ENHANCING RETAIL ENVIRONMENTS WITH THE ipad COMPUTACENTER AND APPLE TOGETHER

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1 ENHANCING RETAIL ENVIRONMENTS WITH THE ipad COMPUTACENTER AND APPLE TOGETHER

2 COMPUTACENTER AND APPLE HELP HIGH STREET OUTLETS SOURCE, DEPLOY AND SUPPORT APPLE TECHNOLOGIES FOR A MORE...

3 COMPELLING CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE High street outlets are facing unprecedented challenges. Not only are customers tightening their purse strings, they are abandoning stores in favour of the Internet where a wealth of information and choice is close at hand and checkout queues simply don t exist. Fail to provide your customers with a more engaging in-store shopping experience and they will abandon your brand in favour of a richer, more personalised, virtual shopping experience. This will not only impact sales and revenues but also customer loyalty and brand status, which will be vital for achieving a head start when consumer confidence returns. Retailers must enrich and personalise the customer experience if they are going to engage customers and successfully compete with online counterparts. THE RISE OF THE CUSTOMER KIOSK Interactive customer kiosks are a vital component in the quest for delivering a more dynamic high street shopping experience. From accessing in-depth product information to making personalised purchases, self-service kiosks provide an important and immediate customer communication and sales channel. The interactive nature of the ipad makes it an ideal device for use in a self-service customer kiosk. Its media-rich interface allows retailers to enhance product information with pictures, videos and interactive features, all of which can be easily accessed via the familiar touch-screen interface. As well as acting as a portal for product information, ipad devices can be used in a kiosk environment to: Provide a bridge to a customer s personal mobile device to capture information by text, or QR code Allow customers to place an order or call a sales assistant Overcome store space limitations by providing full access to product catalogues Enable customers to design and personalise products. 3

4 EMPOWER STAFF TO DELIVER CUSTOMER SERVICE Computacenter helps organisations identify and implement these and other use cases for ipad in high street outlets. Drawing on our experience of Apple solutions and the retail sector, we help businesses make the right investment decisions so they can maximise return from new technologies. For example, ipad devices are not just a valuable tool for improving the customer experience; they can also increase operational efficiency. Lightweight, self-contained and easy to share, ipads are ideal for sales assistants to use on the shop floor. Empowered by easily accessible customer and product data, sales assistants can suggest further or alternative products for customers to buy, increasing basket size and sales revenue. Specialist applications for core business processes such as stock-taking and merchandising can also be easily developed and installed. As a result, hefty planogram books will be replaced by environmentally-friendly, custom-made, full-colour digital guides. The role of the ipad can be extended beyond the shop floor to warehouses, logistic centres and back-office functions through the use of time-saving applications for inventory management, expense approvals and sales demonstration. Organisations can evaluate different deployment options at dedicated Apple clinics hosted by Computacenter at its Customer Experience Centre. The facility includes a number of labs for retailers to conduct proof of concept exercises before implementing a solution in a store environment. COMPUTACENTER S PEDIGREE We have more than 10 years of experience in designing, implementing and supporting retail solutions Our breadth of capabilities means we can provide an end-to-end service, from procurement and configuration to installation and maintenance Our company boasts a 2,000-strong engineering force that includes certified field engineers We have worked with Apple for more than 30 years and have two Apple approved service centres We are an Apple Authorised Systems Integrator, Apple Authorised Reseller and an Apple Authorised Service Provider Many organisations have started their Apple journey with Computacenter s help, including Eversheds and Schroders. 4

