at leading global provider Plivo, whose CPaaS offering is the perfect case in point.
“Different customer groups favour different ways so it’s important that all the bases are covered. Choosing a communications platform that does that is as important as it gets.”
Last year, Plivo commissioned a survey among more than 2,000 US adults aged 18 and older which found that nearly 9 in 10 (87%) are open to receiving communications from retailers they shop or want to shop with.
Of those adults, 70% preferred email notifications, 53% preferred SMS/text messaging, and 32% preferred direct mail. Only 27% were open to in-app messaging and just 26% were open to receiving phone calls.
Interestingly, the survey revealed that the age of customers adds an extra layer of sophistication.
