Lifestyle apparel brand Guess is arming stores with iPads to enhance the overall shopping experience and generate additional sales.

Using the GlobalBay iPad Retailing solution, Guess is able to easily design and deploy multiple iPad apps for both customers and staff. The iPads enable shoppers and store associates to browse various styles via the LookBook functionality, select products for immediate purchase and order online.

“Using iPads in store makes sense for retailers because it allows retailers to interact with customers in a very cost effective way,” said Harlan Eplan, director of business development at GlobalBay Mobile Technologies Inc., South Plainfield, NJ.

“It also allows retailers to push out product information, search inventory etc to sales associates to help them serve customers,” he said.

“Finally, the ability to interact directly on the floor and sell ‘out of stock’ items or products carried by the retailer — so a sales associate can push a sale seamlessly thru our iPad offering to the retailer’s e-commerce site.”

Self-service kiosks
The iPads are mounted on rolling stands that serve as self-service kiosks to Guess’ online resources for a wider product selection. Guess currently has iPads use in a dozen stores in the United States with plans to roll them out to additional locations this year.

Store associates can also roll the self-service kiosks into dressing rooms to visually display options and accessories to shoppers.
Guess is also using the technology for staff training and on the road at events.

The GlobalBay iPad Retailing App allows retailers to easily design, brand and manage iPad Apps without the need for programming skills. It leverages retailers’ existing POS, e-commerce, and store systems.

The apps can easily integrate rich content locally and provide online connectivity so users can access Web-based assets and e-commerce transactions when required.

GlobalBay is a subsidiary of electronic solutions provider Verifone Systems.

“Retailers are seeing huge ROI in being able to save lost sales – while working with customers and pushing them to e-commerce – right there on the floor,” Mr. Eplan said. “Soon iPads will have bar code and secure mag stripe for credit card payments – this will allow for reducing registers in the store and saving money on hardware and saving valuable selling space.”

Final Take
Chantal Tode is associate editor on Mobile Commerce Daily, New York