5 MINIMISE DISRUPTION MAXIMISE RETURN Computacenter and Apple enable organisations to take a practical and unified approach to deploying the ipad across their enterprise, which reduces risk and cost. Computacenter s highly experienced retail experts understand the pitfalls and the opportunities of implementing Apple solutions in a retail environment. We can help you source, deploy and manage your in-store Apple technologies, and plan installations around your business to minimise disruption and downtime. Drawing on our industrialised approach and suite of repeatable best practice processes, we can ensure technologies are deployed on a consistent basis across multiple branches and geographies. We can also ensure a consistent experience post-deployment. With more than 2,000 field engineers and 24-hour service centres in the UK, Computacenter can deliver remote and on-site support and maintenance across your entire branch network. Our processes ensure a rapid response to all IT issues and also enable continuous improvement to prevent problems from reoccurring. Many high street outlets have already started to deploy ipad in their stores, but concerns about wireless connectivity, security, integration with back-office systems and managing devices remotely mean many retailers are not taking full advantage of the opportunities available. Thanks to its broad expertise, Computacenter can help audit, and, if necessary, transform your underlying infrastructure. As a result, you will be able to ensure that Apple devices and customer kiosks remain highly available. With Apple devices still a new arrival on the corporate landscape, many IT departments do not have the skills that they need. Without the necessary expertise, productivity gains may be lost due to increased management complexity and operational risk causing downtime and disruption to sales. To maximise the potential of using ipads, organisations also need to evaluate whether their network and storage systems are primed for an increase in multi-media content before implementing Apple technologies and customer kiosks. 5

6 ENGAGE CUSTOMERS BOOST SALES By empowering staff and customers with information and interactive applications, retailers will be able to increase footfall and sales. Combining Apple s best-of-breed technologies with our expertise will enable you to: PUT ipad AT THE FRONT LINE OF YOUR BUSINESS ipad devices can be used to: Continuous Improvement / Innovation Growth / Business Change Access to Skilled Resources Cost Reduction Environmentally Conscious ENHANCE THE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE Interactive devices add a new dimension to the high street experience. Customers are more engaged, which helps maximise their time in-store and their purchases. INCREASE PRODUCTIVITY The ipad can be used across the business to streamline processes and empower staff to be more efficient, both on the shop floor and in back office. SIMPLIFY IN-STORE MANAGEMENT As the ipad is easy to use, any member of staff can start to use them without the need for training. Staff profiles are easily switched so each employee can access a device optimised for their role. IMPROVE PROFITABILITY ipads have the power to boost sales. By merging digital commerce with physical retailing, and allowing customers to browse existing websites in-store on the ipad, you can showcase your full catalogue of products and capture more sales. REDUCE CARBON FOOTPRINT Chunky customer catalogues and staff merchandising guides can be replaced by digital books, which are easily browsed with the swipe of a finger and navigated with hyperlinks. Stream video content on-demand Share product and company information with customers Showcase products not available in the store and process customer orders Provide customers with a better understanding of products and why they should buy them Capture customer contact details for future marketing Conduct customer satisfaction and trends surveys Enable customers to contact a sales assistant Provide sales assistants with access to product and customer data Replace chunky tills with mobile Point-of-Sale devices Make stock control and inventory simpler and smarter 6

7 AN IMPROVED CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE A major car manufacturer partnered with Computacenter to deploy ipads for 2,500 sales people. Using the devices enables the sales force to be more mobile and respond faster to customer queries. The devices also support a custom application that enables showroom customers to personalise car designs instantly. These factors help improve the customer experience and secure more sales. 7

8 By combining feature-rich Apple technologies with Computacenter s industrialised and integrated IT services, organisations will be fully equipped to support the contemporary workforce of today and tomorrow. To find out more about how Computacenter and Apple can help your business attract and retain more customers with ipad solutions, contact your Computacenter account manager, or visit: workplace@computacenter.com Computacenter (UK) Ltd Hatfield Avenue Hatfield Hertfordshire AL10 9TW United Kingdom T: +44 (0) F: +44 (0) e: enquiries@computacenter.com w: computacenter.com Computacenter is a leading independent provider of IT infrastructure services and solutions. From desktop to datacenter, we help our customers minimise the cost and maximise the value of IT to their businesses. We can advise organisations on IT strategy, implement the most appropriate technology, optimise its performance, and manage elements of our customers infrastructure on their behalf. Computacenter operates in the UK, Germany, France and the Benelux countries, as well as providing transnational services across the globe. Computacenter 2014