Today's educated consumer demands an educated associate.
But many retailers fail to focus on the quality of their associates and allocate too many resources to branding, said Shannon Warner of Cognizant Technology Solutions.
There's a relatively simple way retailers can improve customer service: by giving associates mobile devices.
"Associates going mobile provides the silver bullet and holy grail for customer service," said John Skorupa of RIS News.
Today, there is a discrepancy between what customers expect and what retailers provide, Skorupa said in a presentation at the National Retail Federation's convention in New York City.
Customers want retail associates to be experts on the products they're selling and to help find the merchandise in stores. But most retailers are failing at this, according to a report by Cognizant.
Giving associates a tablet or mobile phone gives them a way to access information about products, explained Skorupa. The devices could also give associates information about the customer's order history or where to find out-of-stock merchandise elsewhere.
"Good customer service is in the top three influencers of customer decisions," Warner said. "Yet customers consider associates to be one of the least credible resources when it comes to getting information about products."
Providing mobile devices to associates helps retailers to create the stores that shoppers want.
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