Retailers including Nine West and Aeropostale are creating differentiated in-store experiences for consumers.
Last year, eBay Inc. announced its Retail Associate Platform to help retail brands better engage with their customers in stores. Now, top retailers including Nine West and Aeropostale are using the platform with success.
The platform supports a wide range of in-store activities and is built in a modular fashion to support retailers of all sizes. It is designed to replace the retail associate’s “little black book” as a high tech tool that empowers brands to drive long-term engagement with shoppers and increase the value of an average in-store order. eBay Inc. provides support and training for retailers using it.
"The Retail Associate Platform levels the playing field between retail associates and consumers by utilizing data, mobile technology, and good old fashioned service principles to create better in-store experiences for consumers," said David Geisinger, head of retail business strategy at eBay Inc. “It’s a huge opportunity for both retailers and shoppers.”
eBay Inc. announced that top retailers are using the Retail Associate Platform in conjunction with the National Retail Federation’s annual expo. Aeropostale and Nine West began using the platform in stores in the fourth quarter of last year.
According to the eBay Inc. white paper “From Cashier to Concierge,” 85 percent of retailers currently cannot customize a store visit due to lack of information about the customer. Retailers must be able to recognize when frequent shoppers enter their store. Among retailers surveyed by eBay Inc., 76 percent did not know when a specific customer was in their store.
“Traditionally, when a customer enters a store and doesn’t buy, the retailer has no notion that the customer even exists,” said Geisinger, whose team is focused on transforming how retailers engage in an omni-channel world. “The Retail Associate Platform helps retailers capture, retain and leverage more information and function more effectively in an omni-channel shopping environment.
“With the Retail Associate Platform, retailers can deliver customized shopping experiences that leverage intelligence about consumers’ habits and preferences to drive engagement and incremental sales,” said Craig Hayman, President of eBay Enterprise. “It’s a great example of how we are helping our clients scale and innovate at an unparalleled pace.”
“The eBay Retail Associate Platform is a fingertip interface to a powerful data convergence and retrieval platform and has the power to transform our brick and mortar storefronts into brick and digital storefronts,” added Michael Hines, Vice President of Ecommerce Technology with Nine West Group. “With easy-to-use, instant access to all of the same advantages our ecommerce store has to offer, the sales associates in physical stores will be able to present the best of both the in-store and ecommerce experiences to our customers. Instant customer recognition, product recommendations, and a seamless endless-aisle checkout will drive increased UPT and customer satisfaction.”
The Retail Associate Platform will be deployed in more stores as 2015 progresses, and Women’s Wear Daily has covered this week’s news about retailers deploying it in stores. eBay Enterprise will continue to scale this technology to additional retailers in 2015.
Connected Glass Technologies
Meanwhile, in separate news regarding eBay Inc.’s retail innovation initiatives, Corning® Gorilla® Glass has been chosen as the cover glass for eBay Connected Fitting Room displays, which are full-length, mirrored, touch-screen displays ready to evolve retail fitting rooms by delivering personalized, interactive shopping experiences. You can find out more about Corning at www.corninggorillaglass.com.