Beyond employees, to providing mobility to customers

Wednesday, October 24th, 2012 Karen Ambrose Hickey, Editor

In the new era of mobile devices, companies are now providing customers with tablets in areas such as Restaurants, Clothing merchandising, and Airlines.

In the article, Going Mobile? Make It More Than a Marketing Strategy, it’s not enough to provide your employees with tablets, like American Airlines, or to make your website more accessible to tablets, like Fairmont Hotels & Resorts.

This hit home as I was recently at a local restaurant (run by a chef from a large tech company). There are now displays on the tables so that you can order. This isn’t new, but what I noticed was how seamless this was with our server. He knew exactly what we had put in, and allowed us to mix digital with analog. I could easily order an additional item when he came to check on us. If anything, our meal came faster, and having the menu there, it was far too easy to put in a dessert order (upsell?).

Although there is increased discussion about BYOD to manage employee-purchased devices, IT departments will also need to consider customer-purchased or customer-provided devices. Do they provide customers with a standard set, which is easily managed, or allow a customer to connect their own?

From the article:

“More than 60% of the guests to the chain of exclusive hotels check in using an iPad rather than going to the front desk.” Consumers are showing preference for speed and convenience. “Apps let people check flight statuses in transit, find the nearest location of a chain store, or compare prices of goods on a shelf with what is available online or at other retailers.”

The article continues to ask questions so that an organization can begin to think about mobile strategies involving operations and customer support.

Read the full article >>

Tags: mobile workforce