How does one enter the discount retail market when there are already so many well-established competitors? If you’re Macy’s, you look to how mobile can augment the typical customer’s experience.
Macy’s Backstage will feature mobile checkout options, free Wi-Fi, charging stations and beacon-based push notifications.
“The mobile checkout available by our dressing rooms are to service the customer quickly who is looking to make a fast transaction,” Elina Kazan, spokeswoman at Macy’s Backstage, told Mobile Commerce Daily. “It is to create a seamless shopping experience where time and money are a commodity.”
Earlier this week, Macy’s introduced three brick-and-mortar Backstage locations in Manhattan (where Macy’s largest store, the Herald Square building, resides) that features both mobile checkout and social notification features.
“Many specialty retailers have started down this road and it is an opportunity for Macy’s Backstage to develop it and perfect it for use in some of the key areas inside the larger Macy’s stores. This is a unique opportunity to add the items to a customer staging area for each customers order as they shop and avoids the customer needing to carry around arms full of items or leaving them in the fitting room while they make multiple trips,” noted Perry Kramer, vice president and practice lead, Boston Retail Partners.
Shoppers are also encouraged to share pictures of their Backstage merchandise and outfits, which will be featured on its aggregate site and various social media channels.
Users snap a photo of their outfits and include the hashtag #MacysBackstage.
The change in approach comes as Macy’s has seen its sales decline over the last several months and been dethroned as the longtime champ as the nation’s top department store chain. Macy’s is hoping that by giving customers access to high-end brands, and lower prices – and marrying the whole experience to extended mobile, they might just have a path to get back on top.
“Bargain hunting for designer deals is fun and Macy’s Backstage sets the stage for an exciting in-store experience where shoppers will find great fashion at a great price,” Kazan said. “We encourage shoppers to share their great finds with friends as we know many customers love to already.”
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